Milton Greene and Marilyn Monroe

It was said by many that all one had to do in order to sleep with Marilyn Monroe was to ask her.

Here they are . . .

I believe they met when Greene was comissioned to take this picture for Look magazine. Monroe, who was a successful model before turning to acting, was impressed by his artistry.

This pic is also the inspiration for the artwork on the SHOWGIRLS poster (!) Usually a photo by Tono Stano from Prague is credited as influencing that artwork, but this one was done decades before and uses the same idea.

The Tono Stano pic:

Did he put his penis in her?

Why did she fire him.from MM Productions?

So little seems known about their relationship.

Most people say Monroe's new husband Arthur Miller was key in breaking up the relationship. But then, MM had a habbit of burning through friendships, changing allegiences with her needws. Everyone does this to a degree...but she was kind of extreme about it. For instance, she depended on her drama coach Natasha Lytess for years from the time she was an unknown, even crashing on her coach for a while. But then MM cut Lytess off completely and never spoke to her again after she started studying with Lee Strasberg.

Alcoholics/addicts, of which MM was one, can have a demanding, all-or-nothing nature.

A really interesting book (novel?) about Greene and MM is Norman Mailers OF WOMEN AND THEIR ELEGANCE (1980). It's a fictional memoir (very well researched) told from MM's point of view about that period of her life.

I think Greene took the best pictures of MM [italic]on the whole[/italic] ... though this is probably my favorite, which really seems to sum her up, for me.

It's by Douglas Kirkland.

This may be my favorite of the Milton Greene pics of MM . . . though they did many fab ones together.

He really did set her off at her most human and approachable, from their very first session together. I think it's because he was really a fashion photographer, and so was adept at setting mood. He was also a gentle person who relaxed his subjects (in adddition to being very technically adept).

But did they FUCK or not?

YES, they fucked. There were very few men she had relationships with that she DIDN'T fuck. Marilyn Monroe thought her association with Greene and their Marilyn Monroe Productions partnership would make people take her more seriously. MM Productions produced "The Prince and the Showgirl", the movie she did with Laurence Olivier. It was a disaster; the shooting of it was torture because Monroe "never arrived on time, never said a line the same way twice, seemed completely unable to hit her marks on the set and couldn’t and wouldn’t do anything at all without consulting her acting coach, Paula Strasberg"m according the the cinematographer Jack Cardiff. The movie didn't exactly flop, but it was not considered a success. MM Productions never produced another movie, and Marilyn's association with Greene soon fell by the wayside.

Donald Sinden, an actor who had a dressing room near Monroe's (he was working on another movie) became friendly with her. He said "Of course as a sex symbol she was stunning, but sadly, she must be one of the silliest women I have ever met."

[quote]r12 MM Productions produced "The Prince and the Showgirl", the movie she did with Laurence Olivier. It was a disaster; the shooting of it was torture because Monroe "never arrived on time, never said a line the same way twice, seemed completely unable to hit her marks on the set and couldn’t and wouldn’t do anything at all without consulting her acting coach,

Their company also coproduced the hit BUS STOP, in which she was excellent.

And she's by far the most interesting thing about THE PRINCE AND THE SHOWGIRL ... so if Olivier (who'd only adapted Shakespearean plays he'd done on stage before for the screen) couldn't handle her, that's on him.

That Edward Murrow interview posted upthread is so painfully boring and cringey! We learn that Marilyn makes her own bed and picks up after herself and helps Amy in the kitchen and wants to "do well" and make "good pictures."

He should've asked if Milton was fucking her.

"So if Olivier (who'd only adapted Shakespearean plays he'd done on stage before for the screen) couldn't handle her, that's on him."

NOBODY could "handle" Marilyn Monroe. Not her husbands, not her directors or fellow actors, nobody. She was an uncontrollable right mess who drove people crazy.

But she made her bed and picked up after herself.

yes they slept together and they parted company because Arthur Miller stuck his big nose in her business and didnt like parting with 49% of the profits of MM productions to Milton. The new president of marilyn monroe productions after Milton left was a relative of Arthur millers I believe in building maintenence and the production company was never involved in another project again. Marilyn basically sacrificed a certain part of her career/independence to make her husband happy

Also interesting note, Milton was bisexual and one of his flings was David Maysles one of the brothers involved in documentaries and who produced Grey Gardens. He and Milton had a long fling. Milton also put the moves on one of the 6 teenagers that formed the super fan club of marilyn monroe fans and were basically homeless and followed Monroe everywhere in the mid 50 s....Jim Haspel, Jim was like 15 at the time . He went on to do a couple of books on Monroe.

Amy Greene would never admit any of this and always glows wonderfully about how great Marilyn was but you can see right below the surface she has some bitter feelings about the whole thing. For one thing, at the time, the Greenes took a financial beating at the hands of Marilyn, but I suspect they have made a lot of money on the books and photos they own the rights to in the last 20 years.

Also I dont know many details but when Milton died he was pretty heavily into prescription pharmacology and was in bad shape addiction wise at the end.

It was mentioned in a few Marilyn documentaries I recently watched that Arthur Miller was instrumental in ousting Greene from MM Productions, most likely because he wanted Milton's half of the profits for himself.

I have a signed lithograph of a Milton Green photo of Marilyn Monroe. It is in storage and I haven’t thought about it in a long time. I found one like it on the internet. Maybe I’ll look into to it.

I was going to post a picture.

Truth told, just because she was "Marilyn Monroe"she was not the town punchboard.

I've always wanted to fuck Milton Greene. He was handsome and seemed so gentle and kind.

[quote]r15 NOBODY could "handle" Marilyn Monroe. Not her husbands, not her directors or fellow actors, nobody. She was an uncontrollable right mess who drove people crazy.

Well, that's true.

I feel sorry for her, but she was one fucked up broad. She must have been hell to be around, long term. People always burnt out on her, eventually.

[quote]Milton also put the moves on one of the 6 teenagers that formed the super fan club of marilyn monroe fans and were basically homeless and followed Monroe everywhere in the mid 50 s....Jim Haspel, Jim was like 1

Haspiel was not one of the "Monroe Six" and having hung out with repeatedly in the late 1990s including at the Christie's New York Marilyn Monroe auction, many of his stories are full of shit. Greene never came onto him, though Haspiel himself was bi. His books, while entertaining are not always accurate.

LOCK 'IM UP!

[quote]His books, while entertaining are not always accurate.

Could you elaborate?

Interesting info at r17. If you're still reading this, please share your source(s).