Marilyn Monroe (11 page)

When Jim was away (and often when he was there), her mind was frequently on her career, and how to further it. She heard about a photographer called Paul Parry, and one day walked into his office wearing a pink sweater. There were two other men in the room, and when she asked Parry if he thought she could make it as a model, their reaction was plain to see. As it turned out, when Parry used her for a fashion layout, an advertising manager told him she’d never amount to anything as a fashion model, but this did not prevent Norma Jeane from wanting to pursue other avenues and other photographers. Shortly after an extended photo shoot with Conover, Norma Jeane got her chance to do just that.

William Carroll from the Ansco Color film processing and printing service in Los Angeles was looking for a model to use in an advertising counter display. As luck would have it, David Conover and Potter Heuth came into the shop regularly, and on one particular day Heuth was armed with some slides of Conover’s shots of Norma Jeane. ‘Those Conover pictures displayed a girl of outstanding charm,’ remembered Carroll in his book,
Norma Jean: Marilyn Monroe 1945.
‘Not totally beautiful but fresh in a most delightful girl-next-door manner. And that was the exact type I wanted to decorate our point-of-purchase counter display for my laboratory services.’

Heuth gave Carroll Norma Jeane’s number, and he rang her that day. He remembered: ‘Norma Jeane was very calm and sounded serious as she questioned me as to the source of her number and my contacts with Potter and David. At this point in time I’d say she was concerned about my level of professionalism,
to eliminate the potential trouble of working with an amateur photographer who is just trying to meet a pretty girl.’

And so it was that Carroll made the journey to Aunt Ana’s house early one summer morning, and was pleasantly surprised to discover that Norma Jeane was not only ready on time, but she also lived up to his expectations. She came with a supply of clothes, and also her make-up case, which she placed on to the seat next to her, before the couple headed off towards the sea and, in particular, Malibu: ‘Norma Jeane brought with her a good selection of personal clothing, all of which had been ironed and was ready to use. Note that this was not “model” clothing as I have no reason to believe she had any. Just a good clothes-closet selection from which we used almost everything.’

As they drove, Carroll explained his intentions for the photos, and Norma Jeane threw in her suggestions of informal shots and no bathing suits, so as to not offend the clients in his shop. They stopped at Castle Rock and Norma Jeane set about putting on her make-up, while Carroll took informal shots. The results from this photo session are quite beautiful; her hair was lighter than usual as a result of the summer sun, although the natural beauty is everywhere apparent.

‘She had no professional manner,’ remembered Carroll. ‘This is a point I must emphasize by comparing her conduct with the many other models photographed during that period. Norma Jeane was naturally a competent person who constantly demonstrated a strong desire to help me make the best possible use of our time on the beach. We had many laughs and shared ideas easily because her model-based reactions were simply that of a young woman seeking to give the best possible assistance to producing excellent pictures. Keep in mind that at this point she had little professional experience except for a two-week trip with David [Conover], whose pictures preceded mine by just a few months.’

Although still wearing her wedding ring, Norma Jeane shared some of her marriage woes with Carroll, who even now refuses to discuss what was said: ‘We did talk at length, during our lunch
break, about personal problems and pleasures. I had recently ploughed through a difficult divorce and (probably) felt that talking with a non-involved neutral person, as Norma Jeane was, could ease my bad memories. Norma Jeane responded rather completely but her very personal comments were hers and should not be made a source of public concern.’

At the end of the session, Carroll drove his model home, paid her $20 for the day’s work, and then rang her about a month later: ‘She told me she had signed with the Blue Book Agency. Her daily rate (set by Blue Book) had jumped to $50 a day; a figure I decided I would not pay so never used Norma Jeane again.’

The Blue Book Agency was run by a woman called Emmeline Snively and based in the grounds of the Ambassador Hotel. Through her contact with Potter Heuth, Norma Jeane walked into Snively’s offices on 2 August 1945, in the hope of being signed. Studying the photos on the wall, she was anxious to know if she too could one day become a cover girl. Snively noted that: ‘She was cute-looking, but she knew nothing about carriage, posture, walking, sitting or posing. She was a California blonde – dark in winter, light in summer.’

She also saw that Norma Jeane’s curly hair was completely unmanageable and knew that if she was going to be in the least bit successful, it would have to be bleached and straightened. ‘When she bent over, nothing happened,’ remembered Snively. ‘Not a hair moved. We wished she could get her hair straightened but she couldn’t afford it.’

That said, she did see potential in the ‘round-faced girl with an astonishing bust which made her size 12 dress look too small’. She asked for a photo, and was presented with one of David Conover’s shots, which impressed Snively enough to recommend Norma Jeane attend a $100, three-month long modelling course, which she could pay off with her modelling jobs. Norma Jeane was thrilled, and filled out the application form immediately, lying about her age (claiming to be twenty instead of nineteen), and noting that her hair was blonde and curly, and
her height 5 foot 6. She mentioned no ambitions to act, but did say she danced a little, and sang too.

When she was successfully enrolled, Norma Jeane walked into her first modelling class and was friendly to everyone, despite the fact that the other girls all had their mothers with them, while she had arrived alone. Snively gave her lots of attention because of that and the young model soaked it up; mastering hand positions, posture and make-up techniques, as taught by Maria Smith and Mrs Gavin Beardsley. She began studying photos of herself given to her by photographer Potter Heuth and Bob Farr, and learned how to improve her photographic technique, asking the photographers to tell her where she was going wrong. She never repeated a mistake, nor did she ever miss a modelling class, which led Snively to declare that with her gumption, she would become a big star.

However, although she was extremely determined and gifted in front of a camera, Snively did note that clothes were a problem for Norma Jeane. She only seemed to own two different outfits: a white dress with green yoke and teal blue tailored suit ‘that didn’t do a thing for her’. Later, much to Snively’s chagrin, she wore the blue outfit for one of the first photographic jobs she had with the agency: ‘a photo shoot with Larry Kronquist for an American Airlines booklet which was shot at the Douglas Aircraft Company.

On 2 September 1945, a test was shot of Norma Jeane and eight other girls in the grounds of the Ambassador Hotel, then on 5 September 1945 Snively got her a job as a hostess in the Holga Steel Files booth at an industrial show. Her job was to showcase the files and give out leaflets, and she was a hit – the report coming back from the company that she was excellent. Being paid $90 for ten days work, Norma Jeane immediately turned all of it over to Snively in order to pay for her studies. From that moment on, Snively knew she was working with ‘a fair, honest and very fine girl,’ and made a point of getting her as much work as she possibly could.

Norma Jeane attended audition after audition, and built up a good relationship with every photographer she worked with,
including Lazlo Willinger, John Randolph, and Larry Kronquist, who had shot the American Airlines photos. Snively recalled: ‘She was sincerely eager. She made everyone she talked to feel as if he were the only guy in the world. She did this naturally without design or premeditation.’

After a failed audition for a Montgomery Ward catalogue, Snively decided that maybe Norma Jeane should specialize in pin-ups because of the way her body looked in a bikini. This did not stop the young model being criticized, however, and her photos were surprisingly difficult to sell, as art directors complained that her nose was too long and her smile cast shadows. Snively later remarked that, ‘She smiled too high, that’s what was wrong, and it made deep lines around her nose. We taught her how to bring her smile down and show her lower teeth.’

During this time she was still having problems within her marriage, and although Snively was aware of this, Norma Jeane never discussed her personal problems with her. Instead, Snively believed that she was still faithful to her husband and refused to date other men: ‘Many of my other girls whose husbands were overseas dated several nights of the week. But not Norma Jeane.’

Marilyn spoke about this herself in 1953 when she said, ‘I used to meet a lot of wolves among the buyers . . . I didn’t have much trouble brushing them off. I found if I just looked sort of stupid or pretended I didn’t know what they were talking about, they soon gave up in disgust.’

She would also drive herself home after photo sessions to avoid any embarrassing episodes with photographers, but her driving almost got her killed when she had an accident in the little Ford that she and Jim owned at the time. When she telephoned Elyda Nelson that night, she was laughing but on the verge of tears: ‘I guess I must have been dreaming again,’ she said, ‘because I drove head-on into a street car. You should see our poor car, it’s completely demolished.’ Luckily, Norma Jeane survived with just a bump to the head;
‘I guess it’s a miracle that I’m alive,’ she told her shocked sister-in-law.

Snively had many photographer friends who were interested in ‘discovering’ a new model, and both she and Norma Jeane jumped on this opportunity, often arriving at studios for ‘test shots’, even though she was already becoming quite established. As a result she was ‘discovered’ by an assortment of photographers, but Snively never considered this to be dishonest, since Norma Jeane’s style was forever changing, making her ‘new’ all the time.

Shortly before Christmas 1945, Jim came home on shore leave, only to be told that Norma Jeane would be leaving to go on an extended modelling trip along the coast with photographer Andre de Dienes. He was understandably perturbed and urged her to cancel, but she refused, stating that if she refused to go, she’d lose that job and anything that came along in the future. They argued once again, and Norma Jeane left the house to spend the next few weeks in the company of another man, much to the dismay of her husband.

Norma Jeane first met de Dienes after he had asked the Blue Book Agency for a girl who might be willing to pose nude. She had arrived at his hotel room wearing a pink sweater with her hair tied in a bow, and although she was wearing a wedding ring, de Dienes claims she told him she was in the process of getting a divorce. ‘Do you love your husband?’ he asked. ‘No,’ she replied.

After posing in a bikini at a nearby beach, de Dienes asked if she would be willing to go on location with him, and after a meeting with Aunt Ana, it was agreed that Norma Jeane could, indeed, go on the trip. Alongside de Dienes, Norma Jeane travelled by car to the Mojave Desert, Darwin Falls, Las Vegas, Cathedral Gorge, Yosemite, Portland and Death Valley, where on 15 December, Norma Jeane sent a postcard to Jim, telling him how much she missed him.

The card (addressed ‘My Dearest Daddy’ and signed ‘All My love, Your Baby’) shows no sign of any problems in the
marriage, but it is interesting to note that she mentions nothing about the trip at all. Perhaps she didn’t want to rock the boat by talking about it, or maybe it just wasn’t turning out the way she had originally hoped. Certainly by the end of the journey, Norma Jeane and de Dienes had lurched from one disaster to another: they were accosted by strange men at Cathedral Gorge; they suffered various flat tyres; he discovered he’d left his wallet in one hotel room; and in another their belongings were stolen when Norma Jeane left to go shopping. She was so upset by the latter event that she decided to telephone Jim and return home, but was persuaded not to by de Dienes, who by this point had fallen in love with the girl and begged her to marry him. ‘I wanted to marry this nice young girl. What was wrong with that? I was a nice young boy myself,’ he said in 1962.

Since Norma Jeane was already married, and they had only known each other for a short time, it is hard to know what possessed de Dienes to ask her to be his wife, and it would certainly seem that marrying someone else was the last thing on Norma Jeane’s mind. But her lack of interest did not discourage him, and after a disastrous trip to visit her mother (in which Gladys barely noticed that they were even in the room), de Dienes claims that he and Norma Jeane slept together.

By this time de Dienes was completely besotted and after making love again the next day, he drove her back to Aunt Ana’s house, promising that he would marry her soon. It would take a variety of unanswered letters and tense phone calls before de Dienes realized that marriage to another man was the last thing on Norma Jeane’s mind: ‘I phoned from New Mexico and she said, ‘Andre please don’t come [to Hollywood]. I can’t marry you. Forgive me.’

1946 brought a variety of changes both professionally and privately, and started with Norma Jeane finally agreeing to have her hair straightened and bleached. Emmeline Snively had tried unsuccessfully for months to get the model to do something with the ‘unruly, shapeless, mop,’ telling her that not only did frizzy
hair prevent her from wearing hats properly, it also stopped her fulfilling her potential, since blondes were definitely more in demand. But Norma Jeane had always resisted the temptation, declaring that if she had her hair bleached, she would have to continue doing so and just couldn’t afford it.

Finally, in February 1946 she was persuaded to visit Frank and Joseph’s salon, where they gave her hair a straight permanent to make it more manageable; a regular permanent at the ends after shaping; and an all-over bleach. The result was phenomenal and resulted in a successful job for a shampoo advert.