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The statue of libido

In terms of celebrity icons, few attained the highest levels of fame and controversy as rapidly as Mae West. Labeled a "pornographer" by censorship boards, she was also one of 1930s Hollywood’s most lucrative box-office draws (causing Variety in 1933 to label the star "as hot an issue as Hitler"). Nicknamed by critic George Jean Nathan "the Statue of Libido" and paid homage to in the title song of Cole Porter's musical Anything Goes, her voluptuous image and signature platinum blond air became recognizable worldwide and for decades beyond her prime years of fame in the 1930s. In fact, even by the 1960s when the Beatles wanted to use her image on the cover of their Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band album, those long-haired icons of a new generation were required to deliver a handwritten plea to the icon (which they dutifully did), since West herself always objected, as she said, to belonging to any "lonely hearts club."

The Movie Icon series: People talk about Hollywood glamour, about studios that had more stars than there are in heaven, about actors who weren't actors but were icons. Other people talk about these things, TASCHEN shows you. Movie Icons is a series of photo books that feature the most famous personalities in the history of cinema. These 192-page books are visual biographies of the stars. For each title, series editor Paul Duncan has painstaking selected approximately 150 high quality enigmatic and sumptuous portraits, colorful posters and lobby cards, rare film stills, and previously unpublished candid photos showing the stars as they really are. These images are accompanied by concise introductory essays by leading film writers; each book also includes a chronology, a filmography, and a bibliography, and is peppered with apposite quotes from the movies and from life.

Beautifully illustrated with rare and unpublished material, Marilyn recounts the life of one of America's most loved actresses. This is the unseen and beloved Marilyn from childhood to Hollywood from beautiful starlet to wife of the nation's greatest sporting hero, one of its most acclaimed intellectuals and lover of a President..

Three legends. "Monroe" by Mailer and Stern.

Now TASCHEN has paired Mailer's original text with Bert Stern's photographs from the legendary "Last Sitting" - widely considered the most intimate photographs of Monroe ever taken - to create a fitting tribute to the woman who, at the time of her death in 1962, was the world's most famous, a symbol of glamour and criticism for an entire generation. But though she was feted and adored by her public, her private life was that of a little girl lost, desperate to find love and security.

Mailer's Marilyn is beautiful, tragic, and complex. As Mailer reflects upon her life - from her bleak childhood through to the mysterious circumstances of her death - she emerges as a symbol of the bizarre decade during which she reigned as Hollywood's greatest female star.

This book, conceived by Lawrence Schiller, Mailer's collaborator on five works, combines the author's masterful text with Stern's penetrating images of the 36-year-old Marilyn. Photographed for "Vogue" magazine over three days at the Bel-Air Hotel, Marilyn had never allowed such unfettered access, nor had she looked so breathtakingly beautiful. Six weeks later, mysteriously, she was dead. In this bold synthesis of literary classic and legendary portrait sitting, Mailer and Stern lift the veils of confusion surrounding Monroe - the woman, the star, the sex symbol - and offer profound insight into an iconic figure whose true personality remains an enigma even today.

First published as a TASCHEN limited collector's edition, this book is now available in a popular hardcover version, published on the 50th anniversary of Bert Stern's "Last Sitting" and of Marilyn Monroe's death, August 5, 1962.

Marilyn Monroe, born Norma Jeane Mortenson - American actress, singer, model and film producer was one of the most iconic stars of the 20th century. She became known as one of Hollywood`s greatest sex symbols, was praised for her comedic ability in such films as Gentlemen Prefer Blondes, and won a Golden Globe for her performance in Some Like It Hot. Monroe was hailed as one of the greatest female stars of all time by the American Film Institute. This book charts the extraordinary life of this Hollywood legend, from her early life through her illustrious career, with rare and classic photographs.

"Forget everything you think you know about this person," Elia Kazan cautioned, in his autobiography. The icon we cherish under the name Marilyn Monroe was in truth the inspired creation of a smart, voluptuous, star struck and self-motivated fantasist named Norma Jean Mortenson. A pure product of Hollywood, she abides across time as brightly as two other self-inventors, Charlie Chaplin and Cary Grant. Few things make an afterlife blaze more mythically than a sexual reputation - ask Cleopatra. Norma Jean paid a huge price to become Marilyn, yet here she is - still setting the bar high for all other would-be goddesses.

The Movie Icon series: People talk about Hollywood glamour, about studios that had more stars than there are in heaven, about actors who weren't actors but were icons. Other people talk about these things, TASCHEN shows you. Movie Icons is a series of photo books that feature the most famous personalities in the history of cinema. These 192-page books are visual biographies of the stars. For each title, series editor Paul Duncan has painstaking selected approximately 150 high quality enigmatic and sumptuous portraits, colorful posters and lobby cards, rare film stills, and previously unpublished candid photos showing the stars as they really are. These images are accompanied by concise introductory essays by leading film writers; each book also includes a chronology, a filmography, and a bibliography, and is peppered with apposite quotes from the movies and from life.

Icon, legend, actress, star - all these words can be used to describe Marilyn Monroe and yet they simply do not do her justice, because she was so much more.

Norma Jean has inspired and created more headlines than any other movie actress - yet her marriages, affairs and life choices all distract us from the talent of this very beautiful woman. Part of the successful " Life in pictures" series, this book presents Marilyn at her very best. Following her from toddler to teen, to one of Hollywood's best-loved celebrities, we gain a unique insight into her life, loves and career.

Over 160 pictures represent impressive iconographic research, including personal photos, images from national archives, private collections and press agencies - some not published before. Famous quotes on and from Monroe further reveal the thoughts of her closest friends, collaborators and admirers.

This is both a unique collection and a visual reminder of why Marilyn has endured as one of our most fascinating and best-loved Hollywood stars. 

There have been many Marilyn Monroe photo books - but nothing like this.

Curator and photographic preservationist David Wills has amassed one of the world’s largest independent archives of original Marilyn Monroe photographs. Now, in Marilyn Monroe: Metamorphosis, he has gathered spectacular, museum-quality work from Marilyn’s key photographers - Richard Avedon, George Barris, Cecil Beaton, Bernard of Hollywood, Andre de Dienes, Elliott Erwitt, Milton Greene, Philippe Halsman, Tom Kelley, Douglas Kirkland, Willy Rizzo, Sam Shaw, and many others - to create this dazzling portfolio of images from every period of Marilyn Monroe’s adult life, from her wedding day in 1942 till just weeks before her death two decades later. Marilyn Monroe: Metamorphosis pays homage to her continually evolving style and extraordinary beauty.

Among the highlights:

Previously unseen Kodachrome, dye transfer, and Carbro prints of Norma Jeane from her modeling career.

Classic portraits and pinups in luscious full color, digitally restored from the original transparencies.

Never-before-seen photos from the sets of The Seven Year Itch, Some Like It Hot, The Misfits, and Something’s Got to Give.

Rare candids of Marilyn with Marlon Brando, Clark Gable, Humphrey Bogart, Lauren Bacall, Ronald and Nancy Reagan, Queen Elizabeth II, Joe DiMaggio, Arthur Miller, and others.

Previously unpublished photos by Richard Avedon, George Barris, Cecil Beaton, David Conover, Elliott Erwitt, John Florea, Tom Kelley, Richard C. Miller, Frank Powolny, Willy Rizzo, Zinn Arthur, and many others.

Pairing more than two hundred first-generation photos with reflections on Marilyn from her friends, work associates, and admirers—and including her last interview, in which she reflects on her life and fame—Marilyn Monroe: Metamorphosis is an unforgettable showcase of the actress’s transformation from an unknown factory worker to one of the most recognized faces in history.

Marlene Dietrich once said, "I am not a myth." But by referencing the term, Dietrich only reinforces the fact more emphatically. For, using almost any common dictionary definition of that word, Dietrich is a myth. Her image was fashioned by director Josef von Sternberg in films like The Blue Angel, Shanghai Express, and The Scarlet Empress, after which she maintained a Hollywood career that included Destry Rides Again, Rancho Notorious, and an accomplished performance in Billy Wilder's Witness for the Prosecution. She has been an object of worship to millions throughout the decades, up to and including this jaded, post-modern 21st century. She is the "intellectual's pin up girl," as author Herman G. Weinberg called her, of filmmakers and film critics alike. She is the "Monstre Sacre" as one of her recent biographers has labeled her. She is her own "Superior Product," (her daughter's words) manufactured and refined in her fertile brain. In other words, Marlene Dietrich is an icon for all ages.

The Movie Icon series: People talk about Hollywood glamour, about studios that had more stars than there are in heaven, about actors who weren't actors but were icons. Other people talk about these things, TASCHEN shows you. Movie Icons is a series of photo books that feature the most famous personalities in the history of cinema.

These 192-page books are visual biographies of the stars. For each title, series editor Paul Duncan has painstaking selected approximately 150 high quality enigmatic and sumptuous portraits, colorful posters and lobby cards, rare film stills, and previously unpublished candid photos showing the stars as they really are. These images are accompanied by concise introductory essays by leading film writers; each book also includes a chronology, a filmography, and a bibliography, and is peppered with apposite quotes from the movies and from life.

"The surprising thing about this film was that I succeeded in not going crazy," said director Leo McCarey about working with the manic Marx Brothers on Duck Soup. The madcap antics of Groucho, Chico, Harpo, and (sometimes) Zeppo have driven audiences wild with laughter in such unforgettable films as A Night at the Opera and A Day at the Races. Whether it's wise-cracking Groucho with his big cigar and bushy eyebrows, street-smart Chico with his fake Italian accent, or skirt-chasing Harpo honking his horn, the Marx Brothers' inimitable and irrepressible humor continues to inspire us today.

The Movie Icon series: People talk about Hollywood glamour, about studios that had more stars than there are in heaven, about actors who weren't actors but were icons. Other people talk about these things, TASCHEN shows you. Movie Icons is a series of photo books that feature the most famous personalities in the history of cinema. These 192-page books are visual biographies of the stars. For each title, series editor Paul Duncan has painstaking selected approximately 150 high quality enigmatic and sumptuous portraits, colorful posters and lobby cards, rare film stills, and previously unpublished candid photos showing the stars as they really are. These images are accompanied by concise introductory essays by leading film writers; each book also includes a chronology, a filmography, and a bibliography, and is peppered with apposite quotes from the movies and from life.

The ‘Anatomy of an Actor’ series takes ten roles by a single actor, each studied in a dedicated chapter, and identifies the key elements that made the performances exceptional – carefully examining the actor’s craft for both a professional audience and movie fans alike.

This new title explores the career of Meryl Streep (b.1949). One of the most talented actresses of her generation, Streep provides a high benchmark by which others are measured.

In films as diverse as The Deer Hunter (1978), Kramer vs. Kramer (1979), Mamma Mia (2008) and her Oscar-winning turn as Margaret Thatcher in The Iron Lady (2010), Streep has never failed to astound audiences with her ability to fully inhabit her characters.

An accessible text combines both a narrative and analytical dimension and is illustrated by 300 film stills, set photographs and film sequences.

Arguably the greatest all-round entertainer of his era, Michael Jackson embodied the paradox of extreme fame: a uniquely gifted singer, dancer and songwriter, his extraordinary talents were matched only by the loneliness, eccentricity and ego-mania of his isolated position atop popular culture. This book charts the rise and demise of the self-proclaimed King of Pop.

A star from the age of 11, Michael Jackson's unrivalled success spanned five decades beginning with the Jackson 5 in 1968, through a solo Motown career as a teen-idol in the early '70s (while still fronting the Jacksons), and as a remarketed pop genius from the 1980s. While the success of Thriller, the best-selling album in history, owed much to production maestro Quincy Jones, Jackson's abilities as a supreme vocalist, dance provocateur, music video pioneer, songwriter and live performer simply know no equal. As an entertainer he was a perfectionist. Yet his music transcended race, geography, sex, genre, age and color—a remarkable achievement for a shy, troubled boy who never grew up. While his untimely death in June 2009 shook the world, it is Jackson's musical legacy that will endure for generations to come. In this book, the triumph and tragedy of his extraordinary journey is revealed through a unique visual and narrative chronology.

The Music Icons series:
Each title contains a painstaking selection of approximately 150 portraits, colorful posters and record covers, rare concert photos, and previously unpublished candid photos. These images—each matching an important biographical event—are accompanied by text tracing the progression of each subject’s life and career and are complemented by a section containing lists of essential recordings and selected chart rankings.

Over the course of the eight feature films he has directed since 1979, Michael Mann has shown himself, time and again, to be a rigorous, honest dramatist, a maker of solid worlds. So much so that in America, at least, he tends to be underrated. The most respectful of his critics often define him (a bit too simply) as a "realist." Certainly, whether the subject is thievery (The Jericho Mile, Thief, Heat), killers (Manhunter, Collateral), frontier life (The Last of the Mohicans), the nuanced struggle between the news media and corporate money (The Insider), or that of a celebrated athlete looking to find his life`s meaning in a world of bigotry (Ali), Mann seeks authenticity above all. Whatever suspense, entertainment value, and emotional or philosophical insight his work may yield rises from a truthfully imagined, painstakingly observed set of human beings and their warring intentions. This book explores Mann`s multifaceted oeuvre, including his most recent film, Miami Vice.

With L`Avventura he piqued the world`s curiosity. With La Notte and L`Eclisse, he mystified audiences and broke hearts. With Red Desert, his first color picture, he blurred all the lines between art, cinema, and still photography. Continuing his creative explosion with Blow-Up, Zabriskie Point, The Passenger, and The Identification of a Woman, Michelangelo Antonioni cemented his reputation as the most innovative and artistic filmmaker of his generation. With a plethora of illustrations, drawn in part from Antonioni`s own archives, this book explores his life and career from his earliest documentaries to his latest collaborations.

About the Series:
Every book in TASCHEN's Basic Film series features:

* an introduction to the director and coverage of every film he or she directed
* over 100 scenes from the movies, shots of the director at work, and film posters, with explanatory captions
* rare images from around the world
* informative text by acknowledged experts
* a chronology, filmography, and bibliography