Catherine Deneuve has co-authored a book dedicated to the late icon, “Marilyn chérie,” which will come out in May to mark the centenary of her birth.
In the book, which she wrote with collector Sébastien Cauchon, Deneuve delivers a personal look at photographs of Monroe, including set photos, costume fittings, portraits by leading photographers, press images and amateur shots. The curated stills, many of which have never been published before, come from Cauchon’s private collection, among others.
Deneuve, herself a cinema icon, is a longtime Monroe devotee and has been influenced by her work. She previously participated in the documentary, “Marilyn, dite Norma Jean,” which aired on television in 1987. Deneuve also starred with Monroe’s partner in “Some Like It Hot,” Jack Lemmon, in his first American film, “The April Fools,” in 1968; and with Yves Montand — who had starred opposite Monroe in “Let’s Make Love” — in Jean-Paul Rappeneau’s “Le Sauvage” in 1975.
“So beautiful, so open, almost unknown. So generous with her body, her face tilted back, something childlike too — which never makes her seem indecent. The actress whose films I have seen all, never known, the most precious to me,” Deneuve writes in “Marilyn chérie.”
The 224-page book is set to be published by Flammarion, which holds the worldwide publishing rights. Deneuve and Cauchon retain the adaptation rights.
Cauchon, who currently works as an awards strategist, previously wrote the book “Marilyn 1962,” which was published by Stock in 2016 and was optioned for a miniseries project. His Marilyn Monroe photo archive collection was presented at an exhibition hosted by Cannes Film Festival chief Thierry Frémaux during the 2022 edition of the Lumière Festival.