BEFORE MARILYN: The Blue Book Modelling Years

'She was so naïve, so sweet and so eager to succeed that my heart went out to her at once.' Miss Sniveley told Norma Jeane that a full page photograph in the Blue Book Models Catalogue would cost her $25 and if she wanted to attend a three-month modelling course that would be another $100. And being already married aged 19 also went against her early career prospects. But Miss Emeline Sniveley saw potential and kept records and correspondence throughout their professional relationship and beyond. On the eve of Marilyn Monroe's funeral, Sniveley gave an interview from her office talking about the beautiful girl she had discovered, and the talented woman she had become, before announcing rather dramatically that she was closing the lid on the archive that day to 'lock it away forever'. The archive was found and bought by Astrid Franse in 2012 and with the bestselling biographer Michelle Morgan they draw on this collection of never-before-seen early photographs of Norma Jeane, documents, letters, archive photographs. The pretty young brunette slowly became a blonde posing in the gardens of the Ambassador Hotel, modelling a calf length coat in Photoplay magazine, looking like a businesswoman in a striped jacket and skirt, and always wanting to be an actress. Hard at work to further Norma Jeane's acting and modelling career, Miss Sniveley in 1946 had her appear in a copy of Laff magazine, and as a result she gained the attention of producer Howard Hughes who was in hospital recovering from a plane crash. The resulting screen test in colour produced wonderful results and Marilyn was signed to a starlet's contract for a salary and training in the studio workshops. Ben Lyon took an interest in the young model and chose the name Marilyn for her. 'She was thrilled to death' he said. With many rare and unusual photos, some possibly for early Fox publicity, one showing Marilyn lying in a haystack with a large cowboy hat next to her and there are notes on her field trips as a model, wading through a creek in a white bikini and relaxing times with friends in Las Vegas where she was employed to entice punters to the gambling tables. 'A daily swim, indoors or out, helps starlet Marilyn Monroe keep her figure trimmed for the camera's revealing lens.' And there are extraordinary pictures of Jayne Mansfield meeting her former boss who she held in high regard, Miss Sniveley. Miss Sniveley wrote copious amounts of notes about the photos Marilyn had posed in and kept lists of the photographers and descriptions of their work, presented here in a big accessible softback with dozens of photos, many in colour, and archive letters in facsimile. 240pp, 19.4 x 26.3cm.
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