Lawrence Schiller

(American, born 1936)

Lawrence Schiller is an American producer, screenwriter, and photographer best known for his candid photos of Marilyn Monroe. For almost 35 years, Schiller collaborated with Norman Mailer to create several films together, including Executioner's Song (1982), for which Mailer received the Pulitzer Prize. “I never considered myself a good photographer. I still don't,” he has said. “I thought of myself as a hard worker. My camera was a sponge and I had an instinct that athletes have—anticipation.” Born on December 28, 1936 in Brooklyn, NY, was raised in San Diego and attended Pepperdine College in Los Angeles. After graduating, he held photojournalist positions at Time, The Sunday Times, The Saturday Evening Post, and Newsweek. The artist later broke into the world of film by directing part of Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid in 1969 and Lady Sings the Blues in 1972. Over the course of his career, Schiller has captured images of several important and notorious figures in American history including Lee Harvey Oswald, Muhammad Ali, and Richard Nixon. He currently lives and works between Los Angeles, CA and New York, NY.