Marilyn Monroe; Part 2

This is another favourite Marilyn image, a classical beauty.


Don't you love the artists capture of her beauty with just a few lines,
I'm a sucker for this almost cartoon style of drawing.


Part 2 of Marilyn's Biography;

In early 1955 Marilyn again returned to New York she was to renew her acquaintance with Arthur Miller and have an affair with him before their marriage over a year later. To Marilyn, Miller represented the serious theater and an intellect that she found attractive. To Miller, years later..."It was wonderful to be around her, she was simply overwhelming. She had so much promise. It seemed to me that she could really be a great kind of phenomenon, a terrific artist. She was endlessly fascinating, full of original observations...there wasn't a conventional bone in her body."

Marilyn returned to Hollywood in February 1956, after over a years absence, to film "Bus Stop". After completing the film she returned to New York in June. Miller also returned to New York after obtaining a divorce in Reno, Nevada. They where married June 29 in White Plains, NY.

The Millers departed for London soon after their marriage so that Marilyn could start production on "The Prince and the Showgirl" with Lawrence Olivier. As early as July, Arthur began to have doubts about the marriage. Sidney Skolsky remarked that..."Miller looked on Marilyn strictly as an ideal and was shocked to discover that she is a human being, a person, even as you and I and maybe Miller."

"Bus Stop" opened in London in October 1956. A Times review said..."Miss Monroe is a talented comedienne, and her sense of timing never forsake her. She gives a complete portrait, sensitively and sometimes even brilliantly conceived. There is about her a waif-life quality, an underlying note of pathos which can be strangely moving."

"It's not that I object to doing musicals and comedies...in fact, I rather enjoy them...but I'd like to do dramatic parts too."

Marilyn Monroe did not return to Hollywood until 1958 to make "Some Like It Hot" with Jack Lemmon and Tony Curtis. Her health continued to deteriorate due to increased dependency on drugs and involvement in an unhappy marriage. She often came to the set late and was unable to remember her lines. Director, Billy Wilder later said... "Anyone can remember lines, but it takes a real artist to come on the set and not know her lines and yet give the performance she did."

Early in 1960, Marilyn was consulting with Dr. Ralph Greenson, a prominent psychoanalyst to Hollywood stars. As common during this period, he relied heavily on drug therapy...routinely prescribing barbiturates and tranquilizers in addition to his psychotherapy.

July 1960 marked the start of filming "The Misfits"...a short story by Arthur Miller adapted for film.

Allan Snyder recalled..."It took so long to get her going in the morning that usually I had to make her up while she lay in her bed." But once again, she managed to give an exceptional performance.

"Everybody is always tugging at you. They'd all like a sort of chunk out of you. I don't think they realize it, but it's like "grrrr do this, grrrr do that..." But you do want to stay intact...intact and on two feet."

On November 5th, the day after "The Misfits" was completed, co-star Clark Gable suffered a serious heart attack and died on November 16, 1960. Marilyn felt a great deal of guilt, commenting..."I kept him waiting...kept him waiting for hours and hours on that picture."

Marilyn divorced Arthur Miller in January of 1961, the same month that "The Misfits" was released. Another unhappy marriage was terminated.

"Mr. Miller is a wonderful man and a great writer, but it didn't work out that we should be husband and wife."

In 1961 Marilyn purchased a house in the Brentwood section of Los Angeles. At the urging of her psychoanalyst, Dr Greenson, she hired Eunice Murray as housekeeper. Murray, calling herself a nurse, had neither the training or credentials. It is suspected that she was a "spy" for Dr. Greenson who continued to have more and more control over Marilyn's life, seeing her almost daily when she was in Los Angeles.

A reported affair with John F. Kennedy began in late 1961. At the President's gala birthday celebration in Madison Square Garden on May 19, 1962, Marilyn sang her now famous "Happy Birthday" tribute to JFK. The Attorney General, Bobby Kennedy was also reported to have had an affair with Marilyn shortly before her death.

Marilyn had been seeing Joe DiMaggio frequently during this time and had finally agreed to remarry him. The wedding date was set for August 8, 1962. Fox rehired her on August 1 to complete "Something’s Got to Give" with a salary of $250,000, which was two and a half times the original amount. Of course these events would never come to pass due to her untimely death on August 5, 1962.

Much has been speculated about the events surrounding her death and others involvement in it. But whatever the cause...it is highly unlikely that it was suicide. Possibly the result of a tragic accidental drug overdose...and possibly administered by someone other than Marilyn herself.

A saddened Joe DiMaggio made arrangements for the funeral, inviting no one from the Hollywood scene or press...but only close friends and relatives. As he said..."they had only hurt Marilyn." For over 20 years flowers were delivered weekly to her crypt from Joe...

Scudda-Hoo! Scudda-Hay!, Fox, April 1948, with June Haver, Lon McCallister, Walter Brennan, Ann Revere, Natalie Wood

Dangerous Years, Fox, December 1947 (filmed after Scudda-Hoo! Scudda-Hay! but released first), with William Halop, Ann Todd, Darryl Hickman, Jerome Cowan

Ladies of the Chorus, Columbia, October 1948, with Adele Jergens, Rand Brooks, Nana Bryant

Love Happy, United Artists, April 1950, with Marx brothers, Ilona Massey, Eric Blore, Vera-Ellen, Raymond Burr

A Ticket to Tomahawk, Fox, May 1950, with Dan Dailey, Anne Baxter, Rory Calhoun, Walter Brennan, Marion Marshall

The Asphalt Jungle, MGM, May 1950, with Sterling Hayden, Louis Calhern, Jean Hagen, Sam Jaffe, James Whitmore

All About Eve, Fox, October 1950, with Bette Davis, Anne Baxter, George Sanders, Celeste Holm, Gary Merill, Hugh Marlowe, Thelma Ritter, Gregory Ratoff

The Fireball, Fox, November 1950, with Mickey Rooney, Pat O'Brien, Beverly Tyler

Right Cross, MGM, November 1950, with Dick Powell, June Allyson, Ricardo Montalban, Lionel Barrymore

Home Town Story, MGM, May 1951, with Donald Crisp, Jeffrey Lynn, Marjorie Reynolds, Alan Hale, Jr

As Young As You Feel, Fox, August 1951, with Monty Woolley, Jean Peters, Thelma Ritter, Constance Bennett, Albert Dekker

Love Nest, Fox, October 1951, with June Haver, William Lundigan, Leatrice Joy, Jack Parr, Frank Fay

Let's Make It Legal, Fox, November 1951, with Claudette Colbert, Macdonald Carey, Robert Wagner, Zachary Scott, Barbara Bates

Clash by Night, RKO, June 1952, with Barbara Stanwyck, Robert Ryan, Paul Douglas, Keith Andes

We're Not Married, Fox, July 1952, with Ginger Rogers, Fred Allen, Louis Calhern, Zsa Zsa Gabor

Don't Bother to Knock, Fox, July 1952, with Richard Widmark, Anne Bancroft, Donna Corcoran, Jim Backus, Lurene Tuttle

Monkey Business, Fox, September 1952, with Cary Grant, Ginger Rogers, Charles Coburn, Hugh Marlowe

O. Henry's Full House, Fox, October 1952, with Charles Laughton, David Wayne

To have become the Star that she was on the strength of the following 11 films is quite astounding.

Niagara, Fox, January 1953, with Joseph Cotten, Jean Peters, Casey Adams, Richard Allan, Denis O'Dea, Don Wilson, Lurene Tuttle

Gentlemen Prefer Blondes, Fox, July 1953, Jane Russell, Tommy Noonan, Charles Coburn, Elliot Reid, George Winslow, Norma Varden

How To Marry a Millionaire, Fox, November 1953, with Betty Grable, Lauren Bacall, William Powell, David Wayne, Rory Calhoun, Alex D'Arcy, Cameron Mitchell, Fred Clark

River of No Return, Fox, April 1954, with Robert Mitchum, Tommy Rettig, Rory Calhoun

There's No Business Like Show Business, Fox, December 1954, with Ethel Merman, Dan Dailey, Donald O'Connor, Mitzi Gaynor, Johnny Ray

The Seven Year Itch, Fox, June 1955, with Tom Ewell, Evelyn Keyes, Victor Moore, Robert Strauss

Bus Stop, Fox, August 1956, with Don Murray, Arthur O'Connell, Eileen Heckart, Betty Field, Hope Lange

The Prince and the Showgirl, Warner Bros., June 1957, with Laurence Olivier, Sybil Thorndike, Jeremy Spenser, Richard Wattis, Esmond Knight, Maxine Audley

Some Like It Hot, United Artist, March 1959, with Jack Lemmon, Tony Curtis, George Raft, Pat O'Brien, Joe E. Brown, Joan Shawlee

Let's Make Love, Fox, September 1960, with Yves Montand, Wilfrid Hyde White, Tony Randell, Frankie Vaughan, Madge Kennedy

The Misfits, United Artists/Seven Arts, Febuary 1961, with Clark Gable, Montgomery Clift, Eli Wallach, Thelma Ritter, Kevin McCarthy, Estelle Winwood, Ralph Roberts

Something's Got to Give (Incompleted), with Dean Martin, Cyd Charisse, Phil Silver, Wally Cox. Production was shut down on June 12, 1962. Marilyn Monroe died on August 4, 1962. The film was rewritten and recasted with Doris Day and James Garner as "Move Over Darling"




This could fill a post on it's own, here are a few samples.

Although Marilyn attended Lee Strasberg's "Actor's Studio", she was never an official member. She was just another student who sat quietly in the back.

Marilyn's first television debut was on the Jack Benny Show.

Marilyn's favorite beverage was champagne--Dom Perignon 1953.

Marilyn smoked periodically from the late forties through the mid-fifities. Photographs of MM "practicing" smoking for role of Rose Loomis in Niagara can be seen in Jock Carroll's book "Falling for Marilyn: The Lost Niagara Falls Collection."

MM's Los Angelos bank at the time of her death was City National Bank in Beverly Hills. She had $2,200 in her checking account at that time.

Collier's Magazine was the first national magazine to publish a major feature article on MM. The article was titled " 'Hollywoods' 1951 Model Blonde," and appeared in the September 8, 1951 issue.

In 1959, MM was presented with the Crystal Star Award- the highest movie-acting honor in France-as the "Best Foreign Actress." she received the award for her work in "The Prince and the Showgirl." The same year MM was presented with the highest, most prestigious acting award in Italy-the David Di Donatello Award. She won "Best actress in a Foreign Film" for the same movie-"The Prince and the Showgirl."

Everyone knows MM's passion for Chanel No. 5. She was also known to take a splash with Arpege and Joy fragrances.

In 1960, the Hollywood Chamber of Commerce awarded MM her Walk of Fame star. The exact address of her star is 6774 Hollywood Boulevard.

MM idolized Abraham Lincoln A photo of the sixteenth president could be found in all of her homes. In 1955 she traveled to Bement, Il to dedicate a museum in his honor.

Not well known as a poet, again there are some insights here.

I could have loved you once
and even said it
But you went away,
When you came back it was too late
And love was a forgotten word.
Remember?

~~~~~~~~~~~

O, Time
Be Kind
Help this weary being
To forget what is sad to remember
Loose my loneliness,
Ease my mind,
While you eat my flesh.

~~~~~~~~~~~

I

I left my home of green rough wood,
A blue velvet couch.
I dream till now
A shiny dark bush

Just left of the door.
Down the walk
Clickity clack
As my doll in her carriage
Went over the cracks-
"We'll go far away."

II

Don't cry my doll
Don't cry
I hold you and rock you to sleep
Hush hush
I'm pretending now
I'm not your mother who died.

III

Help help
Help I feel life coming closer
When all I want to do is die.

~~~~~~~~~~~

From time to time
I make it rhyme
but don't hold that kind
of thing against me-

Oh well, what the hell,
so it won't sell.
What I want to tell-
is what's on my mind:

'taint Dishes,
'taint Wishes,
it's thoughts
flinging by
before I die-
and to think
in ink.

~~~~~~~~~~~~

Good nite
Sleep
and sweet repose
Where ever you lay your head-
I hope you find your nose-

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

So there you have it folks, the holtieshouse view of the wonderful Marilyn Monroe.



"There was my name up in lights.

I said 'God, somebody's made a mistake.

But there is was, in lights.

And I sat there and said,

'Remember, you're not a star'.

Yet there it was, up in lights."