Milton Greene

Milton Hawthorne Greene (born March 14, 1922 in New York , USA , † August 8, 1985 in Los Angeles , USA ) was an American photographer.

Life

Greene was born in New York in 1922 and began taking photos at the age of 14. He did an apprenticeship with the famous photo journalist Elliot Elisofen.

Most of Greene's works in the 1950s and 60s were published in major magazines such as Look, Harper's Bazaar, Town & Country and Vogue.

Although Greene was best known for his fashion photography, he became legendary for his impressive portraits of artists, musicians, singers, theater and film actors. He saw the role of the art photographer in portraying the subjects in an elegant and naturally beautiful way. He was able to do this mainly by building close bonds with his models in order to press the shutter release at the right moment and capture the special mood in his photos.

Numerous stars appreciate Greene's way of portraying and were happy to be photographed by him, including Marilyn Monroe, Grace Kelly, Marlene Dietrich, Sammy Davis Jr., Elizabeth Taylor, Federico Fellini, James Stewart, Cary Grant, Spencer Tracy, Benny Goodman, Groucho Marx , Audrey Hepburn, John Kennedy, Andy Warhol, Salvador Dalí, Giacometti, Grandma Moses, Alfred Hitchcock, Sir Laurence Olivier , Queen Elizabeth, Ava Gardner, Paul Newman, Lauren Bacall, Dizzy Gillespie and Norman Mailer. Still, it was his professional and private, friendly relationship with Marilyn Monroe that contemporaries still remember first.

Greene's photographs have earned him national and international prizes, medals, honors and awards, including those from the American Institute of Graphic Arts and the Art Director's Club.

In recent years Greene's portraits have been exhibited in museums, galleries, and private collections around the world.

Collaboration with Marilyn Monroe

Greene was the one who gave Marilyn Monroe the confidence between 1953 and 1957 to venture the test of strength with Hollywood's almighty studios and find her own way. Before he let the camera rest for a year to devote himself exclusively to building up the joint company Marilyn Monroe Productions , Greene had quickly risen to great fame as an outstanding fashion photographer who knew how to deal with stars like Marlene Dietrich , Judy Garland and Audrey Hepburn .

Many Marilyn fans consider his photos, which show their idol in public and in private life, to be unique. Contributing to this was that Greene, like no other photographer, was in almost constant contact with Marilyn. Almost all biographers agree that Marilyn and Milton Greene hit it off when they first met in 1953. The photographer had come to Hollywood to shoot a cover story about Monroe in Look magazine .

Motivated by Marilyn's dissatisfaction with Twentieth Century Fox , Milton Greene designed a strategy for leaving her studio contract , coupled with the tempting prospect of being able to shape her own future in the film business. When Greene returned to Los Angeles in late 1953 with his wife, whom he had recently married, he encouraged Marilyn to take action against the embarrassingly low wages that were contracted for her and against roles that she considered degrading. The photographer spent the following year preparing to set up the company, while Marilyn married Joe DiMaggio and divorced him again. In December 1954 she fled to a New York hotel and then moved to Connecticut to live with Milton and his wife Amy . The hustle and bustle of the press on the "search" for Marilyn came to an end when she and Milton held a press conference to introduce the newly launched Marilyn Monroe Productions to the public. However, it soon became apparent that the Twentieth Century Fox was not ready to let their contract actress go without a fight.

When Milton realized that he would not be able to find a financially strong sponsor for the company, he gave his lawyers the green light to renegotiate the contract between Marilyn and Fox. Together with Greene, Marilyn returned triumphantly to Hollywood in 1956 to take on the female lead in the film Bus Stop . With his help, she finally seemed to have gained some control over her professional fate.

Greene now looked for good offers, negotiated on Monroe's behalf, resolved complications, and acted as a mediator in all respects between Marilyn and the outside world.

He also became artistically active - not only with the photos he took over and over again during the entire time he was acquainted with Marilyn. He was involved in the artistic design of the film Bus Stop , supervised the lighting during the shooting and designed the sensational pale makeup of Cherie, played by Marilyn.

The new caregivers who entered Marilyn's life in 1955 and 1956 helped her out of favor with Milton. In Lee Strasberg in particular , she had found a man to look up to. She also now spent a lot of time with Arthur Miller , whom Greene trusted much less than she did.

Acclaimed by critics and audiences alike, Marilyn had finally found a role in Bus Stop that gave her leeway to develop her dramatic talent. Marilyn Monroe Productions was after this success realize their first and only production, filmed in the UK film The Prince and the Showgirl (The Prince and the Showgirl), for the stars of British cinema as Laurence Olivier were obtained, acted as lead actor and director .

During the shooting began shortly after Marilyn's marriage to Arthur Miller, the end of the collaboration between Greene and Monroe became apparent. Miller later said, "Greene thought he was a great producer and believed Marilyn would work for him. But she realized that he was doing something different." Greene, in turn, could not get used to the idea that Miller should be involved in future projects of Marilyn Monroe Productions . By the end of filming, Marilyn barely spoke to her business partner, and Greene was increasingly angry about Miller's influence on his wife. In April 1957, Monroe had broken with Greene for good and was starting a lawsuit to force him out of the company.

In public, Greene did not show his bitterness and stated, "I haven't seen her in a long time. It looks like Marilyn doesn't want to continue with the program we have planned ... I don't want to do anything like hers Career could hurt. She seems to be having a child and not wanting to work for a while. "

Over the years there have been rumors that the two business partners have had an affair with each other. Milton Greene's wife Amy always denied this. One day Marilyn confessed that Arthur Miller had taken her "the only person I ever trusted" by driving a wedge between her and Milton.

Publications

• "Of Women and Their Elegance" - in collaboration with Norman Mailer, Simon & Schuster.
• "Marilyn Monroe" - a biography by Norman Mailer, Grosset & Dunlop, Inc.
• "The Nude in Photography" - Arthur Goldsmith; Ridge Press.
• "The Look Book" - Leo Rosten and Harry N. Abrams.
• "The Image Makers" - 60 Years of Hollywood Glamor; McGraw Hill.
• "US Camera" - US Camera Publishing
• "20,000 Years of Fashion" - Harry Abrams.
• "My Story" - Marilyn Monroe; Stein & Day
• "The Marcel Marceau Counting Book" - Double Day & Co.
• "Life Goes to the Movies" - Time-Life Books
• "The Best of Life" - Time-Life Books
• "Life in Camelot; The Kennedy Years" - Time-Life Books
• "The First Fifty Years of Life" - Time-Life Books

further activities

• Executive Producer - Prince and the Showgirl, starring Marilyn Monroe and Lawrence Olivier; Warner bros.
• Visual / Technical Consultant - "Bus Stop" with Marilyn Monroe, Don Murray; 20th Century Fox.
• Executive Producer - "NBC Paris Special" with Lauren Bacall, Christian Dior, Yves St. Laurent, Pierre Cardin, Emanuel Ungaro and Marc Bohan; NBC TV.
• Executive Producer - "A Half Hour with Candace Bergen" sponsored by The Wool Bureau; CBS TV.
• Executive Producer - Film Titles, "Sammy Davis Show" weekly television series; NBC TV.
• Producer / Director - "Coty Awards"

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Milton H Greene - Biography ( Memento of the original from September 16, 2008 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. . The Archives of Milton H. Greene LLC website. Retrieved July 12, 2010. 
2. ↑ Milton H. Greene, Joshua Greene (Eds.): Milton's Marilyn. , New edition October 2003.
3. ↑ Milton H Greene - Biography ( Memento of the original from September 16, 2008 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. . The Archives website. Retrieved July 12, 2010. 
4. ↑ Milton H Greene - Biography ( Memento of the original from September 16, 2008 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. . The Archives website. Retrieved July 12, 2010.