Marilyn & Me Read Online Free

surgery. At the same time, she suffered from chronic constipation and debilitating insomnia. Back in California, she found a new psychiatrist, Dr. Ralph Greenson, who saw her five times a week. She also bought a house, her first one. It was in Brentwood, between Beverly Hills and the Pacific Palisades. She also trimmed down twenty pounds to make
Something’s Got to Give
for 20th Century–Fox, to which she was still under contract.

Chapter 4

Photographers Can
Be Easily Replaced
    T he next time I saw Marilyn was almost two years later at Peter Lawford’s Malibu beach house, where I had been shooting him for
Paris Match
. One evening he invited me to photograph him at a cocktail party he was throwing, but he made it a point to say that I shouldn’t bother his guests.
    A little after I arrived, I saw Marilyn in conversation with, I think, the historian Arthur Schlesinger. They were standing in a corner of the living room. Marilyn was holding a drink. I decided not to reintroduce myself, hoping rather that she might notice me. I stood off to the side, out of her line of sight, and heard snippets of their conversation. Mostly they talked politics: “Bay of Pigs”; “Communism”; “civil rights.” Marilyn wasn’t a dumb blonde with Schlesinger. She wasn’t asking questions; she was givingopinions. That night I remember her voice being deeper, with some authority. I was impressed.

    In May 1962,
Paris Match
assigned me to photograph Marilyn in
Something’s Got to Give
, in which she would co-star with Dean Martin and Wally Cox. After Marilyn approved me, I asked Perry Lieber, from Fox’s publicity office, for a copy of the script so that I could get some idea of the story and of what scenes might work best photographically. By then I had learned a lot more about the business. I understood the power of publicity and of
Life
magazine in the United States and
Paris Match
abroad. I’d become a much better businessman, maybe a little tough. I understood the value of exclusivity to a photographer.
    I soon discovered that Jimmy Mitchell, the studio photographer, and Don Ornitz for Globe Photos would also be covering the movie. Ornitz, who had photographed Marilyn in 1951, early in her career, was a fine photographer of women, and I gave Globe a call to touch base with him. Don was out sick, I was told.
    When I looked over the script, which contained numerous pages of revisions, it didn’t take me very long to find the one scene I was sure I wanted to shoot: when Marilyn jumps into a swimming pool to seduce Dean Martin, who is looking down at her from a balcony. This scene would shoot for several days in May.
    I knew I had to call Pat Newcomb, Marilyn’s personal press representative, whom I had not met in 1960. Pat suggested that we meet at Marilyn’s house to discuss the shooting schedule. I didn’t understand what there was to discuss: Marilyn swims, I shoot during rehearsals or camera setups, she gets out of the pool, I shoot her wearing a bathing suit. And I cover some other scenes that are on the schedule to flesh out my coverage.
    Meanwhile, Globe called me back to say that Don Ornitz was still out sick and that William Read Woodfield might be covering for him. I’d never heard of Woodfield, and I didn’t know that although he had photographed Hollywood, he was more of a writer than a photographer. When I asked to meet him, I was told he’d meet me on the set. That was it.
    When I arrived at Marilyn’s new house, at 12305 Fifth Helena Drive, I found the one-story Spanish-style home almost bare. The house wrapped around a nice-size pool in the back, and there was a guesthouse. There was no art on the walls, just a few pieces of furniture, and loose tiles were scattered all over the living room and kitchen floors. Later I would learn that her bedroom contained only a mattress and two small tables. There was nothing on the walls in there, either.
    Marilyn, wearing checkered capri pants, a white blouse, and very