The Secret Life of Marilyn Monroe

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.)

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 glass 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 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)

It’s difficult to believe that one of the greatest movie stars of all time died in this sparse, 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)

Berniece Miracle leaves the funeral home after having made final arrangements for her half sister. (Retro Photo)

A sad—and shocking—headline. (Retro Photo)

Marilyn’s final resting place, at Westwood Memorial Park. (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 God help her always.” Gladys affixed to the letter a newspaper notice of the probate of Marilyn’s will. (Shaan Kokin/Julien’s Auctions)

Gladys lived another twenty-two largely unhappy years after the death of her famous daughter. (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.)

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 principal 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.

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