{{short description|American journalist}} {{About||the American documentary film and television director|David G. Conover|the American marine biologist|David O. Conover}}
[[File:Norma-Jean.jpg|thumb|Conover's photo of Marilyn Monroe with a RP-5 (Kodachrome photo) in 1944]] thumb|Conover's photo of Marilyn Monroe with a RP-5 prop (Kodachrome photo) in 1944
'''David Conover''' (June 26, 1919 – December 21, 1983) was an author and documentary photographer who is credited with discovering Marilyn Monroe while taking photos for ''Yank'' magazine. While attached to the U.S. Army Air Forces' First Motion Picture Unit, his commanding officer was future U.S. president Ronald Reagan, who had sent Conover to the Radioplane Munitions Factory, where he discovered Monroe.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://articles.sun-sentinel.com/1991-01-06/news/9101010832_1_marilyn-monroe-david-conover-early-photographs|title=Monroe an Exhibit of the Early Days of Marilyn Monroe -- Before She Became a Legend -- Brings the Star's History in Focus|access-date=2012-06-16|archive-date=2013-01-04|archive-url=https://archive.today/20130104221003/http://articles.sun-sentinel.com/1991-01-06/news/9101010832_1_marilyn-monroe-david-conover-early-photographs|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.marilynmonroepages.com/conover/|title=How Marilyn Monroe Was Discovered by David Conover | Danamo's Marilyn Monroe Pages|date=26 June 2021 }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=http://entertainment.howstuffworks.com/marilyn-monroe-early-life3.htm|title=Marilyn Monroe's Early Life|date=29 August 2007}}</ref>
His published writings include: *''Once Upon an Island'' Publisher: San Juan Publishing (November 2003) *''Reader's Digest Condensed Books'': Volume 74 - Summer 1968 Publisher: Reader's Digest (1968) *''Best Sellers from Reader's Digest Condensed Books'' - 1970 *''One Man's Island'' Publisher: General Pub. Co (1971) *''Sitting on a Salt Spring'' Publisher: Paper Jacks (1978) *''Finding Marilyn: A Romance'' Publisher: Grosset & Dunlap (1981)
== See also == *Salt Spring Island *Marilyn Monroe
== References == {{Reflist}}
== External links == *[https://web.archive.org/web/20090715081905/http://www.immortalmarilyn.com/MarilynPhotographerConover.html Immortal Marilyn (David Conover story + early photos)] *[https://web.archive.org/web/20090515142517/http://www.dconover.com/default.htm Wallace Island Resort (Pictures, stories & links)]
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Conover, David}} Category:1919 births Category:1983 deaths Category:20th-century American photographers Category:First Motion Picture Unit personnel Category:20th-century American musicians Category:20th-century American writers Category:20th-century American journalists Category:20th-century American male writers Category:20th-century American male journalists
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