First Impressions

Richard Meryman was born on August 6, 1926. He graduated from Williams College and did graduate work at Harvard University. During World War II, he served as a Navy ensign. In 1949, he was hired as a novice writer for Life magazine. He went on to become the magazine's first human affairs editor and interviewed several celebrities including Ingmar Bergman, Charlie Chaplin, Paul McCartney, Laurence Olivier, Elizabeth Taylor, and Marilyn Monroe. The tapes he recorded of his conversation with Monroe became the basis of a 1992 HBO program titled Marilyn: The Last Interview. He retired from Life in 1972. He wrote several books during his lifetime including Hope: A Loss Survived, Enter Talking co-written with Joan Rivers, Andrew Wyeth: A Secret Life, and Broken Promises, Mended Dreams. He died from pneumonia on February 5, 2015 at the age of 88.

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