Lawrence Schiller

American photographer, producer, and director; Mailer's most important collaborator, beginning when the two met in November 1972. Schiller conceived and packaged Marilyn (1973) and went on to drive The Executioner's Song (1979) and Oswald's Tale (1995).

Lawrence Schiller, the photographer and producer, became Mailer’s most consequential collaborator after the two met in November 1972. Schiller conceived and produced the picture-biography Marilyn: A Biography (73.30, 1973) and assembled its photographs, and he later originated and produced two of Mailer’s largest nonfiction undertakings, The Executioner’s Song (1979) and Oswald’s Tale (1995). For The Executioner’s Song Schiller assembled the more than 15,000 pages of interviews from which Mailer built the book; Mailer described him as “almost like a line coach.” The 1972 meeting opened a partnership that ran the rest of Mailer’s career.

Stub created during the 1972 ingest; to be expanded as the collaborations are documented.

Related pages

• Carol Stevens | 1972
• Marilyn: A Biography (73.30)

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Last updated: 2026-06-05