In October 1949, Marilyn Monroe, then a young Hollywood starlet, would make her first appearance in Life magazine. In the sixty years since that issue Marilyn would appear inside the magazine countless times and make over a dozen appearances on the cover.
In her lifetime and after her death, Marilyn could always count on Life, as one of her supporters. Indeed it was they who helped her gain public sympathy when in spring 1952 news leaked that she had posed for a nude calendar, they decided to put her on the cover in April that year, announcing her as, “The Talk Of Hollywood.”
From then on every aspect of Marilyn’s career would be followed closely by the magazine. Life would publish what would become her last interview just days before her death in August 1962. In death Marilyn would still feature within it’s pages, and often still seen as important enough to grace the cover for special anniversaries.
This latest offering from their archives is a loving look back at Marilyn’s life with images from her life from infant to the mystery of her final hours. With an up to date text written in a respectful and forthright way. It’s hard not to be distracted by the photographs. They are just exceptional, although nearly all are available elsewhere with perhaps one or two exceptions, it’s a good mix of behind the scenes shots with only a few “classic” images that you would see elsewhere.
It focuses more on Marilyn at work and going about her daily life.Life was the first all-photographic American news magazine, and it dominated the market for more than 40 years. The magazine sold more than 13.5 million copies a week at one point and was so popular that President Harry S. Truman, Sir Winston Churchill and General Douglas MacArthur all serialised their memoirs in its pages. The magazine’s place in the history of photojournalism is considered its most important contribution to publishing. Life was wildly successful for two generations before its prestige was diminished by economics and changing tastes.
Since 1972, Life has twice ceased publication and resumed in a different form, before ceasing once again in 2007. The brand name continues on the Internet.The first edition is in softback luxury magazine form which is published internationally, but exclusive to certain news retailers and then it will be available in hardback from the Life website, Amazon & elsewhere.
By Fraser Penney
