The Life & Times of Marilyn Monroe
...Pacific in 1944. After Jimmy left, Norma Jeane took a job on the assembly line at the Radio Plane Munitions factory in Burbank, California. Several months later, photographer David Conover saw her while taking pictures of women contributing to the war effort for Yank magazine. He couldn't believe his luck. She was a "photographer's dream." Conover used her for the shoot and then began sending modeling jobs her way. The camera loved Norma Jeane, and within two years she was a reputable model with many popular magazine covers to her credit. She began studying the work of legendary actresses Jean Harlow and Lana Turner, and enrolled in drama classes with dreams of stardom. However, Jimmy's return in 1946 meant Norma Jeane had to make another choice- this time between her marriage and her career. Norma Jeane divorced Jimmy in June of 1946, and signed her first studio contract with Twentieth Century Fox on August 26, 1946. She earned $125 a week. Soon after, Norma Jeane dyed her hair blonde and changed her name to Marilyn Monroe (borrowing her grandmother's last name). The rest, as the saying goes, is history. In 1945, Norma Jeane worked as a parachute inspector while her husband was in the Merchant Marines. One day, a photographer spotted her and asked if he could take her picture to boost morale for the war effort. Soon afterwards, she moved out of her mother-in-law's house and signed with a modeling agency, which led to her first studio contract with Twentieth Century-Fox. In My Story she recounted how she chose her stage name. When Norma Jeane told Grace that "Marilyn" had been suggested by a Fox employee, Grace replied that it went well with Gladys' maiden name, Monroe, then told her she was keeping documents for Gladys proving she is a direct descendant of President James Monroe. No such papers have ever surfaced. Marilyn's maternal grandfather, Otis Monroe, was the son of Jacob Monroe (1831-1872), so such a descent is unlikely. The next few years were lean. Biographers maintain she was working "the party circuit" when she met Johnny Hyde, a partner of the William Morris Agency, on December 31, 1948 at a party thrown by producer Sam Spiegel. Like Grace Goddard, he believed she was destined to become a great star; unlike Grace, Hyde - who discovered Lana Turner and counted Rita Hayworth among his clients - had the power to do something about it. Despite being married and old enough to be her father, Hyde fell madly in love with her. Due to his persistence, Marilyn landed the two movies that put her on the map: The Asphalt Jungle and All About Eve. She posed nude for photographer Tom Kelley on May 27, 1949, and was paid $50.00. The model of the Miss Golden Dreams calendar from that shoot was billed as "anonymous." In 1952, a blackmailer threatened to identify her as Marilyn, but Monroe thwarted the scheme by announcing the fact herself. When asked by reporters why she did it, she shrugged, and said, "I was hungry." Hugh Hefner bought the rights to use the photo for the first issue of his new men's magazine, Playboy. By late 1951, Fox was convinced of her potential and gave her a big buildup. Though she was the biggest star in the world by 1954, she tired of the dim bulb roles Darryl F. Zanuck assigned her. She broke her contract and went to New York to study acting at The Actor's Studio; she formed her own production company with photographer Milton H. Greene. These moves were met with derision by the movie industry. Yet, when Jayne Mansfield and Sheree North failed to click with audiences, Zanuck finally admitted defeat. Her new contract gave her more creative control and the right to make one non-Fox movie a year; the first project under the deal was Bus Stop. Her co-stars during these years included Cary Grant, Clark Gable, Laurence Olivier, Joseph Cotten, Richard Widmark, Jane Russell, Lauren Bacall, Ethel Merman, Charles Laughton, Tony Curtis, and Yves Montand (with whom she had an affair during the filming of Let's Make Love). Marilyn Monroe was found dead in the bedroom of her Brentwood, California, home at age thirty-six from an overdose of barbiturates. Circumstances surrounding her death have led many to believe she was murdered because of her involvement with the Kennedy Family (President John F. Kennedy had recently broken off their affair). However, one problem with this theory is that Kennedy's many other alleged girlfriends, including Judith Campbell Exner (who was also the paramour of mobster Sam Giancana, and acted as a secret go-between for the two men), outlived the president. Marilyn's body was discovered by live-in housekeeper, Mrs. Eunice Murray, a supposed nurse assigned to Marilyn's care by her psychiatrist, Dr. Ralph Greenson. Some believe that the night Monroe died, as many as five hours may have elapsed from Monroe's death before the authorities were called in. Marilyn's body may have been taken to St. John's hospital in Santa Monica in this interim, but the hospital may have refused it because of concerns about notoriety. This uncertain timeframe about Monroe's passing versus the arrival of the police to the house on Fifth Helena later in the wee hours has led over the years to speculation that Murray may have known more than she ever divulged. Interestingly, Murray attempted to cash a $200.00 check made out to her by Monroe several days after Monroe's death. City National Bank of Beverly Hills declined to pay Murray because Monroe was by then of course publicly known to be deceased. Further, Murray, a widow of modest means, left the country two months later for an extended European cruise on the Queen Mary. Murray maintained a friendship with Monroe's personal publicist Pat Newcomb over the years. Eventually, Murray and her ghostwriter, Rose Shade, told Murray's own version of Monroe's passing in, Marilyn, The Last Months, published directly in paperback in the 1970s. It is of note that Shade's maiden name is Murray, as the two women were related by marriage. The book was written while Eunice Murray was living in a guest house in Santa Monica at the time; Newcomb and Shade were frequent visitors then. Shade has since written extensively on Astrology, but apparently never again wrote another nonfiction biography. Some have said that Murray was a member of the Communist Party; others that she followed Wikka and espoused The Tarot. In her later years, Murray moved back East, possibly to Martha's Vineyard, remarried for a short time, and oddly survived the passing of her second husband within very short order. Murray has since passed away. A formal investigation in 1982 by the Los Angeles County District Attorney came up with no credible evidence of foul play, but the stories persist. Dr. Thomas Noguchi, who performed the autopsy (and the autopsies of Robert F. Kennedy, Natalie Wood and William Holden, among other celebrities), wrote in his book Coroner that Marilyn's death was a highly likely suicide. DiMaggio claimed her body and arranged her funeral. According to her half-sister, Berniece Baker Miracle, who flew to the West Coast as soon as she was notified, he just took over and she allowed him to. For twenty years he had a dozen red roses delivered three times a week to her crypt. Unlike the other men who knew her intimately (or claimed to), he never publicly spoke about her nor wrote a book. Marilyn is interred in a crypt at Westwood Village Memorial Park Cemetery. She had Grace Goddard interred there because Grace's aunt - who cared for Norma Jeane briefly - is there. Just as her career took off, she asked her make-up man, Whitey Snyder, to promise he would make her up when she died. Snyder joked he would if her body was brought to him while it was warm. A few days later, he received a money clip: "Whitey Dear, While I am still warm, Marilyn." He fulfilled that promise with the help of a bottle of whiskey. Marilyn's first movie role was a bit part in 1947's The Shocking Miss Pilgrim. She played a series of inconsequential characters until 1950, when John Huston's thriller The Asphalt Jungle provided her with a small but influential role. Later that year, Marilyn's performance as Claudia Caswell in All About Eve (starring Bette Davis) earned her further praise. From then on Marilyn worked steadily in movies such as: Let's Make It Legal, As Young As You Feel, Monkey Business and Don't Bother to Knock. It was her performance in 1953's Niagara, however, that delivered her to stardom. Marilyn played Rose Loomis, a beautiful young wife who plots to kill her older, jealous husband (Joseph Cotten) Marilyn's success in Niagara was followed with lead roles in the wildly popular Gentlemen Prefer Blondes (co-starring Jane Russell) and How to Marry a Millionaire (co-starring Lauren Bacall and Betty Grable). Photoplay magazine voted Marilyn the Best New Actress of 1953, and at 27 years old she was undeniably the best-loved blonde bombshell in Hollywood. On January 14, 1954, Marilyn married baseball superstar Joe DiMaggio at San Francisco's City Hall. They had been a couple for two years, after Joe asked his agent to arrange a dinner date. "I don't know if I'm in love with him yet," Marilyn said when the press got word of their relationship, "but I know I like him more than any man I've ever met." During their Tokyo honeymoon, Marilyn took time to perform for the service men stationed in Korea. Her presence caused a near-riot among the troops, and Joe was clearly uncomfortable with thousands of men ogling his new bride. Unfortunately, Marilyn's fame and sexual image became a theme that haunted their marriage. Nine months later on October 27, 1954, Marilyn and Joe divorced. They attributed the split to a "conflict of careers," and remained close friends. Marilyn was ready to shed her "shallow blonde" image by 1955. It had gotten her into the spotlight, but now that she had the opportunity and experience, Marilyn wanted to pursue serious acting. She took a hiatus from Hollywood and moved to New York City to study under Lee Strasberg at his Actors' Studio. In 1956, Marilyn started her own motion picture company, Marilyn Monroe Productions. The company produced Bus Stop and The Prince and the Showgirl (co-starring Sir Laurence Olivier). These two films allowed her to demonstrate her talent and versatility as an actress. Marilyn received further recognition for 1959's Some Like It Hot, winning a Golden Globe for Best Actress in a Comedy. On June 29, 1956, Marilyn wed playwright Arthur Miller. The couple met through Lee Strasberg, and friends reported she made him "giddy." While they were married, Arthur wrote the part of Roslyn Taber in 1961's The Misfits especially for Marilyn. The movie co-starred Clark Gable and Montgomery Clift. Sadly, the marriage between Marilyn and Arthur ended on January 20, 1961, and The Misfits was to be Marilyn's (and Gable's) last completed film. At the 1962 Golden Globes, Marilyn was named female World Film Favorite, once again demonstrating her widespread appeal. Sadly, in a shocking turn of events on the early morning of August 5, 1962, 36-year-old Marilyn died in her sleep at her Brentwood, California home. The world was stunned. Marilyn's vibrant spirit and beauty made it impossible to believe she was gone. On August 8, 1962, Marilyn's body was laid to rest in the Corridor of Memories, #24, at Westwood Memorial Park in Los Angeles...