NEED TO KNOW
Marilyn Monroe was known for being a siren of the screen, but behind the scenes, there was a lot more thought put into her persona than many understood
The photographers who worked closely with Monroe formulated opinions on how the actress crafted her public-facing life to project a certain image that wasn’t who she was behind closed doors
Representatives for the estate of Eve Arnold and Sam Shaw spoke with PEOPLE about how the two photographers understood Marilyn the character and the person behind her
Marilyn Monroe crafted her public persona so well that the world believed it was her true personality.
The late actress, who would have celebrated her 100th birthday on June 1, was known as a blonde bombshell, with all the emphasis put on her curvaceous figure and flirtatious way of speaking and singing. While it all seemed to come so naturally to Monroe, it was, in fact, a creation that illustrated her prowess as an actress and a celebrity, managing her relationship with the press.
Michael Arnold, grandson of photographer Eve Arnold, recently spoke with PEOPLE for the release of Marilyn Monroe 100: The Official Centenary Publication. Michael explained the collaboration between his grandmother and Monroe, who forged a special relationship as two women coming up in their respective industries.
“Eve said that Monroe would say to her, ‘Let’s make a Marilyn.’ So she was very aware that she was creating this image, and when she wasn’t putting on the Marilyn act, she looked quite unassuming. And in fact, Eve was in a taxi with Marilyn Monroe once in New York City, and the taxi driver looked around and said, ‘You know, ma’am, if you put on some makeup, you might look like Marilyn Monroe,’ ” Michael says.
Marilyn Monroe for Eve Arnold, 1955
Credit: © Eve Arnold Estate
“And she got out of the taxi and she kind of lifted herself and did put on the Marilyn act, and the taxi driver was flabbergasted because he realized that she was but he hadn’t recognized her until she did the Marilyn thing,” he continues.
On the occasion of their first shoot together in 1955, the two visited a playground in Mount Sinai, N.Y. “Eve was getting her camera equipment ready and she saw that Monroe had been reading Ulysses in the car on the way there,” he says. “She just took out the book and started reading it, and Eve just thought what a great opportunity to kind of upend the dumb blonde stereotype of Monroe, because Monroe was actually a voracious reader and she had a huge library.”
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Michael adds, “She felt that everyone was really cashing in on Monroe’s celebrity. And then she saw a lot of the ways that people were describing her and were portraying her in the various publications that were coming out and she felt that she owed it to Monroe to kind of set the record straight, and it’s wonderful that that is being continued.”
Melissa Stevens, granddaughter of Sam Shaw, shared how the famed photographer behind Monroe’s iconic The Seven Year Itch moment perceived the evolution of the Marilyn character.
Marilyn Monroe for Sam Shaw, 1957
Credit: © Shaw Family Archives Ltd
“I feel like it’s important to just explicitly say that the character of the dumb American blonde was a character, was a creation that Norma Jean or Marilyn Monroe made. That was her invention and it was kind of brilliant for the time,” she says. “It showed her comedic talent that she was so good at creating that role and then doing it that people today still believe it.”
Stevens explains, “One of the things that my grandfather said was that she was so good at creating that character — which by the way, was confirmed as a talent, as an actual artistic creation that was confirmed by Billy Wilder, by the director, by my grandfather, by a lot of people in that industry who understood that she was creating this character. They were like, ‘This is brilliant because you’re pulling it off. You’ve done a great thing here.’ “
“In fact, like Billy Wilder says, ‘Stick with that because you have a real talent for this comedy.’ ” she continues. “What my grandfather offers, from his point of view, his photographer, catches both the character from The Seven Year Itch, this American dumb blonde creation, but also the woman behind that. The actress and the artist behind that was a self-reflective person, a hardworking artist who was very interested in getting better at her craft. She was, I think, kind, loving, gentle, and tough, a street fighter.”
The latter was a phrase Shaw used to describe Monroe’s “will of iron.” Stevens explains, “My grandfather describes her as ‘a tough street fighter.’ She fought for and pushed back again. She fought for what she believed to be fair.”
Marilyn Monroe 100: The Official Centenary Publication from ACC Art Books is now available, wherever books are sold.
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