Freeman, director of advertising and promotion for the Sands Hotel from 1952 until his death at the age of forty- eight in 1972. My thanks to Peter Michel, head of special collections of the Dickinson Library, for his assistance with this material.
My special thanks to Joseph D’Orazio, a friend who was close not only to Frank Sinatra but to Hank Sanicola and Emmanuel “Manie” Sachs. He and I became pals during the course of my five years of research on my Sinatra biography and became reacquainted when I had to again turn to him for this book. I thank him for so many hours of interviews on May 22, 2007, June 1, 2007, July 15, 2007, and January 10, 2008. “Joey Boy” is one of a kind.
Michael Selsman, one of Marilyn’s publicists, was interviewed twice by Cathy Griffin, first on October 2, 1998, and then again on May 22, 2008. I interviewed his wife, the actress Carol Lynley, on June 9, 1997.
I interviewed Douglas Kirkland by telephone on May 23, 2008, to counterpoint Michael Selsman’s comments.
I interviewed Maureen Stapleton in November 1995.
As earlier stated, I interviewed Sammy Davis Jr. several times for
I interviewed Mickey Rudin on October 31, 1992, and then again on July 1, 1995, for my book about Frank Sinatra, and his comments about Marilyn are included here. Rudin was a powerhouse in his day. To say he was intimidating is an understatement. However, underneath his brash exterior, I found a very sensitive and kind man.
Dorothy Kilgallen’s husband, Richard Kollmar, donated seventy of his wife’s scrapbooks to the Lincoln Center Library of the Performing Arts. They are filled with her articles, columns, unpublished notes, and other material that she personally accumulated over her lifetime, including her rough drafts of articles about Marilyn Monroe. I reviewed them all thoroughly as part of my research.
Hedda Hopper’s personal notes and unpublished material are housed in the Margaret Herrick Library of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. I utilized many of her papers throughout this book, especially those concerning Marilyn’s romances. Most helpful were her unpublished notes. Any biographer would be grateful for such a find, and I must thank my friends at the Margaret Herrick Library for making all of this material available to me, and the estate of Hedda Hopper for having the vision to donate it.
I also had access to the complete library of
Over the years, I met many lawyers who worked alongside of Marilyn’s trusted attorney, Aaron Frosch, and I conducted informal interviews with most of them for background purposes only. Because of the sensitive nature of Mr. Frosch’s work with Marilyn, these sources do not wish to be acknowledged in these pages, or even quoted in this book. For those who worked with Mr. Frosch, I respect their wishes and remain appreciative to them for the time they spent with me. They know who they are, and know that this acknowledgment is directed at them.
PART EIGHT: THE KENNEDYS
I referred to a number of FBI documents for this section of the book, which were recently released under the Freedom of Information Act. My thanks to Tommy diBella for helping to make them available to me. With the most recent release of FBI documents utilized as research for this book, there are now ninety-seven pages that have been declassified concerning Marilyn Monroe—thirty-one documents in her main file and sixty-six in a cross- referenced file—beginning with the FBI’s account of Marilyn applying for a visa and the history of her previous two years.
Much of the FBI’s files on Marilyn—as I stated in the book—are remarkable only for titillation value. However, occasionally something slips through that is quite interesting. For instance, a file dated February 21, 1962, describes Marilyn’s trip to Toluca, Mexico, and notes that her entry into the country was “reportedly arranged by Frank Sinatra through former President Miguel Aleman.” It goes on to state that she was accompanied by “an agent, a hairdresser and an interior decorator. The latter was identified as Eunice Churchill, a part time interior decorator [who] also claims to be an assistant of Dr. Wexley, Monroe’s analyst.” This mention is obviously of Eunice Murray and Dr. Wexler—but, typical of the FBI where Monroe is concerned, the names are not accurate. (It should be noted that Churchill isn’t even Eunice’s maiden name—that would be Joerndt.) Also, this is the only mention of Wexler in the FBI’s records, he being the psychiatrist Dr. Greenson turned to for a second opinion about Marilyn’s condition of borderline paranoid schizophrenia. This document suggests that Eunice Murray was in contact with someone who was an informant for the FBI—or maybe even Murray was the informant, who’s to say?—in that it continues, “According to Churchill, Monroe was much disturbed by Arthur Miller’s marriage on 2/20/62 and feels like a ‘negated sex symbol.’ Churchill said that the subject ‘has a lot of leftist rubbed off from Miller.’ Monroe reportedly spent some time with Robert Kennedy at the home of the Peter Lawfords in Hollywood. Monroe reportedly challenged Mr. Kennedy on some points proposed to her by Miller.” Note that the FBI has Arthur Miller giving Marilyn ideas on how to converse with Kennedy. If this is true, it’s likely she told him the same thing she told many others—as explained in the text—that she had “a date” with RFK.
The February 21, 1962, file also notes that Eunice says Dr. Wexley—again, no doubt, Wexler—“did not like what was happening in the relationship between Monroe and [deleted] and said that Monroe must get out with other people at once.” One has to wonder if the deleted name was not Dr. Greenson’s. Is it possible that Wexler did not really approve of how much Greenson stifled his patient, even though it had been at least partially his idea that Marilyn spend so much time at Greenson’s home? It’s an interesting thought, but we’ll never know for certain since the name is redacted. Eunice also supposedly told the FBI informant that “Monroe is very vulnerable now because of her rejection by Arthur Miller and also Joe DiMaggio and Frank Sinatra.” The file goes on to say that Marilyn asked Sinatra to “come and comfort her” while she was in Mexico, but that he declined. Again, who knows if this is true or not?
One more admittedly cynical note about the FBI documents: On October 23, 1964, two years after Marilyn’s death, the bureau was still gathering information about her. One file with that date includes this classic anecdote: “During the period of time that Robert F. Kennedy was having his sex affair with Marilyn Monroe, on one occasion, a sex party was concocted at which several other persons were present. Tap [
Suffice it to say, this tape has yet to surface.
I also consulted Sam Giancana’s Justice Department file, obtained through the Freedom of Information Act, as well as transcripts of federal wiretaps and Justice Department files on President John F. Kennedy and his brother Bobby Kennedy.
I want to thank Bernie Abramson—the aforemention photographer who took countless pictures of Peter Lawford, Frank Sinatra, and President Kennedy during his career—for the time he spent with me and Stephen Gregory on May 9, 2008, and for his many memories and also photographs.
Special thanks to Matthew Fox for his memories of the Kennedys and Lawfords. I interviewed Mr. Fox on January 8, 2008.
My appreciation to the late Don Dandero, an AP photographer working at the Cal-Neva Lodge during the Monroe-Sinatra years. Mr. Dondero was most helpful in giving me leads and ideas. My thanks also to his daughter, Debbie.
I interviewed Walter Bernstein in March 2000.
I interviewed Joan Braden in April 1999.
In March 2007, I had the pleasure of meeting the venerable investigative journalist and USC professor Ed Guthman during an evening honoring him for his many achievements and his imminent retirement, at the Annenberg School for Communication. Guthman, of course, was Robert Kennedy’s press secretary. In the midst of the hoopla surrounding him that night I was able to ask him just a few questions about Marilyn and RFK. “I know there was no affair,” he told me. “It’s not even a question in my mind. I was there. I saw what was going on. And I’m telling you
