One day in 1945, fashion photographer André de Dienes met a lovely young aspiring model named Norma Jeane Dougherty. He instantly fell in love with her innocence and charm and the two were briefly engaged to be married. He soon built up a huge portfolio of stunning photographs of the smiling brunette which helped to launch her model career and, a few years later, a film career that was to make her a legend as Marilyn Monroe. His entire relationship with the star, including many private moments shared only between the two, is detailed in de Dienes's secret typescript memoirs, which were discovered when Monroe fans ravaged his home after his death in 1988. They are reproduced in facsimile, complete with handwritten amendments. From their trip to see Norma Jeane's mother in a mental hospital to Marilyn's visit a few days before her death, de Dienes's emotion-laden archive offers a deeply personal account of Monroe's transformation from a sensitive, ambitious girl into a deeply troubled global star and makes for an unprecedented, personal exploration into the psychology, history, and iconography of one of the world's favourite movie stars. 16 x 22cm, 480 pages. New compact edition from Taschen packed with glossy colour photos of this beautiful girl and then blonde bombshell of a woman.
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