"We were introduced to Sammy in 1953. We were deep, deep friends until his death. He became an every day part of our lives. We did everything together. We traveled, ate, worked and looked after one another. We sat through a thousand performances and we shared a devout love for movie and other entertainment trivia. We took Marilyn to see him at the Copa. After being on for over two hours, his performed his closing number “Birth of the Blues”,  to thunderous applause. Marilyn taps my shoulder, smiles and said, “When Sammy works, he becomes Cary Grant in front of your very eyes.” 

Whenever we went to one of his shows, Milton always took a camera. He would put it on the table and shoot. No fuss, no one knew, no one noticed, because the paying customers were watching Sammy.

In the early '60s Sammy and Mai Britt, one of the first public interracial couples, were married and made a life for themselves. Not that they were publicly flamboyant and seen at El Morocco every night. Even walking on Madison Avenue someone would say something nasty in passing, hence they would need bodyguards at all times. 

Sammy learned a new number called “Bo Jangles”. He wanted special dramatic lighting, so of course he called Milton. Milton again thought of a silhouette against a black background with just a pinspot following him everywhere he went on stage. At the end, as he had always done so successfully, the spotlight became smaller and smaller until the last note came out of Sam’s mouth. The right hand is up, fingers snapping in time to the music, blackout, BAM! It was first tried in Vegas at the old Sands hotel."

Excerpted from But That's Another Story by Amy & Joshua Greene. Published by powerHouse Books.

Marilyn Monroe was one of the most photographed women in the world, it’s perhaps unsurprising, 53 years on from her untimely death, that we are still being presented with unseen images of her.

These unseen images and more can be viewed at the exhibition of Monroe pictures, called Gentlemen Prefer Blondes, by two celebrated American photographers Milton H. Greene & Douglas Kirkland, which opens next month at Chelsea’s Little Black Gallery from January 19th to the 27th of February 2016 at The Little Black Gallery, 13a Park Walk, London SW10 0AJ

Milton H. Greene (1922-1985) made his mark as one of the most celebrated photographers in the world. Greene began taking pictures at the early age of 14. By age 23, he was referred to as "Color Photography's Wonder Boy.” working for Life, Look, Harper's Bazaar, and Vogue. Greene's most noted work is with Marilyn Monroe. They first met in 1953 on assignment for Look Magazine. He photographed her in 52 different sittings producing over 5,000 images, some of which have never been published.

Douglas Kirkland was born in Toronto, Canada. He joined Look Magazine in his early twenties, and Life Magazine during the golden age of 60’s/70’s. Kirkland has worked on the sets of over one hundred motion pictures and his photography has been exhibited all over the world. The evening he spent with Monroe 54 years ago was sensual, intimate, and spontaneous, and it produced the famous series “An Evening With Marilyn Monroe.” According to Kirkland, the two of them shared a tension-filled shoot. He describes their time together as though they “were in a beautiful dance”.

For more information about the gallery you can visit Iconic Images or The Little Black Gallery websites.