Marilyn Monroe and Arthur Miller: a year in their lives - in pictures

# Arthur Miller

# Marilyn Monroe

# Theatre

A View from the Bridge, currently revived at the Young Vic, was first staged in London in 1956. It was a dramatic year for Miller: he appeared before the House Un-American Activities Committee, divorced his wife, Mary Slattery, and married Marilyn Monroe, whose own career had been boosted by her performance in Bus Stop. Miller and Monroe travelled to London together for the opening of A View from the Bridge, directed by Peter Brook. Revisit their sensational year in pictures

Gallery
Arthur Miller and Marilyn Monroe on a bike ride in August 1956
Arthur Miller and Marilyn Monroe on a bike ride in August 1956. They first met five years earlier on the set of the film As Young as You Feel. Photograph: Harold Clements/Getty Images Photograph: Harold Clements/Getty Images
Marilyn Monroe stars in Bus Stop in 1956
Bus Stop, based on William Inge's play, gave Monroe one of her first fully-fledged dramatic parts. The film was released in the summer of 1956. Photograph: Moviestore Collection/Rex Features Photograph: Moviestore Collection/Rex Features
Arthur Miller arrives in New York in June, a day after his divorce from Mary Slattery
Arthur Miller arrives in New York in June 1956, a day after his divorce from Mary Slattery. When asked by reporters, he refuses to comment on his relationship with Monroe. Photograph: Archive Photos/Getty Images Photograph: Archive Photos/Getty Images
Marilyn Monroe and Arthur Miller
Monroe and Miller were married twice – in a civil ceremony on 29 June and again, two days later, in a Jewish ceremony. Photograph: Paul Schutzer/Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images Photograph: Paul Schutzer/Time & Life Pictures/Getty Image
Laurence Olivier and Marilyn Monroe in The Prince and the Showgirl
Monroe combined her honeymoon in London with shooting her new film, The Prince and the Showgirl, directed by and starring Laurence Olivier. The film was based on a Terence Rattigan play. Photograph: Moviestore Collection/Rex Features Photograph: Moviestore Collection/Rex Features
Marilyn Monroe and Laurence Olivier
The making of The Prince and the Showgirl was difficult for both Olivier and Monroe, as recounted in the film My Week with Marilyn, based on Colin Clark's memoirs. Photograph: Hulton Archive/Getty Images Photograph: Hulton Archive/Getty Images
Arthur Miller in discussions for A View from the Bridge
Arthur Miller with Peter Brook, far right, in discussions for A View from the Bridge, which opened at the Comedy theatre in London in October 1956. That year, Miller refused to name names when he was questioned about communism before the House Un-American Activities Committee. The play explores informers and illegal immigrants. Photograph: Alamy Photograph: Alamy
Vivien Leigh, Laurence Olivier, Marilyn Monroe and Arthur Miller at the opening night of A View from the Bridge
Vivien Leigh, Laurence Olivier, Marilyn Monroe and Arthur Miller at the opening night of A View from the Bridge. Photograph: Hulton Archive/Getty Images Photograph: Hulton Archive/Getty Images
Marilyn Monroe at the Comedy theatre
A View from the Bridge was banned by the Lord Chamberlain so the Comedy theatre was turned into a club in order to stage the play. Photograph: Keystone/Getty Images Photograph: Keystone/Getty Images
American actress Marilyn Monroe (1926 - 1962) and her husband Arthur Miller (1915 - 2005) leave the Comedy Theatre in London after a performance of 'A View from the Bridge', 12th October 1956.
Monroe and Miller leave the theatre. 'How could she walk?' asked the Daily Mail, reporting that the star wore 'a scarlet satin gown so tight around the knees that walking was an achievement'. The Guardian's Philip Hope-Wallace called the play 'deathly earnest'. Kenneth Tynan thought it was 'just short of being a masterpiece'. A View from the Bridge continues at the Young Vic until 7 June 2014. Photograph: Hulton Archive/Getty Images Photograph: Hulton Archive/Getty Images

Contributor

Chris Wiegand

The GuardianTramp

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