The Blonde in Manhattan

Marilyn Monroe: one of the greatest movie stars of all time; an angelic superhuman smiling down from billboards: a bombshell extraordinaire whose countless adoring fans included paramours Arthur Miller and JFK. And yet, her life story is an early example of the tragic consequences of fame, marked by unhappy marriages, drug addictions and frequent attempts to define herself as a serious artist. These images of Monroe by Ed Feingersh, recently uncovered by photography collector Michael Ochs, offer an unusually intimate portrait of the Hollywood icon during her 1955 move to New York, where she came to train at the Lee Strasberg Actors Studio. Relaxed and candid, they reveal the lonely side of Monroe, recently divorced from baseball legend Joe DiMaggio and desperately seeking new inspiration.