Him and Marilyn became friends and he is one of the very few people that truly respected her. But beyond the beautiful images, he managed to capture the woman herself.

George Barris managed to capture some magical photos of the world's most famous woman, many of which have become the most famous of her photographs. She actually lived and breathed, laughed and cried, and went through a lot of difficulties and hardship, from her childhood to the scary world of Hollywood. Too often, people forget that Marilyn was a real person. She was a strong, hard working, humble, inspirational woman that of course had her problems, just like everyone else. It shows how kind and witty of a person she was and what her real personality was like, not the Dumb Blonde persona she played so well on the screen. It gives insight to the woman behind the legend the human begin the myth. This is a great book on Marilyn, one of the best-my favorite, and as a huge MM fan, I have read a lot. This moving book brings Marilyn Monroe back - beautiful, flirtatious, and sweet as a first kiss - for one rare and radiant farewell. A highlight is 'The Last Photo Shoot': where Marilyn appears luminous without makeup on the beach at Santa Monica and in a North Hollywood house. 'Marilyn: Her Life In Her Own Words' is a candid memoir enhanced by 150 black-and-white and color photos, many never before published. Barris firmly believes that murder, not suicide, caused Marilyn's untimely end and he could not bring himself to publish her thoughts or the haunting photos of that summer - until now. 'I feel I’m just getting started', she said. At their last meeting, she was effervescent and eager to embrace life.

And so she began to confide the truth about herself.īarris last talked to Marilyn on August 3, less than twenty-four hours before she was found dead in her apartment. 'Don't believe anything you read about me except this.' she told Barris. For the next six weeks Barris photographed and interviewed the actress.

They had met eight years earlier, became friends, and planned to do a picture book and autobiography. Famed photographer and reporter George Barris had come to see Marilyn on the set of what would be her final, unfinished, film. It was June 1, 1962, her thirty-sixth birthday. Here, at last, is Marilyn Monroe's account, in her own singular voice. What others wrote, she called 'Lies! Lies! Lies!' Sexy yet vulnerable, and unexpectedly talented, she was no ordinary screen goddess.

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