First Look: Photos From New Book Marilyn Monroe: Metamorphosis
Curator David Wills owns one of the largest independent archives of Marilyn Monroe photographs. In his new book Marilyn Monroe: Metamorphosis, he’s gathered a portfolio of over 200 photos of the Hollywood icon. They include previously unseen shots from her early modeling career, candid and on-set images from Marilyn’s many films, and unpublished photos from many of the era’s top photographers — including Richard Avedon, Cecil Beaton, and Willy Rizzo. Click through our slideshow to see an exclusive selection of images from the book.
Related: Exclusive First Look: ‘Picturing Marilyn,’ Including Never-Before-Seen Photographs of Marilyn Monroe
First Look: Photos from
Marilyn Monroe: Metamorphosis "She was a clean-cut, American, wholesome girl — too plump, but beautiful in a way. W...
First Look: Photos from
Marilyn Monroe: Metamorphosis "She was a clean-cut, American, wholesome girl — too plump, but beautiful in a way. We tried to teach her how to pose, how to handle her body... She wanted to learn, wanted to be somebody, more than anybody I ever saw before in my life"
-Emmeline Snively, head of the Blue Book Modeling Agency
First Look: Photos from
Marilyn Monroe: Metamorphosis "When she saw a camera, any camera, she lit up and was totally different. The moment ...
First Look: Photos from
Marilyn Monroe: Metamorphosis "When she saw a camera, any camera, she lit up and was totally different. The moment the shot was over, she fell back into her not very interesting position."
-Laszlo Willinger, photographer.
First Look: Photos from
Marilyn Monroe: Metamorphosis "I didn't recognize her star potential... Darryl Zanuck signed Miss Monroe, and she b...
First Look: Photos from
Marilyn Monroe: Metamorphosis "I didn't recognize her star potential... Darryl Zanuck signed Miss Monroe, and she became an extraordinary figure in movie history. For years I blushed with embarrassment every time her name was mentioned."
-Dore Schary, president of MGM Studios 1951-1956
First Look: Photos from
Marilyn Monroe: Metamorphosis
First Look: Photos from
Marilyn Monroe: Metamorphosis "Of none is the grandeur and servitude of stardom visited more brutally than on the s...
First Look: Photos from
Marilyn Monroe: Metamorphosis "Of none is the grandeur and servitude of stardom visited more brutally than on the sex symbols. Owing their fame to their bodies, they seldom escape the indignity of being thought of as a piece of flesh."
-Alexander Walker
First Look: Photos from
Marilyn Monroe: Metamorphosis "She had a delightful quality, being so beautiful, of wanting to show herself. Some p...
First Look: Photos from
Marilyn Monroe: Metamorphosis "She had a delightful quality, being so beautiful, of wanting to show herself. Some people were offended by it — and of course she did it on purpose. She was so childlike she could do anything... she was both a woman and a baby, and both men and women adored her."
- William Travilla, costume designer
First Look: Photos from
Marilyn Monroe: Metamorphosis
First Look: Photos from
Marilyn Monroe: Metamorphosis "Marilyn Monroe was a real sex symbol, and so was the great Garbo. They didn't need t...
First Look: Photos from
Marilyn Monroe: Metamorphosis "Marilyn Monroe was a real sex symbol, and so was the great Garbo. They didn't need to say things, they just were. They photographed. Name me a really true sex symbol in today's movies. She doesn't exist."
- Bette Davis
First Look: Photos from
Marilyn Monroe: Metamorphosis "There was something exceptional about Marilyn Monroe. Sometimes she could be etherea...
First Look: Photos from
Marilyn Monroe: Metamorphosis "There was something exceptional about Marilyn Monroe. Sometimes she could be ethereal and sometimes like a waitress in a coffee shop."
- Truman Capote
First Look: Photos from
Marilyn Monroe: Metamorphosis "Marilyn had kind of a built-in alarm system. It would 'go off' in the middle of a sc...
First Look: Photos from
Marilyn Monroe: Metamorphosis "Marilyn had kind of a built-in alarm system. It would 'go off' in the middle of a scene if that scene was not right for her, and she would just stop everything. She would stand there with her eyes closed, biting her lip, and kind of wringing her hands until she had worked it out... I didn't necessarily approve of that tactic; it was not easy working with her, but it was fascinating."
- Jack Lemmon, Some Like It Hot co-star
First Look: Photos from
Marilyn Monroe: Metamorphosis "Her quality when photographed is almost of a supernatural beauty."
- Lee Stras...
First Look: Photos from
Marilyn Monroe: Metamorphosis "Her quality when photographed is almost of a supernatural beauty."
- Lee Strasberg
First Look: Photos from
Marilyn Monroe: Metamorphosis
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