Remembering Marilyn With Gabe Pressman

First posted here on June 23, 2017 Gabriel ‘Gabe’ Pressman, a reporter for New York’s WNBC-TV for over 50 years, has died aged 93. Born and raised in the Bronx, he covered events ranging from the assassination of Malcolm X to 9/11. Among his many interviewees were Harry S. Truman, Elvis Presley, Fidel Castro and,...

Twin Peaks: From Norma Jeane, to Laura Palmer

First posted here on January 5, 2018 If you’re a fan of cult TV series Twin Peaks, you’ll already know that director David Lynch and writer Mark Frost created it after shelving an earlier collaboration based on Anthony Summers’ controversial 1985 biography, Goddess. There are striking parallels between the main female protagonist, Laura Palmer (played...

Mike Nichols on Marilyn, Arthur Miller and Richard Avedon

First posted here on February 4th, 2018 The film and theatre director Mike Nichols, who died in 2014, is one of many whose memories are shared in Avedon: Something Personal, a new oral biography of the American photographer. Nichols studied with Lee Strasberg at the Actors’ Studio in 1953, before developing a comedy act with Elaine...

‘Oh, My Stars!’: Multiple Marilyns Open the Oscars

First posted here on February 25, 2015 For a brief, Warholesque moment, a multitude of dancing Marilyns graced the open ceremony of the 2015 Academy Awards. In 'Moving Pictures,' presenter Neil Patrick Harris’s musical tribute to Hollywood (penned by the team behind hit Disney musical Frozen), Marilyn was mentioned in the same breath as Charlie Chaplin, another...

Richard Meryman: Marilyn’s Last Interviewer Dies at 88

First posted here on February 19, 2015 Journalist Richard Meryman – who was the last person to interview Marilyn, and went on to become an acclaimed biographer – has died aged 88, reports the New York Times. The son of artist Richard Sumner Meryman, ‘Junior’ was born in Washington, and grew up in Dublin, New Hampshire....

‘Blonde’: The Miniseries (2002)

First posted here on January 27, 2011 Blonde, a TV adaptation of Joyce Carol Oates’ novel, was first aired in 2002, barely two years after the book’s publication. Directed by Joyce Chopra and starring Poppy Montgomery (Without a Trace) as Marilyn Monroe, it is currently available to watch on Prime Video. Although Blonde is based on Monroe’s...

Bob Dylan Takes Marilyn to the Superbowl

First posted here on February 3, 2014 Bob Dylan – perhaps the most influential folk-rock artist of the 20th century – has appeared in an ad for Chrysler, screened during last night’s Superbowl. (You can watch it here.) To the tune of his song, ‘Things Have Changed’, Bob muses on what it means to be...

New York Shows Love for Marilyn

First posted here on June 14, 2013 A launch party for Liz Garbus' documentary, Love, Marilyn, was held in New York yesterday, celebrating its upcoming broadcast on HBO. Variety reports on the event: “In a room in HBO’s corporate headquarters, attendees enjoyed a beautiful view of Bryant Park and were left to wonder what the exact...