1 00:00:00,480 --> 00:00:02,880 Speaker 1: Some people live a life that seems, I don't know, 2 00:00:03,000 --> 00:00:07,360 Speaker 1: just beyond imagination. You know. Well, this chick, now mostly forgotten, 3 00:00:07,720 --> 00:00:10,680 Speaker 1: was a star fashion model in the nineteen twenties and 4 00:00:10,800 --> 00:00:15,400 Speaker 1: acclaimed surrealist artist and a renowned war photographer. And that's 5 00:00:15,400 --> 00:00:18,880 Speaker 1: not even half her story. I'm Patty Steele. Lee Miller 6 00:00:19,280 --> 00:00:22,680 Speaker 1: posing for a photo in Hitler's bathtub the day he 7 00:00:22,760 --> 00:00:32,400 Speaker 1: committed suicide. That's next on the backstory. The backstory is back. Okay, 8 00:00:32,440 --> 00:00:36,559 Speaker 1: she's dropped dead. Gorgeous, ambitious, brilliant, and kind of quirky. 9 00:00:37,120 --> 00:00:40,040 Speaker 1: Lee Miller is born in nineteen o seven into a 10 00:00:40,080 --> 00:00:44,040 Speaker 1: wealthy family in upstate New York. She becomes a fashion model, 11 00:00:44,080 --> 00:00:47,239 Speaker 1: an artist, and a war photographer. She also has a 12 00:00:47,280 --> 00:00:51,560 Speaker 1: string of famous lovers. So from the outside, her life 13 00:00:51,640 --> 00:00:55,480 Speaker 1: seems pretty golden. But it was anything but. When Lee 14 00:00:55,640 --> 00:00:58,160 Speaker 1: was a little girl, she was raped while staying with 15 00:00:58,200 --> 00:01:01,920 Speaker 1: a family friend in Brooklyn. That attack infected her with 16 00:01:02,000 --> 00:01:05,800 Speaker 1: gonorrhea she was just seven years old. On top of that, 17 00:01:05,959 --> 00:01:09,960 Speaker 1: her father, an amateur photographer, used his daughter as his 18 00:01:10,120 --> 00:01:12,960 Speaker 1: model and took tons of photos of Lee in the 19 00:01:13,080 --> 00:01:15,840 Speaker 1: nude when she was a little girl, and again as 20 00:01:15,880 --> 00:01:19,839 Speaker 1: a young teen no surprise that she had troubles in school. 21 00:01:20,080 --> 00:01:23,720 Speaker 1: In fact, despite her talent and brains, Lee was expelled 22 00:01:23,720 --> 00:01:26,920 Speaker 1: from almost every school she was sent to. In nineteen 23 00:01:26,959 --> 00:01:30,640 Speaker 1: twenty five, she turns eighteen and decides to move to 24 00:01:30,720 --> 00:01:35,080 Speaker 1: Paris to study theater, lighting, costume and design. Back in 25 00:01:35,160 --> 00:01:38,399 Speaker 1: New York just a year later, she goes to Vassar College, 26 00:01:38,680 --> 00:01:41,399 Speaker 1: and then after just another year, moves to New York 27 00:01:41,400 --> 00:01:44,840 Speaker 1: City to study painting at the Art Students League, but 28 00:01:44,880 --> 00:01:49,840 Speaker 1: nothing really satisfies her. Then her big break It happened 29 00:01:49,880 --> 00:01:54,440 Speaker 1: when she apparently tricked the very famous Vogue publisher Conde 30 00:01:54,600 --> 00:01:59,080 Speaker 1: Nast into noticing her. Lee saw him on the sidewalk 31 00:01:59,120 --> 00:02:02,360 Speaker 1: outside his office and promptly stepped in front of an 32 00:02:02,360 --> 00:02:06,520 Speaker 1: oncoming car. He grabbed her, pulled her back, and noticed 33 00:02:06,520 --> 00:02:10,480 Speaker 1: her beauty and style, and the rest is history. That story, 34 00:02:10,520 --> 00:02:13,360 Speaker 1: by the way, is legendary in the fashion world, because 35 00:02:13,639 --> 00:02:17,720 Speaker 1: very soon Lee became an in demand fashion model and 36 00:02:17,840 --> 00:02:20,800 Speaker 1: was on the cover of Vogue within a year. Now, 37 00:02:20,880 --> 00:02:24,079 Speaker 1: the problem is it didn't last long. When she first 38 00:02:24,160 --> 00:02:27,640 Speaker 1: arrived in New York City, the famous photographer and artist 39 00:02:27,800 --> 00:02:31,400 Speaker 1: Edward Steichen had taken some pics of her and wound 40 00:02:31,480 --> 00:02:35,520 Speaker 1: up selling them to the feminine hygiene company Cotex after 41 00:02:35,600 --> 00:02:38,400 Speaker 1: she became well known in the modeling world. It was 42 00:02:38,440 --> 00:02:41,960 Speaker 1: the first time a recognized woman was featured in that 43 00:02:42,080 --> 00:02:45,560 Speaker 1: kind of an ad, and it was wildly scandalous in 44 00:02:45,600 --> 00:02:49,440 Speaker 1: those days. Even Lee was a little bit uncomfortable at first, 45 00:02:49,480 --> 00:02:53,240 Speaker 1: but then kind of started to like the notoriety. It 46 00:02:53,320 --> 00:02:57,040 Speaker 1: cost her a lot of modeling gigs, but she didn't care. Next, 47 00:02:57,120 --> 00:03:00,120 Speaker 1: she moved to Paris again and became the lover and 48 00:03:00,240 --> 00:03:04,640 Speaker 1: muse of the famous surrealist photographer and artist Manray. After 49 00:03:04,680 --> 00:03:08,079 Speaker 1: a turbulent couple of years, she left him and headed 50 00:03:08,120 --> 00:03:10,639 Speaker 1: back to New York City, where she opened her own 51 00:03:10,639 --> 00:03:15,919 Speaker 1: photography studio. Her clients included the ad agency Giant BBDO, 52 00:03:16,520 --> 00:03:20,800 Speaker 1: which of course inspired the AMC show Madmen, cosmetic companies 53 00:03:20,840 --> 00:03:25,600 Speaker 1: like Elizabeth Arden and Helena Rubinstein, luxury department stores including 54 00:03:25,639 --> 00:03:29,079 Speaker 1: Sasmith Avenue and I Magnin, and a number of Broadway 55 00:03:29,120 --> 00:03:33,040 Speaker 1: and film stars. But in nineteen thirty four she abandoned 56 00:03:33,080 --> 00:03:37,200 Speaker 1: the studio to marry an Egyptian businessman and moved to 57 00:03:37,240 --> 00:03:41,280 Speaker 1: Cairo with him, where she continued to create amazing photographs. 58 00:03:41,880 --> 00:03:44,840 Speaker 1: Think That's the fairytale ending she was looking for, not 59 00:03:44,960 --> 00:03:48,640 Speaker 1: even close. Within three years, she was bored with Egypt 60 00:03:48,720 --> 00:03:51,720 Speaker 1: and most likely with her husband, so she headed back 61 00:03:51,720 --> 00:03:55,880 Speaker 1: to Paris, where she reconciled with Manray. In the years 62 00:03:56,000 --> 00:03:59,560 Speaker 1: leading up to World War Two, her photographs were displayed 63 00:03:59,600 --> 00:04:03,280 Speaker 1: in several exhibits, including one at the Museum of Modern Art. 64 00:04:04,080 --> 00:04:07,119 Speaker 1: Lee was living just outside of London when World War 65 00:04:07,160 --> 00:04:11,280 Speaker 1: II broke out. Friends, family, and co workers told her 66 00:04:11,320 --> 00:04:14,080 Speaker 1: to go back to the US to be safe, but 67 00:04:14,280 --> 00:04:17,719 Speaker 1: her ambition and curiosity went out and she signed on 68 00:04:17,920 --> 00:04:21,560 Speaker 1: as a war correspondent for Vogue, who knew a fashion 69 00:04:21,640 --> 00:04:25,640 Speaker 1: magazine would need a war correspondent. Following the D Day 70 00:04:25,720 --> 00:04:28,960 Speaker 1: invasion in France, she was on the front line and 71 00:04:29,040 --> 00:04:33,000 Speaker 1: her photographs included the first recorded use of napalm. A 72 00:04:33,200 --> 00:04:36,320 Speaker 1: problem is, as a woman, she wasn't supposed to be 73 00:04:36,400 --> 00:04:39,680 Speaker 1: in a battle zone, but she stayed on until military 74 00:04:39,680 --> 00:04:43,280 Speaker 1: authorities realized where she was and put her under temporary 75 00:04:43,279 --> 00:04:47,440 Speaker 1: house arrest, strictly limiting where she could go. Eventually, Lee 76 00:04:47,520 --> 00:04:50,880 Speaker 1: was allowed to continue documenting the war. She teamed up 77 00:04:50,880 --> 00:04:55,480 Speaker 1: with a Life magazine correspondent photographing the liberation of Paris. 78 00:04:55,839 --> 00:05:00,919 Speaker 1: The battle of Alsace and the Nazi concentration camps at Buchenvo, Docow. 79 00:05:01,680 --> 00:05:05,240 Speaker 1: The evening after they visited Dacau, they got into Hitler's 80 00:05:05,279 --> 00:05:09,520 Speaker 1: private quarters. While there, Lee took off her muddy combat 81 00:05:09,600 --> 00:05:13,880 Speaker 1: uniform in boots and climbed into Hitler's bathtub. She had 82 00:05:13,880 --> 00:05:16,640 Speaker 1: set up her camera so her partner could take the 83 00:05:16,880 --> 00:05:21,039 Speaker 1: iconic photograph of Lee bathing in Hitler's tub. It was 84 00:05:21,120 --> 00:05:24,640 Speaker 1: taken on the evening of April thirtieth, nineteen forty five, 85 00:05:25,320 --> 00:05:29,120 Speaker 1: the very same day Hitler committed suicide. She slept in 86 00:05:29,120 --> 00:05:32,640 Speaker 1: his bed that night. At the same time, she was 87 00:05:32,680 --> 00:05:35,919 Speaker 1: photographing the end and then the aftermath of the war 88 00:05:36,400 --> 00:05:42,120 Speaker 1: and how it had impacted families, soldiers, and cities across Europe. Eventually, 89 00:05:42,320 --> 00:05:47,160 Speaker 1: she continued working for Vogue, covering fashion and celebrities. Imagine that, 90 00:05:47,880 --> 00:05:50,799 Speaker 1: but the atrocities that she had witnessed really took a toll. 91 00:05:51,440 --> 00:05:55,200 Speaker 1: She was now dealing with clinical depression, likely due to PTSD, 92 00:05:55,839 --> 00:05:59,680 Speaker 1: and she became an alcoholic. When she recovered, she got 93 00:06:00,000 --> 00:06:03,960 Speaker 1: ignant by another well known artist, Roland Penrose, and moved 94 00:06:04,000 --> 00:06:07,320 Speaker 1: to a farm in the English countryside, where the entertained. 95 00:06:07,400 --> 00:06:12,240 Speaker 1: Other surrealist artists like Picasso and Miro, but those images 96 00:06:12,279 --> 00:06:16,279 Speaker 1: from the war, especially the concentration camps, were implanted in 97 00:06:16,360 --> 00:06:20,479 Speaker 1: her mind and continued to haunt her. Her depression came back, 98 00:06:20,960 --> 00:06:24,320 Speaker 1: especially while she was being investigated as a Soviet spy 99 00:06:24,720 --> 00:06:27,960 Speaker 1: by the British government and after her husband began an 100 00:06:28,000 --> 00:06:31,880 Speaker 1: affair with a trapeze artist. Can't make this stuff up right, 101 00:06:32,640 --> 00:06:34,800 Speaker 1: Lee Miller died of cancer at her home in the 102 00:06:34,839 --> 00:06:38,640 Speaker 1: English countryside in nineteen seventy seven, at the age of seventy. 103 00:06:39,120 --> 00:06:42,000 Speaker 1: Her house is now a museum and her life has 104 00:06:42,040 --> 00:06:46,240 Speaker 1: become a fascinating new movie called Lee, starring Kate Winslet 105 00:06:46,240 --> 00:06:49,640 Speaker 1: as Lee. It's hard to imagine how one life can 106 00:06:49,680 --> 00:06:53,520 Speaker 1: be so packed with accomplishment as well as heartbreak, but 107 00:06:53,640 --> 00:06:57,640 Speaker 1: her legacy is all about curiosity and the ambition to 108 00:06:57,720 --> 00:07:07,400 Speaker 1: reach for more. I hope you're enjoying the Backstory with 109 00:07:07,480 --> 00:07:11,120 Speaker 1: Patty Steele. Follow or subscribe for free to get new 110 00:07:11,160 --> 00:07:14,960 Speaker 1: episodes delivered automatically, and feel free to dm me if 111 00:07:15,000 --> 00:07:17,960 Speaker 1: you have a story you'd like me to cover. On Facebook, 112 00:07:17,960 --> 00:07:23,640 Speaker 1: It's Patty Steele and on Instagram Real Patty Steele. I'm 113 00:07:23,640 --> 00:07:28,240 Speaker 1: Patty Steele. The Backstories a production of iHeartMedia, Premiere Networks, 114 00:07:28,400 --> 00:07:32,280 Speaker 1: the Elvis Durand Group, and Steel Trap Productions. Our producer 115 00:07:32,320 --> 00:07:35,640 Speaker 1: is Doug Fraser. Our writer Jake Kushner. We have new 116 00:07:35,680 --> 00:07:39,200 Speaker 1: episodes every Tuesday and Friday. Feel free to reach out 117 00:07:39,200 --> 00:07:42,680 Speaker 1: to me with comments and even story suggestions on Instagram 118 00:07:42,880 --> 00:07:45,880 Speaker 1: at Real Patty Steele and on Facebook at Patty Steele. 119 00:07:46,280 --> 00:07:49,240 Speaker 1: Thanks for listening to the Backstory with Patty Steele, the 120 00:07:49,320 --> 00:07:52,280 Speaker 1: pieces of history you didn't know you needed to know.