The Secret Life of Marilyn Monroe

you couldn’t take your eyes off her bosom,” said a Las Vegas photojournalist who, along with a photographer for Wide World Photos, was one of the few reporters granted access to the opening-night party in Sinatra’s suite. “From a distance, it was wow, she’s a knockout. But up close it was… oh, no, she’s knocked out! She didn’t look well, and she also acted very strangely. She seemed a little crazy to me.

“At the party, I remember her whining, ‘Oh, Frankie, c’mon, let’s make out for the photographers. I love you, Frankie. I want the whole world to know.’ I remember that she was standing behind him and had her hands around his waist, almost as if she was leaning on him for support.”

According to the journalist, when Frank pulled away rather than be photographed with her, Marilyn almost lost her balance. After giving her a concerned look, he told one of his bodyguards, “Keep an eye on her. I don’t like the way she’s wobblin’. Let me know if she faints, or something.”

The reporter continued, “Marilyn still wanted a picture taken with Frank. She sidled over to him like a kitten and motioned my photographer with her index finger, indicating that he should take the shot while Sinatra wasn’t looking. She was being very playful and coy.

“Just as my photographer was about to take the picture, Frank’s bodyguard grabbed the camera. He gave it to Frank and whispered something in his ear. Then Frank walked to where we were standing and hissed, ‘Next time you try that, I’ll crack your skull open with this goddamn camera, the both of ya.’ I remember that he talked out of the corner of his mouth, like a gangster.

“At that moment, Marilyn came over and, with wild eyes, said, ‘Frankie, I’m gonna throw up.’ He looked alarmed and said, ‘When?’ and she said, ‘Now. Right now. I mean it, Frankie. I’m gonna throw up.’ He said, ‘Oh, Jesus Christ, Marilyn, not again.’ And he got her out of there, quick.”

Elizabeth Taylor, who happened to be standing right next to the reporter, observed the entire scene. Afterward, she turned to the photojournalist and said, “Marilyn shouldn’t drink if she can’t hold her liquor. Now, me,” she added, sounding confident, “I know how to hold my liquor.” With that, Elizabeth flashed her famous violet eyes and threw back a martini. However, when she saw that the reporter had written her comment on his notepad, she grabbed the pad out of his hand, smacked him playfully on the back of the head with it, and said, “Now, that was strictly off the record, buster.”

A Reunion with Berniece

At the end of June 1961, Marilyn was diagnosed with gallstones and an inflamed gallbladder. There seemed no end to the physical and emotional crises she was facing at this time. The operation on June 29 was successful. Joe DiMaggio was at her bedside when she awakened, looking down at her with devotion. It was decided that her half sister, Berniece, would come to New York and be present for Marilyn’s recovery. Joe wasn’t particularly happy about it, though. Marilyn would later learn that he was very suspicious of Berniece and her husband. “What if they want money from you?” he asked Marilyn. “I think that’s what’s going on here.” His suspicion was shared by Marilyn’s secretary, May Reis, who was now back on the job with Marilyn. Marilyn couldn’t believe Joe would think such a thing about Berniece. “I’ve known her a lot longer than you,” she told him angrily. “And besides, if she did want my money, she can have it. What am I going to do with it when I’m gone?”

Despite Joe’s ambivalence about Berniece, Marilyn seemed almost desperate to reconnect with her after her gallbladder operation. Therefore, as soon as Marilyn was released from the hospital, Berniece flew to New York from Florida and checked into the Park Sheraton Hotel, where she was to await a phone call from May. When told the coast was clear of reporters, Berniece was to take a cab to Marilyn’s apartment on East 57th Street. Berniece’s husband had been against the visit. He was always very strange when it came to the subject of Marilyn. He wanted to be around her as much as possible—thus his recent trip to see her behind his wife’s back—but didn’t seem to want Berniece to have time with her. For his part, Joe was also unhappy about the sisterly plans—for his own reasons, having to do with Marilyn’s money, but also because he was afraid that Berniece might go to the press with details about his and Marilyn’s life together. Berniece knew better, of course. Still, it had to bother her that, after all of this time, Marilyn kept reminding her not to talk to the press. It didn’t escape Berniece that Marilyn still concluded every telephone conversation with that very warning.

When Berniece arrived at Marilyn’s thirteenth-floor apartment, she was greeted by May Reis. May could not have been more chilly. However, it would seem that Berniece took her aloof attitude to be professional rather than rude. When Marilyn appeared, the reunion was noisy and exciting. “I can’t believe you’re finally here,” Marilyn squealed. “Finally! We’re together again!” After embracing, they stood back and took a long look at each other. They’d known each other since they were young women. Now Marilyn was thirty-five and Berniece forty-one. However, both agreed that they’d only gotten better with age, even though Marilyn was clearly weak from the surgery and not at all well. She was wearing a cream-colored summer dress and high-heeled sandals. She’d had her hair styled before leaving the hospital because she knew she’d be photographed on her way out and wanted to look her best. So when she saw her half sister, she looked very put together.

Marilyn’s life was anything but ordinary, and Berniece must have gleaned as much when she learned that the first order of business every day for Marilyn’s maid, Lena Pepitone, was to hand wash the beige lace bra Marilyn had worn the previous day. When recalling this visit, Pepitone had an interesting observation about Berniece—whom she described as being “blonde, even blonder naturally than Marilyn… slightly shorter and thinner, yet her figure was definitely on the voluptuous side”:

“In a way, Berniece seemed far shyer than Marilyn, who was now in an outgoing phase. All the hustle and glitter of Manhattan seemed to scare Berniece. She seemed in a daze, caused by New York as well as Marilyn.… Yet the way Marilyn sat at attention holding Berniece’s hand and listening to every detail about where Berniece shopped in Florida, what she cooked, how she ran her home, and raised her sons [Note: Berniece did not have sons, just a daughter] made me think that Marilyn could easily be tempted to trade in all her fame and become a housewife, too.”

After just a few days with her, Berniece was concerned about all of the drugs Marilyn was taking. People who were around her all the time had grown accustomed to the constant pill-taking, which usually resulted in unsure footing about an hour or so later. She was never quite coherent. She always seemed a little… off. Marilyn’s friends and daily associates were used to this troubling demeanor, but newcomers were always stunned by it.

Every night, Marilyn’s doctor would come by the house to check on her. This, too, was odd. Every night? Was that really necessary? During each visit, Marilyn would fix him a stiff drink, which he enjoyed—again, odd. Then he would begin to dispense all sorts of pills to Marilyn in what could only be considered “generous” quantities. Sometimes he would give her an injection of who-knows-what, but she definitely enjoyed its effect on her. Berniece seized the opportunity, while the doctor was present, to ask him about the pills. “Truly, does she need all of these sleeping pills?” Berniece asked him. “This is extreme, don’t you think?” The doctor didn’t have time to answer before Marilyn glanced at her sharply. “Yes, I do need these pills,” she said, her temper quickly rising. “I need my sleep. So, the answer is yes, Berniece. That’s the answer. Yes.” There was an awkward silence. After a moment, the doctor continued with his offering of different pharmaceuticals without missing a beat.

Berniece also took note of Marilyn’s relationship with Joe DiMaggio. He was clearly still in love with her. However, Marilyn seemed unsure of her feelings for him. Perhaps the best indicator of how she felt was that she was planning a trip to California in less than a month and told Berniece that she was going to stay with Frank Sinatra. She made Berniece promise not to mention the trip to Joe. She intended to go, she said, and just not tell him. How she was going to manage that, considering that he was with her every single day, was a mystery to Berniece. According to Lena Pepitone, Sinatra would call Marilyn often and she would speak to him, not at all concerned that Joe might walk into the room at any moment. When it came to Sinatra, she was determined to do whatever she liked.

Also, Berniece couldn’t help but notice how paranoid Marilyn had become. For instance, at one point in the visit, an Italian restaurant that had just opened in the neighborhood sent over a complimentary meal to Marilyn. Marilyn told Lena to throw the food away. She didn’t even want it in the household. Berniece assumed that Marilyn didn’t want the food because she was watching her weight, or maybe because she’d been told that she shouldn’t