The lavish production number "Diamonds Are a Girl"s Best Friend," from the 1953 movie Gentlemen Prefer Blondes Gentlemen Prefer Blondes. (Photofest) (Photofest)
Marilyn married Joe DiMaggio in January of 1954, even though there were many indications that the marriage would not work out-not the least of which was his unhappiness over her career. Although Marilyn was forced to leave him when DiMaggio became physically abusive, their love for one another never died. (Retro Photo) (Retro Photo)
A love letter Marilyn wrote to Joe-addressed to "Dad." "I want to just be where you are," she wrote, "and be just what you want me to be." Unfortunately, what he wanted was for her to just be his wife, not one of the world"s great movie stars. (Getty Images) (Getty Images)
The filming of this famous scene from The Seven Year Itch The Seven Year Itch was the catalyst to the end of Marilyn"s relationship with Joe. It so enraged him that he became violent with her that very same evening. Then, as far as she was concerned, the marriage was over. was the catalyst to the end of Marilyn"s relationship with Joe. It so enraged him that he became violent with her that very same evening. Then, as far as she was concerned, the marriage was over. (Retro Photo) (Retro Photo)
Three iconic poses of a legend. (Photofest) (Photofest)
Marilyn received this very impersonal Christmas card from her mother, Gladys, in December of 1956. She never knew just what kind of communication to expect from her mother, who was at the Rock Haven Sanitarium at the time. (Shaan Kokin/Julien"s Auctions) (Shaan Kokin/Julien"s Auctions)
By the summer of 1960, Marilyn"s third marriage, to Arthur Miller- seen here on the set of The Misfits The Misfits-was all but over. (Photofest) (Photofest)
In February 1961, Marilyn was committed to the mental ward at the Payne Whitney Clinic in New York. Thanks to Joe DiMaggio"s intervention, she was later moved to the Neurological Inst.i.tute of Columbia University-Presbyterian Hospital, where she would remain for almost three weeks. Of course, there was the expected pandemonium when she was finally released from that facility- looking quite beautiful, as always. (Retro Photo)
Meanwhile, Marilyn"s mother, Gladys Baker Eley, tried to commit suicide while locked behind these gates at the Rock Haven Sanitarium in California. (Retro Photo) (Retro Photo)
According to photographer Bernie Abramson, these three photographs have never been published in any Marilyn Monroe biography. Marilyn"s close friend Pat Kennedy Lawford (left in the top photo); Pat"s husband, Peter Lawford; Marilyn"s occasional lover Frank Sinatra; and Marilyn are seen experimenting with Sinatra"s new Polaroid camera at the Lawford home in Santa Monica, California, circa 1961. (MPTV)
By 1962, Marilyn had done everything she could to see to it that her mother-seen here at Rock Haven Sanitarium-received the proper medical attention for paranoid schizophrenia. However, because her religious beliefs restricted the use of most medications, Gladys"s mental illness was never under control. (Courtesy of Maryanne Reed Collection) (Courtesy of Maryanne Reed Collection)
Not at all well. In these two rare photographs, taken on January 20, 1962, Marilyn is seen at a party hosted by Harvey Weinstein, producer of her movie Something"s Got to Give. Something"s Got to Give. In the first, she sips on a c.o.c.ktail while talking to poet Carl Sandburg. In the second-published here for the first time-she is seen dancing while still holding a drink. (Note how thin she is in this picture.) In the first, she sips on a c.o.c.ktail while talking to poet Carl Sandburg. In the second-published here for the first time-she is seen dancing while still holding a drink. (Note how thin she is in this picture.) (Getty Images) (Getty Images)
Marilyn first met Bobby Kennedy on February 1, 1962, at a dinner party at Pat and Peter Lawford"s home. This receipt disproves the long-reported story that Marilyn became so drunk that night she couldn"t drive herself back home and had to be driven by RFK and a friend. That maybe happened some other time, but on this evening she was definitely driven to and from the Lawford home by Carey Cadillac. (J. Randy Taraborrelli Collection.) (J. Randy Taraborrelli Collection.)
Certainly Kenneth O"Donnell, special a.s.sistant to JFK, couldn"t have known the sensation that would be caused by extending this invitation to Marilyn! (J. Randy Taraborrelli Collection) (J. Randy Taraborrelli Collection)
Another photo that has never before appeared in a Marilyn Monroe biography, of Marilyn and her publicist, Pat Newcomb, arriving at Madison Square Garden for JFK"s birthday party in May 1962. (J. Randy Taraborrelli Collection) (J. Randy Taraborrelli Collection)
Taken at a party following her performance, this is the only known photograph of Marilyn with both Bobby (left) and President John F. Kennedy. (Cecil Stoughton/Life Magazine, Time-Warner Inc.) (Cecil Stoughton/Life Magazine, Time-Warner Inc.)
Marilyn performed for JFK wearing what she described as "a dress only Marilyn Monroe could wear." (Photofest) (Photofest)
Marilyn sent this telegram to Mr. and Mrs. Robert Kennedy, declining an invitation to attend a party in honor of Pat and Peter Lawford in June 1962. Some have speculated that Marilyn declined because she was having an affair with Bobby. Others have wondered if Ethel would have invited her at all had she thought Marilyn was involved with her husband. In fact, it doesn"t seem as if Marilyn and Bobby were anything more than friends. (J. Randy Taraborrelli Collection.) (J. Randy Taraborrelli Collection.)
This fascinating photo hasn"t been seen in decades and has never before been published in any Marilyn Monroe biography. It, too, was taken at the after party following the Madison Square Garden event. Marilyn-on the right, watching Diahann Carroll perform-is holding a gla.s.s of champagne, her arm dangling carelessly over a railing. Seated on the far left is President John F. Kennedy. Against the wall, under the stairs, one can spot Ethel Kennedy and Pat Kennedy Lawford, Marilyn"s close friend. Peter Lawford is directly behind Marilyn, leaning against the wall. (The Kennedy Library) (The Kennedy Library)
The Lost Weekend: Marilyn and Peter Lawford at the Cal-Neva Lodge in July 1962, the weekend Marilyn was perhaps at her worst-the weekend that changed the lives of just about everyone involved: Peter, his wife, Pat, Frank Sinatra, and, of course, Marilyn. (MPTV) (MPTV)
It"s difficult to believe that one of the greatest movie stars of all time died in this spa.r.s.e, disheveled bedroom. It"s been said that she hadn"t had time for interior decorating, even though she"d moved into the house almost six months earlier. (Retro Photo) (Retro Photo)
Berniece Miracle leaves the funeral home after having made final arrangements for her half sister. (Retro Photo) (Retro Photo)
A sad-and shocking-headline. (Retro Photo) (Retro Photo)
Marilyn"s final resting place, at Westwood Memorial Park. (J. Randy Taraborrelli Collection) (J. Randy Taraborrelli Collection)
A never-before-published letter from Gladys Baker Eley to Marilyn"s business manager, Inez Melson, written after Marilyn"s death in 1962. "She is at peace and at rest now," Gladys wrote of her daughter, "and may G.o.d help her always." Gladys affixed to the letter a newspaper notice of the probate of Marilyn"s will. (Shaan Kokin/Julien"s Auctions) (Shaan Kokin/Julien"s Auctions)
Gladys lived another twenty-two largely unhappy years after the death of her famous daughter. (Photofest) (Photofest)
"She should have been made of iron or steel, but she was only made of flesh and blood." Like many of the photographs in this book, this one is so rare it may never have been published before, and certainly not in any previous Marilyn Monroe biography. (Frank Worth Estate and International Images, Inc.) (Frank Worth Estate and International Images, Inc.)
APPENDICES.
AFTER MARILYN.
AFTER MARILYN"S DEATH Miss Monroe has suffered from psychiatric disturbance for a long time. She had often expressed wishes to give up, withdraw and even to die. On more than one occasion in the past when disappointed or depressed, she had made a suicide attempt using sedative drugs. On these occasions, she had called for help and had been rescued. From the information collected about the events of the evening of August the fourth, it is our opinion that the same pattern was repeated-except for the rescue.- Theodore J. Curphey Los Angeles Coroner"s Office August 1962 Obviously, the repercussions of Marilyn Monroe"s death on many of the princ.i.p.al players in her life would be profound. She was much loved by those in her close-knit circle. Unfortunately, her half sister, Berniece Miracle, received the news of Marilyn"s death many hours after most people in the country already knew about it. She had been on a vacation, driving for hours with a broken radio. When she finally returned home and was called, she immediately flew to Los Angeles. Though overwhelmed by grief, she still managed to plan the funeral with her ex-brother-in-law, Joe DiMaggio.
As is by now well known, it was DiMaggio"s decision to prohibit just about everyone in Marilyn"s life from attending the services that took place on August 8, 1962, at the Westwood Village Mortuary Chapel. He felt strongly that the Kennedys and Frank Sinatra had let Marilyn down and, in some way, even contributed to her death. Therefore, he lashed out by excluding them from the services-as well as most of Marilyn"s other friends in show business. During this time of grief, DiMaggio wasn"t even sure what to make of Marilyn"s publicist and friend Pat Newcomb, because he knew she had known the Kennedys before Marilyn, and still had a relationship with the family. According to Gary Springer, DiMaggio asked his father, John Springer, to handle the bulk of public relations for Marilyn"s funeral.
Some of the choice few who were allowed to attend the services for Marilyn Monroe were Pat Newcomb, Berniece Miracle, Inez Melson, Milton Rudin, Ralph Roberts, Allan "Whitey" Snyder, Sydney Guilaroff, Joe DiMaggio Jr., Dr. Ralph Greenson, and his family. In all, there were just twenty-six names on the approved guest list. Lee Strasberg read the eulogy, describing Marilyn"s "luminous quality-a combination of wistfulness, radiance, yearning-that set her apart and made everyone wish to be a part of it."
Certainly, in the coldness of death, no one looks as they did in life, and especially not a woman who had been as vital as Marilyn Monroe. Still, she appeared at least serene in a simple green dress of nylon jersey, her blonde hair (a wig, actually) styled pretty much as it had been in the ill-fated Something"s Got to Give. Something"s Got to Give.
George Jacobs, Sinatra"s valet, says that Frank Sinatra was very upset over Marilyn"s death. Surprisingly, he even joined DiMaggio in the finger-pointing. "Mr. S. began to suspect Lawford and his brothers-in-law of possible foul play," Jacobs recalled, "but since at that point, he would get suspicious of them for a rainstorm, I didn"t put much stock in it. Marilyn was one of Mr. S."s favorite people. He loved how much she loved him. Without that love and admiration she constantly showered onto him, he was deeply wounded. The healing of that wound made him harder and colder than ever before."
For her part, Pat Kennedy Lawford was obviously also devastated by Marilyn"s death. She and Peter showed up at the chapel in Westwood only to be turned away at the door. Even Eunice Murray, who wasn"t fond of most people in Marilyn"s circle, insisted to Berniece Miracle that Pat should be invited to the services. However, Berniece really didn"t have much input in that decision, it was all in Joe DiMaggio"s purview. This had to have been especially trying for Pat in that the last conversation she had with her friend had been an angry one. It was the one during which Marilyn said she feared Pat might be jealous of her friendship with Peter Lawford.
Pat"s friend Pat Brennan says, "It doesn"t overstate it to say that Pat was never the same woman. After Marilyn"s last weekend at Cal-Neva was when she really began to change. I think she saw firsthand the destruction her husband"s lifestyle could wreak on a person. Even though she had enjoyed some of the parties herself, and was also a drinker from time to time, she had never seen anything like Marilyn at Cal-Neva. That weekend marked the beginning of the end of her marriage to Peter. After Marilyn"s death, she decided that she wanted out of the marriage. Indeed, the good times in Santa Monica ended with Marilyn"s death."
In fact, the Lawfords decided to stay together until after JFK"s reelection bid in 1964, but, of course, he was a.s.sa.s.sinated in 1963. Shortly after her brother"s murder, Pat filed for a legal separation. The couple would divorce in 1966. She would never marry again. Peter died in 1984.
Pat, who battled alcoholism for many years after Marilyn"s death, worked with the National Center on Addiction. She was also a founder of the National Committee for the Literary Arts. She died at age eighty-two in New York from complications of pneumonia. She is survived by four children and ten grandchildren.
It"s impossible to know what President John F. Kennedy thought about Marilyn Monroe"s death. It would seem she didn"t mean that much to him after all. In his mind, she was likely not much more than a one-night stand. In fact, according to the Secret Service gate logs of the White House, the night after Marilyn"s death-August 6, 1962-another of his mistresses, Mary Meyer, paid him a visit at the White House while Jackie and the children were on their way to Ravello, Italy, for a vacation. Meyer showed up at 7:32 p.m. At 11:28, Kennedy called for a car to meet Mary Meyer at the White House"s South Gate to take her home.
Robert Kennedy also went on with his life and political career, never mentioning Marilyn publicly. He was a.s.sa.s.sinated in 1968.
Ida and Wayne Bolender heard the terrible news of Marilyn"s pa.s.sing on television, like most of America. "Ida went straight to church to pray for the soul of Norma Jeane," said one of her relatives. "She never stopped loving her. In her mind, she would always be that little girl she raised. Wayne was sad for many months. It was like losing a daughter for the both of them, it really was." Ida Bolender survived Marilyn Monroe by ten years. She died in 1972. Wayne lived two more years, until 1974.
Respected Marilyn Monroe historian and author Charles Casillo should have the last word on Marilyn here: "Many decades after her death, Marilyn Monroe is still able to reach from the grave and entice, enthrall and inspire. The living Monroe had inspired a love affair with the world, through death she has inspired a sort of ma.s.s necrophilia. Yes, she had and maintains the astonishing fame that many still crave-but beyond that she had an incredible sweetness that touched us and a genuine soul that blazed. Now that she"s gone, we"re still reaching for that glow... willing to grab what light we can."
GLADYS"S LIFE AFTER MARILYN Shortly after Marilyn"s death, Inez Melson received a two-page handwritten letter on personalized stationery from Gladys Baker Eley, sent from the Rock Haven Sanitarium. Published here for the first time, it said: My Dear Friend Mrs. Melson; My Dear Friend Mrs. Melson;I am very grateful for your kind and gracious help toward Berniece and myself and to dear Norma Jeane. She is at peace and at rest now and may our G.o.d bless her and help her always. I wish you to know that I gave her (Norma) Christian Science treatments for approximately a year; wanted her to be happy and joyous. G.o.d bless you and all your goodness. I am getting ever so much good out of the fan and I am indeed most thankful and grateful to you and Berniece and all. May the love of our G.o.d bless you and keep you. Miss Travis told me you"d be here to see me this weekend so I am antic.i.p.ating and hoping to see you soon.Love, Gladys When Gladys refers to giving Marilyn Christian Science treatments, she"s likely not suggesting that she was praying with with her daughter (because that had never been the case) but rather praying-or to use Christian Science vernacular, "treating"- her daughter (because that had never been the case) but rather praying-or to use Christian Science vernacular, "treating"-for Marilyn. Of course, she did not attend the funeral. Marilyn. Of course, she did not attend the funeral.
When Gladys"s other daughter, Berniece Miracle, went to visit her mother at Rock Haven Sanitarium in La Crescenta, California, in August 1962, after Marilyn"s funeral, she was distressed to find that Gladys"s biggest concern was as it had always been: She wanted her freedom. During that visit, Gladys was dressed in her nurse"s uniform, all white-including stockings and shoes. At this point, she was sixty-two years old. She was still attractive with her aquamarine blue eyes and snow white hair, which she wore tied into a tight knot on the top of her head. She had Marilyn"s fine bone structure and would have been an absolutely striking older woman if she had taken care of herself, or had any interest in doing so. It"s not known what her private reaction was to Marilyn"s death, but with Berniece and others who came to visit, she seemed to not be upset.
Mira Bradford"s mother was Gladys"s friend Ginger-whom Marilyn met the last time she saw her mother at Rock Haven. "I went to visit my mother after Marilyn"s death and I saw Gladys," said Mira Bradford. "She was watching television. I remember that she was wearing her nurse"s uniform-all in white from head to toe. I went to her and said, "Gladys, I am so sorry about your daughter." She looked at me with cold eyes and said, "She shouldn"t have been taking sleeping pills. I told her many times that I could help her sleep with prayer, but she wouldn"t listen to me."
"I was very upset. I had never met Marilyn Monroe, but I thought she deserved more from her own mother than that. Of course, I understood Gladys"s illness because my mother was just as disturbed. But, still, I thought I might be able to get through to her. So I sat in front of her and held her hands in mine. I remember they were very cold, very bony. I said, "Gladys, you know that Marilyn loved you very much, don"t you?" She shook her head. "No," she said. "I don"t think Marilyn loved me at all." I wasn"t prepared for that. I couldn"t hide my surprise. I instinctively let go of her hands. But then I saw a flash of humanity. Suddenly looking very sad, she said, "Marilyn didn"t love me. Norma Jeane loved me, and I loved her. She was a good girl." Then she just went back to her television. I got up and walked away so that I could cry. It broke my heart."
Marilyn provided $5,000 a month in her will for her mother"s care for the rest of her life. Unfortunately, Marilyn did not die a wealthy woman. It"s difficult to imagine where all of her money went, but it certainly wasn"t in any of her bank accounts. Eventually, the estate would acc.u.mulate enough money to care for Gladys, but in 1962 there was only about $4,000, not even enough to continue to care for Gladys at Rock Haven. Berniece left Los Angeles at the end of August to return to Florida and begin the process of having Gladys"s conservatorship transferred from Inez Melson to herself. It would be some time, though, before Gladys would be moved to Florida. Then, shortly after her sixty-third birthday, she did the unthinkable.
"It was shocking," recalled Mira Bradford. "I went to visit my mother and there was chaos at Rock Haven. Police were everywhere. Gladys had tied bedsheets together, nailed them to a windowsill on the third floor, and climbed out the window to the ground floor. Then she somehow managed to scale the high fence around Rock Haven. They didn"t know she was gone until the next day. I was astounded at her will to be free. The police searched all of Los Angeles for her. She was gone a couple of days. They found her about fifteen miles away, sound asleep in the bas.e.m.e.nt of a church. It was so sad. She was then returned to Rock Haven. I saw her there about a month later. Her eyes were cold as steel. I thought she was worse. Much worse. After that, she was transferred to Camarillo State Hospital, which was far, far worse than Rock Haven in terms of its conditions. It was very sad, how this woman suffered."
In 1967, Gladys was finally released into Berniece"s care in Florida.
In 1970, she was considered sane enough to live in a retirement home not far from Berniece.
In April of 1971, Marilyn Monroe historian James Haspiel spent time with Gladys. He explained, "My wife and I were traveling through Gainesville, Florida. I found Gladys"s number in the telephone book and just called her. She picked up the phone. Obviously, I wanted to meet her. She asked me if I was a Christian Scientist. I said, "No, but I"d be interested in exploring that." I eventually persuaded her to let me come to visit her if she could give me literature on Christian Science. I took my wife and two little sons with me to the apartment building. She wasn"t frail. She was almost a little weighty. What was so striking about her was that she had Marilyn"s face. But more significantly, she had Marilyn"s laugh. I couldn"t get over the laughter.
"En route to her apartment, I decided that I would only call her daughter Norma Jeane, not Marilyn. So for the hour and a half I was there, I called her Norma Jeane. But she called her Marilyn. She was very intense on the subject of Christian Science. She gave me a bunch of pamphlets before we left. She asked me to call her back, and I did. Gladys"s displeasure with Marilyn"s profession was very evident to me. She called it the moving picture industry. In fact, she said her work, what she did as a Christian Scientist, was "diametrically opposed to what Marilyn was doing in the moving picture industry." She said that she never wanted Marilyn to be in that business, but, as she put it, "I never told her one way or the other. I never told her a word." "
Gladys continued to live in Florida, spending infrequent time with her daughter Berniece-at her own decision-for many more years. She was known to ride a tricycle around town with a red flag on the handlebars that read, "Danger." Around 1977, she finally began receiving money from the estate of Marilyn Monroe.
Gladys Baker Eley died of heart failure in Gainesville on March 11, 1984-almost twenty-two years after her famous daughter. She was eighty-three years old.
PERSPECTIVE: MARILYN AND THE KENNEDYS.
Six months. That"s all it was, just six months. It would appear that Marilyn Monroe"s in-depth experiences with the Kennedys comprised just six months out of thirty-six years of her life. Despite such a brief span of time, a plethora of books and doc.u.mentaries have resulted that have sought to stretch those months into many years and, thereby, make them the central focus of all sorts of romantic intrigue and FBI espionage. However, fresh research now establishes that it"s simply not true. Of course, it"s always possible that two people can slip away and have secret rendezvous that no one else could ever know about. That"s a little harder to do when the two people are as high-profile as Marilyn Monroe and either of the Kennedy brothers. That said, here is all we know with absolute certainty based on fresh research for this book: Marilyn met JFK at a dinner party in the 1950s. She met him again at the Democratic Convention in July of 1960. Those meetings were pa.s.sing and perfunctory.
A year and a half went by.
Then the six-month time clock began: Marilyn met Bobby Kennedy on February 2, 1962, at Pat and Peter Lawford"s home.
She saw JFK in March 1962 at a dinner party in New York.
She slept with JFK on March 24 and possibly March 25, at Bing Crosby"s home.
She performed at JFK"s birthday celebration at Madison Square Garden in May 1962.
She saw Bobby at another dinner party at Pat and Peter Lawford"s in June 1962.
Other than telephone calls she placed to JFK-which he apparently did not take-and to Bobby-which he and his secretary apparently did take-that"s it. Anything else just cannot be proven. Of course, that doesn"t mean it didn"t happen. JFK and Bobby could also have been secretly living in her guesthouse, too-and that can"t be proven or dis-proven either.
Over the years, so much has been said and written about these colorful characters, it"s become accepted wisdom that Marilyn was romantically involved with both brothers. However, this writer interviewed Peter Lawford in 1981-before most of the fiction about Marilyn and the Kennedys took root-and was told, "All of this business about Marilyn and JFK and Bobby is pure c.r.a.p. I think maybe-and I"m saying maybe maybe-she had one or two dates with JFK. Not a single date with Bobby, though, and I swear to Christ that"s the truth."