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May 1949 saw Marilyn Monroe out of work, she had been dropped by Columbia and 20th Century Fox in the past three years. Tom Kelley had asked Marilyn to pose nude but she had turned the offer down, however in May 1949 Marilyn contacted him to see if the offer still stood – it did!! Marilyn arrived at Tom Kelley's studio in Los Angeles on 27th May 1949, also present was Natalie, Tom's wife who worked as his assistant. A sheet of red velvet was placed across the floor, and an Artie Shaw record was playing. Tom Kelley used an eight-by-ten Deardorff View Camera. The photo session lasted for two hours, and when it was over Marilyn signed a release form under the alias name of “Mona Monroe”. Marilyn earned $50 for this photo session. |
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©Movie Stills Archives
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During this photo session Tom Kelley took twenty four nude images of Marilyn in two basic poses – one pose was a seated Marilyn with her legs tucked beneath her and her head tossed back (Golden Dreams), and other pose was a full length profile of Marilyn lying on the red velvet (A New Wrinkle), but Tom Kelley sold only two of the twenty four images he took that day. The photograph on this page is the alternative version of the “Golden Dreams” image – one that was done for “family viewing”. Two calendars were issued – “A New Wrinkle” (which was the original calendar photograph) but was not so popular and “Golden Dreams”, which became known worldwide. The location of the other twenty two images taken that day of Marilyn is unknown. It is interesting to note that “Golden Dreams” (the pose of Marilyn seated) was only released once it was realised that the nude in the “A New Wrinkle” image (Marilyn lying on red velvet) was actually Marilyn Monroe. Original sales of the calendar reached eight million copies in the middle of the 1950's. |
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The story of Marilyn Monroe posing nude and the image being used on a calendar appeared in the newspapers in March 1952. The studio tried to convince Marilyn to lie, to claim she had nothing to do with it, it was not her in the photograph. However Marilyn saw no reason to lie and 20th Century Fox publicity director stood by her decision to tell the truth – she was the red velvet calendar girl, she had needed money and at that time of her life she was out of work. When the story of the nude calendar appeared in the newspapers Marilyn managed one of the greatest publicity events in showbusiness, her fan mail at 20th Century Fox increased, and the film “Clash by Night” opened to huge audiences. |
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