Marilyn Monroe's 'Untold Story' Revealed in New Book Honoring 100-Year Milestone
Marilyn Monroe would be turning 100 years old on June 1 of this year. Talk about Hollywood royalty, and a bright star was passed far too young.
Her legacy lives on, of course, and in honor of the upcoming 100-year milestone, a visual biography titled The Marilyn Monroe Century will be published in June and offer "a deeply personal journey through the life of the world's most enduring icon."
Featuring never-before-seen photographs by Bruno Bernard (who was also known as Bernard of Hollywood), the book traces the emotional and artistic evolution of Norma Jeane Mortenson into Marilyn Monroe.
As a quick history lesson, Bernard is the photographer behind "Marilyn in White," which is said to be the defining image of twentieth-century 20th-century Hollywood glamour.
Through a bond forged early in her career, Bernard's relationship with Monroe reveals an intimate dialogue between a young woman discovering herself and the photographer who recognized her potential before the world did, according to a press release for The Marilyn Monroe Century.
Their connection, preserved in Bernard's personal diaries and never-before-seen correspondence, reportedly chronicles a complex and often fragile friendship between two outsiders who found solace in one another.
The new book also unfolds as a cinematic narrative, as Bernard is said to be the only photographer who witnessed and helped shape the full arc of Norma Jeane's metamorphosis into Monroe. Per the publisher Abrams, co-authors Joshua John Miller (Bernard's grandson) and Mark A. Fortin open Bernard's archive for the first time to reveal a history that challenges familiar myths and reframes one of the most documented figures in modern culture.
The Marilyn Monroe Century is expected to bring new emotional context to Monroe's journey, presenting the woman behind the icon in a way she has never been seen, thanks to:
- personal writings from Bernard
- commentary from contemporary Hollywood voices, including Academy Award–winning director Sean Baker
- a foreword by actress, activist, and filmmaker Rose McGowan
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