The grandson of a photographer who helped “create” Marilyn Monroe’s famous persona has revealed what the star was really like behind the scenes.
Photojournalist Eve Arnold, originally from the United Kingdom, met Marilyn long before she was the iconic sex symbol we all knew and loved.
He began photographing Marilyn when she was just a young woman determined to make it in Hollywood, and was behind some of her most famous photographs and ultimately helped transform her into one of the biggest stars in history.
Eve worked closely with the actress for almost a decade, until Marilyn tragically died in 1962 at age 36, and the two women formed an extremely close relationship behind the scenes.
According to Eve’s grandson, Michael Arnold, the photographer, who died in 2012 at age 99, was able to see a side of Marilyn that few others were able to see.
The grandson of a photographer who helped “create” Marilyn Monroe’s famous persona has revealed what the star was really like behind the scenes.
She spoke exclusively to DailyMail.com about everything her grandmother told her about what Marilyn was like when she wasn’t dazzling in front of a camera or wowing an audience, and claimed she was much more “vulnerable” and “self-aware.” than some may think.
Photojournalist Eve Arnold (seen in 2005), a native of the United Kingdom, knew Marilyn long before she was the iconic sex symbol we all knew and loved.
Michael explained that his grandmother and Marilyn first crossed paths in 1952 at a “Hollywood party.”
She said the blonde beauty approached Eve because she had seen some photos she had taken of German-American actress Marlene Dietrich and was impressed.
“The first thing Marilyn Monroe said to him was: ‘I saw your article about Dietrich, if you could do that with her, imagine what you could do with me,'” he revealed.
‘Eve thought it was wonderful the energy Marilyn had. She had this vision of what was possible for her.’
Soon, Marilyn recruited Eve to help make her a star.
‘Monroe said to Eve: “Let’s do Marilyn.” “She was very clear about the vision she had and how she wanted to see herself,” he continued.
“Marilyn realized that Eve was someone who could help her get where she wanted to go.”
She was behind some of Marilyn’s most famous shots and ultimately helped transform her into one of the biggest stars in history.
Eve worked closely with the actress for almost a decade, until Marilyn tragically died in 1962 at age 36, and the two women formed an extremely close relationship behind the scenes.
According to Eve’s grandson, Michael Arnold, the photographer, who died in 2012 at age 99, was able to see a side of Marilyn that few others were able to see.
He explained that the two women quickly formed a close friendship that went beyond their working relationship.
‘Marilyn came to really trust Eve. Because of that, Eve was able to get photographs of her that were more candid and more real than those of other photographers who perhaps couldn’t delve beneath the surface of the persona she had created,” he said.
“Eve loved working with her because she always wanted to find new ways of working, new ideas… She always wanted to push boundaries and try new things.”
He said Marilyn “confided” to Eve about her deepest insecurities and growing mental health issues as her career blossomed.
“There was a vulnerable side to Marilyn,” he shared. ‘Eve said she had created this fantasy of what she wanted to be, but she had realized that, in reality, when she got there, it wasn’t going to satisfy her in the way she thought. He was starting to get quite depressed.
He recalled his grandmother telling him that Marilyn had great difficulties on the set of the 1961 film The Misfits.
“The film was meant to be his step into more serious acting and his childhood hero, Clark Gable, was one of the actors,” he explained.
‘She felt quite intimidated because they very often changed the lines of the scene she was about to perform.
“And the other actor learned the new lines perfectly and recited them, but she felt very nervous and self-conscious about it.”
Marilyn died of acute barbiturate poisoning in 1962, a year after the film’s release, and her death was considered a probable suicide.
She spoke exclusively to DailyMail.com about everything her grandmother told her about what Marilyn was like when she wasn’t dazzling in front of a camera or captivating audiences.
He claimed that she was much more “vulnerable” and “self-aware” than she appeared in public. Eve is seen with Marilyn during a photo session.
He shared, “Eve said she had created this fantasy of what she wanted to be, but she had realized that in reality, when she got there, it wasn’t going to satisfy her.”
He recalled his grandmother telling him that Marilyn had great difficulties on the set of the 1961 film The Misfits. Marilyn appears behind the scenes of The Misfits
“The film was meant to be his step into more serious acting and his hero Clark Gable was in it,” he explained. “She felt quite intimidated.” She is seen with Clark and Montgomery Clift.
He said she was “starting to get quite depressed.” He died a year later and it was considered a probable suicide. She has been seen on the set of Misfits with her husband Arthur Miller.
Michael said that after her passing, his grandmother spent years making sure the images she took of Marilyn couldn’t be used in the press.
But eventually he decided he wanted to share the ‘Marilyn he knew’ with the rest of the world.
Michael recently republished a book Eve wrote about her time with Marilyn, titled Monroe, which features over 100 images he took of the actress.
‘Eve wanted to show the smart businesswoman that Marilyn was smart too. “She was often seen as just a sex symbol, but she was actually very clear and focused,” he added.
‘And although he didn’t receive a traditional education, he read a lot of books and really knew what he wanted.
“She had studied other actresses and how they walked and talked, she had spent hours and hours cultivating this way of being and devising ways to push herself to the heights she reached.”
Michael recently republished a book Eve wrote about her time with Marilyn, titled Monroe, which features over 100 images he took of the actress.
In addition, there will also be a Eva Arnold Exhibition in London which runs from November 7 to 20 and will feature the best of his snapshots of Marilyn, as well as some of the other iconic photographs he took of stars such as Queen Elizabeth II and Malcolm X.
