Jayne Mansfield & Marilyn Monroe Photographed Together
Jayne Mansfield In A Revealing Pose – 1955
Later That Year, Jayne Is Photographed With Her Role Model, Marilyn Monroe
This photograph of Jayne Mansfield in a sheer negligee top is not your standard cheesecake photo. And it’s not because Jayne is a little overexposed, which tended to be her modus operandi in front of the camera.
It is because the photograph was taken by Milton Greene, known for his business partnership with Marilyn Monroe. In 1955, Greene did a whole session of photographs with Mansfield and made some stunning images of her.
Considering Greene’s business dealings and personal closeness to Marilyn Monroe,(Marilyn was living for a time with Greene and his wife Amy) it is a bit of a surprise that Marilyn would not have had an issue with Greene taking pictures of Mansfield who many people considered to be Marilyn’s rival.
But apparently it was not a problem for Marilyn and I have never read a sourced quote about Marilyn complaining about Mansfield trying to steal Marilyn’s thunder. The stories of Marilyn finding Jayne’s imitation of her to be vulgar are apocryphal.
Mansfield acknowledged to reporters such as Lawrence Quirk that she was trying to emulate Marilyn’s career trajectory, but not necessarily the high acting aspirations Marilyn had in becoming a “serious actress” and joining The Actor’s Studio. Mansfield wanted to portray the girl that was reachable and accessible to the ordinary guy.
Which brings us to a question many movie fans ask: when did Marilyn Monroe and Jayne Mansfield meet?
Of course they had to have crossed paths at parties and at some 20th Century Fox studio functions. But there is only one known occasion where they were photographed together.
It was on December 2, 1955 and both Marilyn and Jayne were at the movie premiere party of The Rose Tattoo at The Hotel Astor.
Once again, a picture is worth a thousand words.
