My journey ends here...
1962
JANUARY :
End of January :
Eunice Murray found a house, a Mexican hacienda style, located 12305
Fifth Helena Drive (
,
,
), near Carmelita
Avenue, in the Brentwood area of Los Angeles.
Dr Greenson accompanied
Marilyn during her first visit.
Behind a high white wall, sheltered from sights (
,
,
),
the property, with Spanish hacienda style of 700 m² (the
house itself 213 m²) single-story house, had a garage and a small
guest house.
It
needed to be renovated but also had a lot of charm : red tiles roof,
thick stucco walls, double windows, a cathedral vault ceiling in the
sitting-room, and archways in the whole house.There were also luxuriant
plants (
,
,
)and a kidney-shape pool (
,
,
), this place located in a dead-end (
), 10
minutes by car from the Fox, one kilometer from the Greensons, very close to the Brentwood Country Club golf..
On the paving of the property entrance was written, on Mexican tiles, Cursum Perficio ("My Journey Ends Here")
(
).
The interior design was also in Mexican style (
,
).
The entry was direct in a small sitting-room (
,
); on the left, a dining-room
(
,
,
,
,
); from there, on the left, there was the kitchen
(
,
,
,
,
,
) and on the right side, a small solarium (
).
From the main entrance, on the right, a corridor led to 3 bedrooms, one with a private bathroom (
,
,
), overlooking the garden, 2 smallest shared a second bathroom (
).
On Greenson's and Milton
Rudin's advise, Marilyn purchased the house on 12305 Fifth Helena Drive, for the amount of about 100 000$.
She paid the house with a 42 500$ payment and a loan on 15 years (taken out at the Beverly Hills City National Bank), for which she did monthly repayments of 320$.
Milton
Rudin, her new lawyer and Greenson's brother-in-law dealt with the
purchase of the house. Marilyn came into possession of the villa and
the title deeds in March.
Rudin also settled Marilyn's transfert from the MCA to his own firm. He worked at Gang,Tyre and Brown practice which guarantee the defense of show-business personalities, and also the defense of people in front of the Un-American Activities Investigation Committee.
He also ran Frank
Sinatra's business.
Saturday, January 20,
she met poet Carl Sandburg who co-wrote a screenplay in Los Angeles..
, 
,
,
,
,
,
,
). Wednesday, January 24 : Frank Ferguson, lawyer at the Fox, agreed for the establishment of a contract. Screenwriter Nunnally Johnson went in England to work again on the screenplay of "Something's Got to Give". Marilyn agreed to shoot the screenplay if it corresponded to her expectations.
Greenson
advised her to have a few days off before the shooting of
"Something’s Got to Give", for instance in Mexico
where she could rest and find some furniture for her new house.
During her absence,
Norman Jefferies, Eunice Murray's son-in-law, and his brother Keith, would start the refurbishment work.
President Kennedy planned a political trip in California, in March.
Peter Lawford, the President's brother-in-law, asked Frank Sinatra if, on this occasion, John Kennedy could come to his home in Palm Springs. Sinatra agreed and started some work (for the sum of 500 000$), to change Palm Springs into a "West White House". He made an heliport built, bungalows, fittings for the secret services and a telephone exchange with many phone lines.
But Robert Kennedy dissuaded his brother to stay at Sinatra's place because Sam Giancana, head of the Chicago mafia, was often invited in Palm Springs (according to a report from the Department of Justice which reported that Sinatra had personal contacts with the Mafia main personalities). Although he didn't want to disappoint Sinatra, John Kennedy accepted and gave Peter Lawford the responsability of announcing the news to Sinatra.
Since then, Sinatra, very angry at Lawford, who, according to him, hadn't been able to give him this opportunity to welcome the President at his home, hadn't any more contact with Lawford; he refused to talk with him on phone, and eliminated him from the casting of 2 movies they had to shoot together.
In January, Marilyn made a picture session with photographer Willy Rizzo (
,
, 
,
,
,
,
,
,
,
,
,
).
FEBRUARY:
Thursday, February 1st :
Marilyn met Robert Kennedy, at a dinner given at Lawford's place. With his crew, he arrived from Washinton DC and had to go in the Far East , for a one month trip.
Between Friday, February 2 and Tuesday 6 : Marilyn was in New York City.
She met John Kennedy at a dinner given on his honor at Fifi Fell's place, the rich widow of John Fell, director of an important investment company, who lived on Park Avenue.
Tuesday, February 6 : with great pleasure, she met again the Strasbergs. Together they saw the play "Macbeth" at the City Center (
,
).
The, she spent 3 days talking with Paula about the first sketch of the screenplay of "Something’s Got to Give" (
). She also followed lessons at the Actors Studio.
Every day, Marilyn received many messages from California :
about her new house, about the date of the shooting; she also received
some phone calls from Joe DiMaggio,
surprised to learn she was in New York while he had decided to
spend few days with her in Los Angeles; Dr Greenson called her every
day, at least, once a day.
She also had meetings with the representatives of Life magazine, for a future interview, a conversation with Alan Levy which would be the basis of a long article published in Redbook magazine, end of 1962.
Monday, February 12 :
Eunice Murray left Los
Angeles ; she had asked Marilyn an advance of several
hundred of dollars on her salary. She went to Mexico City, to visit her
brother-in-law, Churchill Murray (brother of her ex-husband John
Murray) and producer of English radio programs. She was waiting for
Marilyn's visit for the shopping they had to do together.
It was Dr Greenson who had decided that Eunice Murray would accompny Marilyn.
Saturday, February 17 : Marilyn made a stop over in Miami, Florida, before going to Mexico.She stayed at the Fontainebleau Hotel in Miami; she took a 125$-a-day suite, and registered as "Gloria Lovell" (Sinatra's secretary).
Sunday, February 18 : she took him to have dinner at the Club Gigi of the Fontainebleau Hotel (
)and they attended a cabaret show at the Minaret.
She also visited DiMaggio who spent winter in Florida with the New York Yankees.
), met on the set of "The Misfits", while she belonged to the Magnum agency.
In September
1962, they had a daughter, Rebecca (
), and lived together the rest of their life.
Tuesday, February 20 : Joe DiMaggio accompanied her at the Miami International Airport, from where she left to Mexico
(
,
,
,
,
).
At the airport of Mexico City, she was welcomed by the Mexican film Industry.
She stayed at the Continental Hilton Hotel in Mexico City, suite n° 1110. Two guards were in position in front of her room.
Marilyn was accompanied with George
Masters (), one of her hairstylists and her press agent Pat
Newcomb, who had taken the plane with her in Miami.
She met Eunice Murray.
Churchill Murray took them at Frederic Vanderbilt Field and his wife Nieves place, American Communists who had fled the USA to live in peace in Mexico.Marilyn took advantage of the situation to purchase and order Mexican styled furniture for her new house of Brentwood, local items, and ordered Mexican tiles for her kitchen and bathrooms.
She did some visits (
,
,
,
), including the National Institute for the Protection of Children and a Catholic orphanage to which she donated 10 000$ (
,
), and on the set of "El Angel Exterminador" of Luis Bunuel (
,
,
,
).
Mexican screenwriter Jose Bolanos sent some flowers to Pat Newcomb so that she organized for him a meeting with Marilyn.
Pat Newcomb saw a great opportunity of publicity for Marilyn.
This one became Marilyn's companion and accompanied her to some parties given in her honor during the tour in Mexico
(
,
,
,
,
,
).
From Los Angeles, she learned that she would receive a Golden
Globe Awards in March.
Marilyn wanted to attend the ceremony with her friend Sidney
Skolsky, but Pat Newcomb, worried about the publicity, advised her to go there with Jose Bolanos.
Frederic
Vanderbilt Field spent several days with Marilyn, Eunice and Churchill
Murray ; he drove them to the market of Toluca where she bought some potteries (
,
). They stayed in Taxco, a mountain resort where Bolanos joined them.
She also visited Cuernavaca, and Acapulco.
Thursday, February 22 : she held a press conference at the Grand Ball Room of the Continental Hilton Hotel in Mexico City
(
,
,
,
).
On this occasion she wore a green dress of Pucci and a green mull scarf (
,
,
,
), the clothes she would wear for her funeral.
,
). MARCH :
Satruday, March 3 : with Eunice Murray, Pat
Newcomb and Jose Bolanos, Marilyn went back to Los Angeles (
). Eunice Murray had packed all Marilyn's stuff who, not having any shoes, borrowed Eunice's slippers to travel (
).
Marilyn saw Dr Greenson again for the first time in a month; happy
when she arrived at the session, she got out in tears and depressed.
She didn't go back to the Beverly
Hills Hotel
where Jose Bolanos stayed, but she remained at Greensons's home, 902
Franklin Street, Brentwood, waiting for her house to be ready.
She learned that the movie she had to shoot, "Something's Got to Give" was in a precarious situation. No screenwriter had been able to find a satisfying end to the story, nor solve the complexity of the characters feelings.
The Fox was close to going bankrupt with the shooting of "Cleopatra", and whatever "Something's Got to Give" would be finished or not, didn't change anything to the disaster. That an incident, an illness or death would stop the shooting and the insurances would compensate the Fox.
So Marilyn had good reasons to be anxious : "Something's Got to Give" was supposed to be better than "Let's Make Love" and "The Misfits", and Marilyn believed quite rightly that the new direction of the Fox considered her as an object which could be handled at will.
By chance, Greenson didn't like the relationship between Marilyn and Jose Bolanos; so she was once again dependent on her therapist, with the forbidding to choose her friends and to rule her life the way she intended to.
), a prize awarded by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association for the "Best Actress in the World in 1961".She wore a long green sheath dress with a low neckline plunging in her back.
Pat Newcomb was present (
) and Jose Bolanos accompanied her as it was planned, to this ceremony
(
,
,
,
,
) which took place at the Beverly Hilton Hotel.
She had difficulties to reach the podium and pronounced a thank-you speech with a thick voice.
Judy Garland (
,
,
) and Charlton Heston
(
) among others, also attended this party.
With this pathetic exhibition during a major event in the movie industry, some thought she was over.
Monday, March 5 : Marilyn had an appointment at the Fox. After what had happened at the Golden Globe ceremony, Peter Levathes, head of the production, had all the reasons to be worried. For Frank Ferguson (the lawyer of the Fox), the main thing was that Marilyn was willing and suitable to work. So she agreed to shoot "Something's Got to Give".
Just to be sure, the Fox sent to her home the costume designers who took the measures in order to make a custom-made dressmaker's form and design her costumes. Marilyn was very cooperative.
Considering the circumstances, Dr Greenson had to review his own plans. Before Marilyn's trip in New York, he had planned to go to Switzerland with his wife, whose mother had just had an attack. The couple intended to travel a little bit in Europe.
On their way back, he would stop in New York to see his publisher (he was writing a book "The Technique and Practice of Psychoanalysis").
Tuesday, March 6 : Greenson wasn't sure anymore to be able to absent himself, even if his wife, Hildi, had to imperatively leave. He wasn't even sure to join her later.
Since his diagnosis on Marilyn's borderline personality, he was perfectly aware of her fear to be abandonned.
Coming after Arthur Miller's wedding, Greenson's leaving could turn out disastrous.
Marilyn was still at the Greensons when Joe DiMaggio arrived in Los Angeles. he came to help her to move in. When he arrived at Greenson's home, DiMaggio learned Marilyn was in a bedroom upstairs, and that she had taken some sedatives after an emotional crisis.
Joe took her away of this environment and took her back home, in Doheny Drive.But she learned that a newspaper had published her address of Dohney Drive, and decided to move in Helena Drive before the end of the renovation work.
Thursday, March 8 and Friday 9 :
With
DiMaggio's help, she moved in, in her house of Fifth Helena Drive.
Joe spent the week-end with her before leaving for his
business.
Ralph Roberts, called from New York by Marilyn, helped her in the many tasks caused by the moving house.
Her poodle, Maf, slept in the guest house on an old beaver coat, Arthur Miller had offered to Marilyn.
She did her shopping at the Brentwood Mart market, on San Vicente Boulevard where she had an account and took her prescriptions to the near pharmacy, Vicente Pharmacy.
Cherie
Redmond wanted to shelter some of Marilyn's personal papers,
checkbooks, invoices, but realized that not any cabinet or cupboard of
the house of Fifth
Helena Drive could lock.
Sunday, March 11 : Nunnally Johnson's screenplay she had learned by heart, was rewritten by George Cukor and Walter Bernstein (
) (the writer on the black list Henry Weinstein, the movie producer, had made returned from London).
This one had been hired to improve the endless synopsis of "Something's Got to Give", notably to spice up the scenes with no comical thing and the dialogues dullness.
At that time, there had already been 6 other screenwriters hired for the movie, and Marilyn had agreed to shoot "Something's Got to Give" purely on the basis of Nunnally Johnson's screenplay, asking just to add some funny lines and comic situations.
At that time, the only cost of the story and the script exceeded 300 000$, 6 times the sum intended at the beginning.
Cukor and Bernstein nevertheless persisted and reached a forty pages of modifications Marilyn considered as unacceptable. So she refused to play the part such revised.
Although she didn't have a say in on the screenplay, she informed Peter Levathes (head of production at the Fox), through her lawyer Milton Rudin, she would only shoot the part of the screenplay she liked. The shooting hadn't yet started that she was already in conflict with the studio.
Friday, March 15 : Marilyn contracted a virus which confined her to bed with a high temperature.
In addition to her press agent work, Pat Newcomb was a nurse for her, prepared her hot beverages between 2 files to write up, without being concerned by Eunice Murray's openely declared jealousy to whoever encroached on what she considered as her territory.
Eunice Murray had enough work, as she informed Greenson, who commanded Marilyn to double the housekeeper salary up to 200$ a week (calculated on the salary of her secretary Cherie Redmond who earned 250$ a week).
Saturday, March 24 :
At
Fifth Helena Drive, the water inlet was turned off by the plumbers who
had to do some work. Marilyn announced to Eunice Murray that she was
going to Greenson's place to wash her hair, then she'd leave for
the week-end.
At noon, Peter Lawford came and took her and drove her in Palm Springs, at
Bing Crosby's place, neighbor of Frank Sinatra.
Palm Springs was a tourist resort located in the desert, the favourite place of escapade of the Hollywood big bosses.
During this week-end, Marilyn would have met the Kennedy's brothers (
), and would have agreed to attend the Democrats gala scheduled on May 1962 at the Madison Square Garden,
and promised to take part in John Kennedy's birthday celebration.Sunday, March 25 : Norman Rosten was in Hollywood to work on a screenplay and visited Marilyn who was back; together, they visited an art gallery where she bought a statuette of Rodin for 1 000$.
Monday, March 26 : Rosten went back to New York. It was the last time he saw Marilyn alive.
Delighted with her week-end, Marilyn was in a very good mood and brimming with energy.
This day at the Fox, she met the producer, the director and the screenwriter of "Something's Got to Give".
The shooting which should start on Monday, April 9 was postponed on Monday, April 23, mainly partly because of the screenplay's issue.
"Something's Got to Give" was thought as a remake of "My Favourite Wife", a very popular comedy of 1940 with Cary Grant, telling the story of a shipwrecked woman everyone thought she was dead, and who reappeared years later to discover that her husband had remarried.
On a dramatic point of view, the part was different from her 2 former characters; she played a mother and a wife. In terms of career, the project was important; her 2 former movies, "Let's Make Love" and "The Misfits" hadn't been very successful as she was used to, and she wanted to shush the rumors telling she was over.
What's more, according to the contract she had signed with the Fox in 1956, she still owed 2 movies to the studio.
Dr
Greenson convinced her to agree the project, thinking that working
could only be beneficial to her after the severe tests of 1961.
The director, George Cukor, was too under contract with the Fox and also owed a movie.
Not
less than 7 screenwiters contributed to what everyone considered as a
dull screenplay. But throughout the shooting, the original screenplay
didn't stop to be rewritten : some of Marilyn's suggestions were
included and every page was modified in a way or in another (
,).
APRIL:
For her movings, as she didn't own any car, she rented a limo at the Carey Cadillac Company and her chauffeur, Rudy
Kautzky, drove her.
Her
days, until the beginning of the shooting, didn't vary from Monday to
Saturday : she started with face cares at Madame Renna, on
Sunset Boulevard, around noon; then she went to a session with Dr
Greenson, at his office in Beverly Hills; she read her lines
with Paula Strasberg, arrived from New York and who stayed at
the Bel Air Hotel.
Then, she went to Dr Engelberg or Dr Seigel (doctor at the Fox) who gave her some "vitamins" injections (a combination of amphetamine), gave her some prescriptions (contradictory) and in a groove, gave her anyway everything she wanted.
Then she did some shopping at the Brentwood Mart, at Don J.Briggs (
,
)
on San Vicente Boulevard or at Jurgensen in Beverly Hills, and in
the end of the afternoon, the chauffeur took her back, this time, at
Greenson's home.
,
,
,
,
,
,
). George Cukor wasn't present which irritated Marilyn.
Wednesday, April 11,
Marilyn received a letter from the White House (
), thanking her for her future participation at John Kennedy's birthday gala, scheduled on May 19th 1962 (
).
Saturday, April 14 : she had dinner with Rupert Allan.
Mid-april : Eunice Murray moved in at Marilyn's place, and settled in the guest room.
Monday, April 16 : fitting for the dresses of "Something's Got to Give", at home.
Wednesday, April 18 : she had dinner with the Strasbergs. She obtained that Paula would come back on the set of "Something's Got to Give"; for 3 000$ a week, Paula would be her coach for the 5th time (
,
,
,
,
,
,
,
,
,
,
).
Sunday, April 22 :
Marilyn went to her session at Greensons, then went to Hermosa Beach, south of Los Angeles, where hairstylist Pearl Porterfield prepared her for her first day of shooting, which had to take place the following day.
Monday, April 23 : beginning of the shooting of "Something's Got to Give".
Dean Martin was absent because he was still working on another movie.
For Marilyn, she was ill; she had a temperature and shivering.
He had also been invited in Jerusalem to hold a conference about transference. He needed some rest and relaxation and wanted to spend peacefully some time with his wife's family.
From Tuesday, April 24 to Friday 27 : shooting of the scenes of "Something's Got to Give" with Dean Martin and Cyd Charisse (
,
).Monday, April 30 : despite Dr Siegel's opinion (doctor at the Fox), and her GP, Dr Hyman Engelberg, Marilyn went to the studio where she shot until 4.00 PM. She went back home, exhausted.
MAY:
Tuesday, May 1st : Hildi Greenson flew to Europe. Upset with the idea that Dr Greenson would be absent, Marilyn hardly managed to work.
Half an hour after her arrival at the Fox, she collapsed and had to be driven back home (
).
Dr
Engelberg signed her a sick note for an infectious sinusitis, a
diagnosis confirmed by Dr Seigel, who called the direction of the Fox,
to tell that Marilyn wasn't in condition to work.
Dr Engelberg prescribed her further examinations at the Cedars
of Lebanon Hospital.
Lee Siegel, doctor at the Fox, handed in his report : "She had a 38°5C temperature, a very congested breathing and a serious source of secondary infection in her throat".
She had to stay in bed for a week.
Despite the doctors's authorization, Cherie Redmond, her secretary who then worked at the Fox on Marilyn's behalf, was ordered to call Eunice Murray every day to hear from Marilyn.
Greenson still insisted on seeing her twice a day, but the barbiturates and
sedatives she took to weaken her anxiety and depression made her
confused, dazed and dozy. During her chauffeur's day off, Joan
Greenson, Greenson's daughter, drove her back home.
On the set, Cukor shot the scenes where Marilyn didn't appear.
At the same time, the super production "Cleopatra" was being shot in Europe, squandering millions of dollars and threatening the Fox with bankruptcy.
The studio was in such a perilous financial situation (long and slow decline of the studio, huge cost overrun of "Cleopatra") and the heads of the Fox put pressure on Spyros Skouras, who gave his president position up for the one, less influent, of president of the board of directors.
On the order of the Fox financiers committee based in New York City, Robert Goldstein (one of the new head of the Fox) took briefly over as director of production, but was soon replaced by Peter Levathes.
This
same week, Marilyn reminded Peter Levathes and Henry Weinstein
(producer of the movie) she had been allowed to attend the gala in John
Kennedy's honor, which would take place in New York, on Saturday, May 19.
She bought the long tight-fitting dress in sparkling silk designed by Jean-Louis (
,
) for the amount of 6 000$.
Cukor and his assistant then decided to shoot the scenes of the movie which took place in Balboa Island.
Thursday, May 10 : the movie ended its 14th day of shooting (with only one with Marilyn) and had technically a 4 and a half days delay. Thanks to Hollywood's cleverness to face the unexpected (accidents, illness, rough weather, changing of screenplay), there were always solutions; that's why in this May 10, the Fox schedule suggested only one extra day to compensate for the lateness.
Dr Greenson left Los Angeles for a 4 weeks trip.
He left to Marilyn a prescription of Dexamyl (an amphetamine combined to a short effect barbiturate, one stimulant and one sedative), in case she would need it.
Furthermore, he recommended her not to have Paula Strasberg play a role on the production of "Something’s Got to Give", thinking that Paula took advantage of her and her money.
Although Paula left for a short trip in New York, Marilyn didn't inform neither Paula, nor the studio of her notice.
During his absence, Greenson confided Marilyn to Dr Milton Wexler, his psychoanalyst colleague who shared the same office in Beverly Hills.
In this end of 3rd week of shooting, Marilyn hadn't worked more than one day.
Friday, May 11 : Peter Levathes (director of production) called Marilyn's lawyer, Milton Rudin, because he had heard Marilyn's intention to go to New York the next Thursday and Friday, before performing on Saturday, May 19 at the Madison Square Garden, during a gala organized by the Democratic Party.
The event, bound to collect funds to reimburse the presidential campaign debts, was also the opportunity to celebrate President Kennedy's 46th birthday.
For Peter Levathes, Marilyn couldn't possibly attend it. Her absences had already too much delayed the shooting
(
,
,
) and the Fox wanted her to be present on the set each day of the week from May 14 to 18.
Week-end of May 12 and 13 : Paula arrived at Marilyn's place with her sister Bea Glass. Joe DiMaggio was there too for the week-end. So there was a faithfull friends circle surrounding Marilyn, breezy despite her illness.
Ralph
Roberts also visited her before leaving to New York.
Monday, May 14 :
Marilyn felt better and went back to work at the studio. She arrived 20
minutes in advance for the make-up session scheduled at 6.30 AM. She
was eager, cooperative, enthusiastic (,
,
).
This
day, and for 10 hours, she was remarkably patient and good-humored
during the 50 takes of a scene with Tippy, the cocker spaniel of the
family (
,
).
During the shooting, it was her friend Whitey
Snyder who took care of her make-up (
,
,
,
,
) and Agnes Flanagan of her hairstyle (
,
,
,
,
, 
).
Tuesday, May 15 and Wednesday 16 : the shooting kept on with Marilyn, still in a very good mood.
She talked with excitement about her trip in New York, which leaving was planned on Thursday, May 17.
But director George Cukor told Henry Weinstein, the producer, that if Marilyn was absent on Thursday afternoon and Friday, the shooting would have a 6 days delay and it would need to give some explanations to the heads.
The Fox office in New York informed Marilyn she wasn't allowed to attend this gala; a letter threatening her of a dismissal for breach of contract was sent to Milton Rudin.
This gave a good reason to the studio and allow it to save up more than 3 millions dollars, going to waste a movie whit only half a dozen of sets and 20 actors, an insipid comedy, decried since the first work sessions on the screenplay, a project neither the director nor the star believed in. With a convincing reason (for instance, the illness of a star), maybe the Fox insurances could be convinced to repay the spending money. At least, the movie could be temporarily put aside, the screenplay modified, maybe the distribution too, and it could start again later.
Henry Weinstein had given his agreement to Marilyn's leaving to New York, before the many delays of the shooting.
Nevertheless, on the shooting log, it was well written that the shooting should be stopped on May 17 at 11.30 AM. It must have been unthinkable the Fox would be opposed to the greatest Hollywood star presence to a gala where the President himself had invited her.
Thursday, May 17 : at 11.30 AM, as agreed, Marilyn ended the shooting scenes.
Peter
Lawford and Milton Ebbins (friend of Sinatra and vice president of
Lawford production company), arrived with an helicopter borrowed by
Lawford to Howard Hughes.
Pat
Newcomb accompanied her.
The
helicopter dropped them at the Los Angeles International Airport where
they flew to New York. Marilyn settled in her apartment, 444 East 57th Street : 
,
,
,
). .
The lawyers of the Fox drafted a breach of contract-letter, sent it to the MCA and Milton Rudin, accusing Marilyn of absenteeism and severly warned her of the following terrible consequences.
Friday, May 18 : she received a copy of the breach of contract-letter; she knew that from then on, she might be dismissed.
She made the rehearsals of the gala at the Madison Square Garden, accompanied with Pat Newcomb, with composer and producer Richard Adler, who directed the show :
,
,
, 
,
;
,
;
,
,
,
,
.
Saturday, May 19 :
The
Madison Square Garden was crammed full of more than 15 000 people who
had paid from 10 to 1 000$ the ticket for a giant birthday party (
)(actually, John Kennedy's birthday was on May 29), destined to make good the deficit of the National Democratic Committee, after the presidential campaign of 1960.
The gala was presented by Jack Benny
(
).
Marilyn was late (
,
,
,
,
,
) and a musical interlude had to be improvised.
Peter Lawford announced her arrival on the stage (
).
Finally she appeared, shining in her sparkling dress, rather fuddled and sang "Happy birthday Mr President" (
, 
,
,
,
,
) in front of 15 000 Democrats and many stars (Ella Fitzgerald (
), Jimmy Durante (
),Peggy Lee (
), Henry Fonda (
),
Maria Callas (
,
,
), Harry Belafonte (
), Mike Nichols et Elaine
May…).
President Kennedy was alone, Jackie having stayed in Virginia for a horse riding.
Robert Kennedy and his wife
Ethel were present : 
.
Marilyn ended her performance with some words sang on the melody of "Thanks for the Memories".
She attended the party following the gala, given at Arthur Krim's place (president of
United Artists) and his wife Mathilde, in the East Side (
,
,
).
She was accompanied with her ex-father-in-law, Isadore Miller (
,
,
,) (at the beginning, she had asked photographer Eve Arnold
to come with her, but this one not being available, Marilyn had approached Arthur Miller's father she liked a lot).
This evening, her main worry was that, Isadore Miller, lost in the crowd of guests, had a sit and something to eat. She didn't abandon him among strangers to talk or beg for compliments from group to group.
Milton Ebbins drove her back home around 2.00 AM.
Sunday, May 20 : Marilyn went back in Los Angeles.
Monday, May 21 : she was on the set of "Something’s
Got to Give"at 6.15 AM, sustained with amphetamines. She worked for 8
hours in a row, but had a quite a half-hearted welcome from the
producer, the director and the crew (
,
,
).
She was lucid and founded in her suspicion toward her crew and the whole direction of the Fox : the studio incredible incompetence during the last weeks of shooting, its pretentious ineffiiciency on the set and outside led to think that the intention was really to dismiss her and to give the movie up.
This day, she shot the scenes with the children 
,
,
,
,
,
,
),
because Dean Martin had caught a cold (he didn't shot on Tuesday,
Wednesday and Thrusday, and stayed in bed through Thursday).
Monday, May 22 :
She shot the whole morning with the children, finished the shots and the close-ups of their conversation next to the pool.
Pat Newcomb, her press agent, called photographer Lawrence Schiller and advised him to come to the studio the following day, when Marilyn had to shoot the pool scene.
Marilyn had agreed the picture session, on condition that she gave her approbation on the published pictures.
Another photographer, Don Ornitz,
of
Globe Photos, also had to come and take Marilyn in picture, but being
ill, the Fox replaced him with one of the studio photographers, Jimmy Mitchell.
Wednesday, May 23 :
From 9.00 AM to 4.00 PM (with 20 minutes lunch break), Marilyn remained in the pool, swimming, splashing, waving her arms while she was taken in different shots. She had to bath naked, an illusion perfectly obtained thanks to the flesh-colored bikini she wore. But on the screen, the bikini strap was clearly visible for the Technicolor movie camera.
Willingly, she took her flesh-colored bathsuit off and posed naked for the photographers for almost an hour.
Photographer Lawrence Schiller (
,
,
,
,
,
,
,
,
,
)
was perfectly aware what he got in his hands and convinced the
other photographer, Jimmy Mitchell, to get rid of his negatives for the
sum of 10 000$. Thus, with his colleague Billy Woodfield, they had Marilyn's last nudes exclusive rights.
It was the first time a movie star posed naked for pictures.
Thursday, May 24 : Dean Martin was still absent for illness, and Cukor shot the scenes with Cyd Charisse
(
). The shooting had only a 9 days delay.
Friday, May 25 : Marilyn, despite a slight temperature and her right ear which suppurated (due to the pool scene), worked without complaining.
This
same day, she chose the pictures to be published with Lawrence
Schiller. The pictures were on the cover of 72 magazines in 32
countries, and were sold for 150 000$ (much more than the sum Marilyn
was paid for the movie).
Saturday, May 26 and Sunday 27 :
Marilyn
spent the week-end alone and just went out on Saturday to buy some things to eat, with
Pat Newcomb.
Sunday : her ear infection had worsened with a 38.8° C temperature.
Dr Milton Wexler gave her a penicillin injection.
Monday, May 28 : George Cukor had planned a scene with Marilyn, Dean Martin, Cyd Charisse, Tom Tyron and Wally Cox, but this morning, Marilyn didn't feel better and didn't come on the set.
Cukor had no more scenes to shoot without her and the production lost a day of work.
Night of 28 to 29 : new visit of Dr Milton Wexler.
Tuesday, May 29 : Marilyn came to the studio with an iron will.
She worked with Dean Martin for 6 hours.
Wednesday, May 30 : no shooting this day, because of Memorial Day.
Thursday, May 31: Marilyn shot for the first time with actor Wally Cox (
) ,who
played the shoe salesman. She made 38 takes of 4 shots, ie 2 pages and
a half of the screenplay. She played the scene where she tried some
shoes on
(
,
,
),
JUNE:
She began early this morning, and shot the scene with Wally Cox and Dean Martin (
,
,
).
Pat
Newcomb arrived at the studio in the afternoon with some Dom Perignon, Marilyn's favourite champagne (
). Dean
Martin had brought some champagne too.
Evelyn Moriarty, Marilyn'ss tand-in (
,
),
had collected 50$ for the cake, bought at Humphrey’s Bakery
at the Hollywood Farmer’s Market ; finally, one of the
executive of the studio suggested to pay it and Evelyn Moriarty paid
off the money she had collected.
The whole crew was there to celebrate her birthday (
),including Henry Weinstein and Eunice Murray
(
). Photographer George Barris was also there (
) (
,
,
,
,
,
).
,
). Marilyn was delighted of this impromptu party, which ended at around 6.30 PM.
She left the Fox with actor Wally Cox (
,
,
,
This
evening, she attended, wearing the costume she had worn during the day
(a beige silk suit with an harmonized fur toque), an event at the
Chavez Ravin
Dodger Stadium of Los Angeles, for a base-ball game given in aid of the
muscular dystrophy
(
,
,
,
,
) ; she made the kick-off.
But she got a cold and, back home, around 10.00 PM, suffered from headaches; she once again suffered from a sinusitis.
Saturday, June 2 :Unable
to control her sobbing, Marilyn called Greenson's children, Danny and
Joan, to who their father had left the instructions to answer her
request if she'd call. Worried, they rushed to her home and found her
in a depressive condition, giddy, confused.
They called their father's substitute, Dr Milton Wexler, who confiscated her all her drug bottles.
Week-end of June 2 and 3 : Marilyn, calm but pallid with rage, didn't consider herself as being compelled to work in a situation from which she felt completely switched off.
Eunice Murray tried to get hold of Dr Greenson in Switzerland, but this one wasn't yet arrived from Israël.
Paula Strasberg, back to Los Angeles and staying at the Château Marmont Hotel, called the Fox and informed the studio Marilyn wouldn't come there before having talked with her lawyers.
Eunice Murray called producer Henry Weinstein to inform him about Marilyn's new bout of sinusitis she suffered from, and so, that she wasn't in condition to work.
Monday, June 4 : at 8.00 AM, Dr Lee Siegel, of the Fox, went to Brentwood and noticed Marilyn's condition : he informed the studio she had a temperature upper than 38°C. He recommended her to stay home.
This day was "Something’s Got to Give" last day of shooting, although the official end took place a week later.
The Fox announced that if Marilyn wouldn't come on Tuesday, June 5, the studio would face an alternative : either find her a substitute, or stop the movie. Kim Novak, Shirley MacLaine, Doris Day and Lee Remick were good candidates.This Monday, in the end of the afternoon, Philippe Feldman (executive vice president) met Milton Rudin.
This one explained that Marilyn was exhausted and that he hadn't been able to decide her to go back to work.
Tuesday, June 5 : the Fox warned Milton Rudin they were ready to sue Marilyn for breach of contract . Rudin informed them he understood the company position, and that on Marilyn's request, he had called Dr Greenson in Switzerland so that he would come back as soon as possible.Wednesday, June 6 :
In
the evening, Greenson went back to Los Angeles alone (his wife
had stayed in Switzerland) and went directly to Marilyn's place; he
spent 2 hours with her and, after having consulted Dr Engelberg,
decided that she was physically and psychologically in condition to
keep on the the shooting.
He took her to Dr Michael
Gurdin, an eminent cosmetic surgeon in Beverly Hills.
She arrived with bruises on her face. Greenson explained she had slipped in her shower and had fallen, clearly under sedatives influence. What worried Greenson (because he was the one who was talking) was that Marilyn was shooting a movie and he was afraid she had her nose broken, but Dr Gurdin didn't diagnose any fracture.
Then
Greenson called Milton Rudin (who was in Lake Tahoe) ; this one asked
his partner, Martin Gang, to inform Phil Feldman (head of the Fox)
that Greenson, back from holidays, from then on was taking care
of Marilyn's relations with the studio.
Because Marilyn had accused
Rudin to be with the Fox and that Greenson was the medical member of
the crew who took the decisions, so it would up to him to determine if
Marilyn was in condition to start the shooting again, which, according
to him, would be feasible on Monday, June 11.
Then Greenson called Eunice Murray, asking her not to say a word to the press, nor to anyone of the Arthur Jacobs public
relations agency from New York or from the studios. He added that
Marilyn's face injury wasn't serious. No information was given to Henry
Weinstein, producer of the movie.
The studio's loss came to 9 000$ a day of Marilyn's absence. Feldman wanted to make sure that she would regularly come to the studio since the following Monday.
Greenson pointed out that her patient had faced 2 problems : a virus she had caught in New York and the absence of her psychoanalyst.
He
declared himself ready to take the responsability of the movie every
artistic aspects : choose new directors and cameraman, decide the
scenes Marilyn would shoot or not, and which tales would be kept.
He pleaded for Marilyn, declaring she was ready and eager to work.
Some decisions were taken :
- Marilyn lost the few of creative initiative she had
- she had to arrive on time on the set
- she had to respect the time of lunch break
- Paula Strasberg wasn't anymore allowed to be present.
The meeting ended in the afternoon, Greenson hadn't been able to convince the Fox.
Actually, since Tuesday, June 5, the decision of her dismissal from the Fox had already been taken in New York, by Samuel Rosenman
(president of the Fox board of directors in New York).
Going
back to his office shortly before 4.00 PM, Milton Rudin found a message
from the Fox : the studios considered that Marilyn had broken her
contract and were ready to use every possible legal measures.
The Fox was at that time in an insecure financial situation : "Cleopatra" having exceeded 30 millions of dollars, the Fox got rid of its real estate companies, dismissed some employees and closed the studio facilities to save money.
Furthermore, the movie industry suffered from the TV competition, because many American households owned a TV set.
Peter Levathes, subjected to an intense pressure, gave "Something’s Got to Give" up and dismissed Marilyn, reproaching her for her lack of assiduity on the set (she had only shot 12 days on 33).
Greenson, having learned Marilyn's dismissal, went to her home and stayed an hour at Helena Drive. She was in an extreme tension condition.
Greenson gave her an IV injection of sedative. Whitey Snyder visited her after Greenson's visit and found her shattered; she had never been dismissed yet.
The Fox had chosen Lee Remick, as Marilyn's substitute, this one able to wear the same costumes without having any
alterations.
But
a clause of Dean Martin's contract, themasculine leading role of the
movie, specified he could chooser her partner; so he refused to work
with anyone else than Marilyn (
).
Marilyn
and Dean Martin had some mutual projects for later : a comedy "I Love
Louisa" and a detective film, without any definitive title, in which
the Rat Pack would appear (
).
Marilyn
called Spyros Skouras, hospitalized in New York ; having only an
honorific position at the Fox, he was about to resign and couldn't do
anything for her. The new heads of the Fox were Milton Gould, John
Loeb and Samuel Rosenman.
Saturday, June 9 : reporter Sheila Graham
published in her column, the information about Marilyn's dismissal (an
information she had obtained from Henry Weinstein, in the evening of
June 7), in the Citizen News.
The Fox asked for 750 000$.
Monday, June 11 :
Zanuck signed a secret agreement with Skouras (this one held 100 000 shares and Zanuck 280 000) to overthrow the Fox direction.
So this day he promised Marilyn that, back at the head of the Fox, she would start her movie again and would still be its star.
The Fox, which had injected more than 2 millions dollars in "Something's Got to Give", officially suspended the production.
Wednesday, June 13 : she sent a telegram through Western Union to Robert
and Ethel Kennedy, who had invited her to a reception given in their
house in Virginia, in Pat and Peter Lawford's honor (
.
Eunice Murray's son-in-law, Norman Jefferies, worked in the guest
house of Fifth Helena Drive, in preparation for the next visit of
poet Carl Sandburg.
Thursday, June 14 : Marilyn saw Dr Gurdin again, who confirmed the improvement of the lesions.
Mid-June :
Tuesday, June 19 : the Fox kept on its legal actions by asking for 3 339 000$ to Dean Martin (whose company, Claude Productions, co -produced the movie), ie the sum the shooting had cost.
Meanwhile, Peter Levathes had realized that by giving "Something's
Got to Give" up, losing Marilyn and Dean Martin, the Fox alos lost the
amazing publicity of the pool scene pictures. As for the financial
aspect, Lee Remick's commitment wasn't that cheap because her fee
came to 80 000$, and that a couple of weeks of shooting would be
written-off.
So
the discussions reopened for a possible shooting rerun even before the
end of June, and negotiations were opened to completely review the
screenplay. The meetings and phone calls were multiplied, to see how to
bring Marilyn and Dean Martin back on the set in October,
after this one would have ended a tour in cabarets.
Marilyn hadn't remain inactive, because she also had some discussions for other movies. In addition, after the wrangles with the Fox, the announcement of the resumption of negotiations, every American magazine asked for an interview and pictures.
The
evening of June 19, Marilyn invited Dan and Joan Greenson to celebrate
Joan's birthday, during a relaxed dinner at Fifth Helena Drive.
It was urgent that Marilyn would refute the rumors according to which she had suffered from a serious depression. If she wanted to save her career, she immediately had to show her image to the public and be on the cover of national magazines, in order to show that all those assertions were not well-founded.
Friday, June 22 : Life magazine started. The magazine made its cover (
) with one of the picture taken during the shooting, to lure the reader, from the pool scene.
Saturday, June 23, Sunday 24 and Monday 25 : beginning of a serie of 5 picture sessions for Vogue magazine with photographer Bert Stern, suite 261 then bungalow 96 of the Bel Air Hotel. The sessions took place until July 12
(
; 
,
;
,
,
;
,
;
,
,
;
,
;
).
Marilyn arrived 5 hours late.
It was Allan Snyder who took care of her make-up and Kenneth Battelle of her hair for the picture sessions (
,
,
).
Later, Bert Stern showed her the proofs and Marilyn crossed the ones she didn't want to be published (
,
,
,
,
,
)
Tuesday, June 26, Agnes Flanagan took care of her hair (
) and Whitey Snyder of her make-up (
), in preparation for a dinner with the Lawfords.
Wednesday, June 27 : at the Fox New York head office, Spyros Skouras faced the 11 members of the board of directors. Peter Levathes and Charlie Einfeld (vice president in charge of marketing and publicity) were present. Skouras had to answer for the financial crisis the studio was going through, the loss of exploitation which was close to 35 millions dollars the last 2 years, and the excess of the stars like Elizabeth Taylor and Marilyn. He also had to answer for "Cleopatra", the most expensive movie of the history of the movie industry, for the 2 millions dollars the cancellation of "Something's Got to GIve" cost and for his own tendency for expensive trips abroad and other bonus.
The turbulent meeting didn't end until after 7.00 PM.
During
the break of the meeting, Charlie Einfeld announced that Spyros Skouras
wasn't anymore the president of the board of directors.
Just to save face, Skouras claimed having left for health reasons (he had had a prostate surgery on May 19, 1962).
His resignation would took effect on September 30, or earlier if a successor could be found.
It was the end of the studio great era. The Fox had let it outstripped.
While the other majors ahd focused on the distribution of movies
produced elsewhere, the Fox had persisted to want to produce mostly ot
its.
Marilyn was invited at Lawford's place for a dinner in Robert Kennedy's honor.
This one arrived from Boulder, Colorado, where he had spoken to the prison directors, before coming in Los Angeles.
The
Lawfords and Robert Kennedy came at her home early in the evening; she
had invited them to visit her house. From there, they went to have
dinner at Lawford's home and in the evening, it was Robert Kennedy's
chauffeur who drove Marilyn back home.
Marilyn had an appointment at the Fox with Peter Levathes, to talk about the conditons of her return on the shooting. For this meeting, Agnes Flanagan and Whitey Snyder came to take care of her appearance.
The issue of Life magazine of June 22
had aroused a big movement of public interest, and it was then in the studio's interest, as in Marilyn's one, to bring "Something's Got to GIve" to fruition.
But the Fox also needed to check that Marilyn would agree its "conditions".
Among
its many demands, the Fox notably demanded that Marilyn wasn't entitled
to her say about the choice of a director, cameraman and co-stars. In
addition, she had to abandon the idea of consulting the screenplay,
demanding extra shots, viewing the rushes, being accompanied on
the set by her coach or every other assistant without the management's
agreement.
The Fox hoped to go back on the whole major concessions for which Marilyn had fought when she had signed her contract on December 31st 1955. The studio asked the star to give every control up. The worst, Marilyn should publicly apologize.
The
Fox agreed to lift the brought proceedings against the Marilyn Monroe
Productions, to renegotiate her contract for 1 million dollars with a
bonus if the movie was finished at the scheduled date, a new musical
"What a Way to Go", produced by Arthur Jacobs, plus 500 000$ for
Marilyn. The Fox even agreed to take up the initial screenplay of
Nunnally Johnson again, and to replace Cukor with Jean Negulesco, with who she had shot "How
to Marry a Millionnaire?" in 1953.
Zanuck for his part, held 110 000 of them.
She made Pat Newcomb come and dictated her some telegrams sent to the actors and the technicians of "Something's Got to GIve", deploring the Fox decsions to put an end to the shooting.
From Friday, June 29 to Sunday, July 1st Marilyn made a picture session with photographer George Barris, on the Santa Monica beach (
,
,
,
,
,
), in Tim Leimert's (
) house in North Hollywood Hills (
,
) for Cosmopolitan magazine.Her haistylist Agnes Flanagan (
,
,
,
,
,
), her make-up man Allan Snyder (
,
) and her press agent Pat Newcomb
(
,) were present during this picture session.
Wednesday, July 4 :
Peter
Lawford organized a barbecue for the US Independence Day.
Marilyn
and Robert Kennedy attended it. This one had to go in Nevada where he
had to meet Maxwell Taylor (president of the heads of general
staff) and attend the first test of the hydrogen bomb on the US
continent.
This day, she granted what should be her last interview to Life magazine, in a serie of conversations led by Richard Meryman which took place at Helena Drive. The meeting lasted 6 hours.
At
the beginning, Marilyn didn't want that some pictures would be taken :
she didn't want the people to see the place where she lived.
Nevertheless, she agreed and the pictures were taken by photographer Allan Grant (
,
,
,
,
).
On this occasion, Agnes Flanagan and Whitey Snyder took care of her appearance.
Sunday, July 8 : DiMaggio visited her.
During his visits, they shared simple dinners, seated on the
sitting-room floor (the mexican furniture delivery had been popstponed;
they rented bikes at Hans Ohrt de
Brentwood (
) and rode on San Vicente Boulevard, in the direction of the ocean; they also did some shopping together.
He accompanied her when she bought a complete new wardrobe in Beverly Hills, at Saks Fifth Avenue and Jax; cashemere sweaters, blouses, 2 evening dresses and stilettos (
).
Monday, July 9 :
Last picture session with photographer Allan Grant, to go with her her last interview made by Richard Meryman for Life magazine, published on August 3rd.
Meryman brought her the transcription of their discussions.
This interview was a carefully prepared denial to those who described her career as compromised.
Thursday, July 12, Marilyn had an appointment at the Fox; Agnes Flanagan took care of her hair and Whitey Snyder of her make-up for this meeting.
Friday, July 13 :
this morning, Marilyn called Elisabeth Courtney, lthe assistant of
dress designer Jean-Louis, who had top come to her home for the last
fitting of a new evening dress he had designed for her, for the party
of September 6 she had to attend in Washington DC.
Marilyn
also met Sidney Skolsky, she hadn't seen for a year, for a
project closed to their heart for a while, a movie about Jean Harlow's life , "The Jean Harlow Story" and which he would produce and Marilyn would be the star.
But they first had to be sure of Jean Harlow's mother cooperation.
Sunday, July 15 : Sidney Skolsky and Marilyn went in Indio, a small town, South East of Palm Springs.
The old eccentric and charming woman lived surrounded with relics and souvenirs of her dear "baby Jean".
"Mama" Jean Bello's agreement was as fast as expected.
They all agreed on meeting again on Sunday, August 5 at 4.00 PM, to work together on the project.
After having drunk some tea, Skolsky and Marilyn went back to Los Angeles.
From the beginning of July until August 4, the bank accounts showed that Marilyn saw Dr Greenson 27 times in 35 days, and 13 times Dr Engelberg (
). The files showed she had had some injections during those visits.
Friday, July 20 : she had another surgery at the Los Angeles Cedars of Lebanon Hospital, by Dr Leon Krohn, to allay her of her chronic endometritis.
Saturday, July 21 : DiMaggio visited her at the hospital, and drove her back home.
Wednesday, July 25 :
Two
of his most important opponent resigned. Zanuck's election suspended
everything at the Fox, including the discussions between Marilyn
and the previous administrators.
Many
people credited Zanuck with the Fox past glory, and some senior members
of the studio wrongly predicted that, with him, the studio would once
agaiin live an "new golden era".
Peter
Levathes personally went to Marilyn's home and announced her that her
return was effective; not only the Fox was about to stop sueing
her , but she was about to be re-hired with a higher salary. So the
shooting of "Something's Got to Give" had to start again and thus
Marilyn was sure to sign her 1 million dollars contract.
She seemed happy to come back on the set and together, they saw the screenplay again, to which did some changings.
Her lawyer, Milton Rudin, undertook to work on the contractual details of her return.
Marilyn invited Agnes Flanagan and Allan Snyder to celebrate thegood news at her home.
Saturday, July 28 and Sunday 29 : Peter Lawford invited her to spend the week-end at the Cal-Neva Lodge, close to Lake Tahoe, which was owned by Frank Sinatra (
,
,
,
).
She planned to see Dean Martin who was performing at the Celebrity Room
of the Cal Neva Lodge, not only to thank him for his support during the
June
crisis with the Fox, but also to talk about a movie project Arthur
Jacobs wanted to produce for the 2 actors, a comedy "I Love Louisa".
The following week, on Arthur Jacobs's suggestion, she intended to see
the movies of director J.Lee Thompson.
On Saturday evening : she appeared at Frank Sinatra's show.
This one officially invited her to celebrate her new contract with the
Fox and to talk about the next movie (the musical comedy "What a Way to
Go") they both had to co-star.
Marilyn's name doesn't appear on the hotel's records, but it was the bungalow n° 52, which belonged to a group of bungalows for Siantra's guests only, which was attributed to her.
Sunday, July 29 : she went back to Los Angeles
with the Lawfords.
Monday, July 30 :
She called Milton Rudin, telling him her wish to do her will again.
She also received a mail from her Fox secretary, Cherie Redmond, who
informed her that, from then on, Eunice Murray would deal with her mail
both at the Fox and at her private mail box.
This evening, she invited Whitey Snyder and his girlfriend, Marjorie Plecher () : they celebrated their future wedding and the rerun of the shooting of "Something’s Got to Give", scheduled on October. They found Marilyn enthusiastic and optimistic.
Against
all the evidence, Dr Greenson asserted that Marilyn was better, maybe
urged by the necessity to ease his conscience, because he knew that his
absence had led to Marilyn's dismissal. He planned to go back to Europe
the following month.
When he had interrupted his holidays, at the same
time, he had cancelled the visit he had planned to his publisher, by
stopping in New York on his way back. Then, he intended to go there in August, September or in October.
He slowly got ahead with the writing of "The
Technique and Practice of Psychoanalysis" because he devoted the main
part of his time and energy to Marilyn. He would make sure he
coordinates his trip and the next coming of Anna Freud in the USA and hoped to be invited to join her at the Menninger Clinic of Topeka, Kansas.
AUGUST :
The first week of August, many magazines with Marilyn on cover were published, notably Life magazine, with the interview made by Richard Meryman.
Wednesday, August 1st :The Fox officially signed with Marilyn her new contract with a 250 000$ salary (2 and a half time the sum allowed in her first contract).
Learning
the news, her friend and stand-in Evelyn Moriarty called her and found
her in good health, very happy to go back to work. They talked about
the screenplay and the new director. Marilyn informed her about her
other projects, the movie Arthur Jacobs would produce, "I Love Louisa"
for the Fox and "The Jean Harlow Story".
Eunice Murray announced to Marilyn she was going on a trip in Europe from Monday, August 6 with her sister and her brother-in-law. To compensate for Eunice's absence, Marilyn called several times Florence Thomas, a former housekeeper she had had in Hew York.
Thursday, August 2 : in the morning, Marilyn went to Dr Greensons for a psychoanalysis session. He saw her once again in the afternoon at her home (according to his fees). Marilyn asked Eunice Murray to drive her in Beverly Hills and West Hollywood to do some shopping.She spent few hours at "Franks nurseries & florists" in Santa Monica where she ordered lemon trees and many flower plants for her garden. Then she bought a wall tapestry and a small table at "The Mart", which had to be delivered on Saturday, August 4.
In the evening, she was invited to have dinner at the Lawfords.
Friday, August 3 :
Robert and Ethel Kennedy and their 4 children arrived in San Francisco (
). Robert Kennedy had to make a speech at the Bar Association Conference on Monday, August 6, and intended to spend the week-end with his friend, John Bates, at the Bates
Ranch, in Gilroy (about 130 kilometers south of San Francisco, 560 Km north Los Angeles, in the Santa Cruz heights)
(
,
,
,
).
The Bates answered to a Kennedy's invitation, who had invited them in Hickory Hill, the property of Robert Kennedy in Virginia.
Marilyn
woke up early, rested, because she hadn't taken any sedatives the night
before. Then she spent an hour and a half at Dr Greenson's home.
Back to her home, Dr Engelberg was waiting for her, apparently on
Greenson's request. He gave her an injection (of "vitamins") and wrote
her a prescription for 25 capsules of Nembutal. This was added to a
stock of chloral hydrate, prescribed by Dr Greenson, to wean Marilyn
off barbiturates.
She also had 2 prescriptions of unknown quantity of Nembutal written by Dr Seigel, doctor at the Fox, dated July 25 and August 3.
This same day she got the Nembutal capsules prescribed by Engelberg at the San Vicente pharmacy (
), not far from her home.
She called the Rostens in Brooklyn to ask them for an advice about the article published in Life magazine under the title "Marilyn tells what she thinks about celebrity"; she invited them for the evening of September 6, for the first production of "Mr President" she had to attend.
Then, she called Elizabeth Courtney (the assistant of dress designer
Jean-Louis), and asked her if the new dress could be delivered for a
final fitting the next day; but, remembering it was the week-end, she
called her back and set an appointment on the following Monday.
For this trip in New York, Marilyn had other projects : she had agreed to grant a long interview to Esquire magazine which she would be on cover, and there were several parties scheduled, including one with the Strasbergs, who had already bought the theater tickets.
Arthur Jacobs called her too, to inform her they had an appointment the following Monday, August 6, at 5.00 PM, with J.Lee Thompson, to talk about their project "I Love Louisa"'.
The nearby nurseryman, Frank, made deliver the lemon trees and other plants she had orderered on Thursday
(
).
She called Pat Newcomb to invite her to have dinner in a restaurant, but this one suffered from a bronchitis. So Marilyn suggested her to come and have rest in the solarium of Helena Drive. Pat Newcomb agreed and arrived at Marilyn's home after her day's work.
Eunice Murray had gone back home for the night. Marilyn and Pat Newcomb, who slept there, went to bed early.
Marilyn
woke up early; apparently, she hadn't slept much. Pat Newcomb, ill, was
still sleeping in the guest room. Eunice Murray arrived around 8.00 AM,
for what would be her last day of working. She had left her car at the
nearby car repair shop of Henry D'Antonio who had to drop it at
Marilyn's; he took it back to her in the afternoon.
When she arrived, she didn't see neither Marilyn, nor Pat Newcomb.
At around 9.00 AM, Marilyn appeared; she didn't have a breakfast , just a glass of grapefruit juice.
At around 9.00-10.00 AM, photographer Lawrence Schiller came to talk with her about the pictures which would be published in Playboy magazine; those pictures had been taken on May 28 during
the shooting of the pool scene of "Something's Got to Give; when he
arrived, Marilyn was knelt down near a bed of flowers which bordered
the guest house.
She
crossed the lawn to talk with him in the parking area. With a soft
lead pencil she marked the pictures she held and the ones she didn't
want.
But wondering about the opportunity to be on cover, where once again,
she'd be reduced to an object, they decided to talk about it next
Monday. Schiller would be in town and they would talk again about
it at that time.
In the morning, she talked on phone with Sidney Skolsky about their project, "The Jean Harlow Story". They had an appointment the following day, August 5th at 4.00 PM, with Jean Harlow's mother.
She took delivery of the night table she had ordered at Mart.
Then, Ralph Roberts called her to organize a barbecue the
following evening, after the visit to Jean Harlow's mother; not being
sure to be available, Marilyn asked him to call her back in the
afternoon.
Pat Newcomb woke up before noon; she had rest while Marilyn attended to her business, and spent the afternoon in the solarium, under the sun lamp, to treat her bronchitis; the neighbors had heard her coughing the whole afternoon.
Dr Greenson came and visited Marilyn at around 5.15 PM; he found her a little bit groggy (she must had regularly taken some pills during the day) but he didn't imagine her spending the night in such a condition. Because he hadn't any drugs, he called his colleague, Dr Engelberg (between 5.45 and 6.30 PM), so that he came and gave Marilyn a sedative injection. But, this one, in the middle of a domestic fit (he was breaking up with his wife) refused to come.
At around 2.00 PM, Eunice Murray received a collect call from Joe
DiMaggio Jr, who served in the Marine, on the nearby Orange County. Eunice told him that Marilyn was absent. He called again at around 4.30 PM and once again, couldn't talk to her.
Between 5.45 and 6.30 PM,
Ralph Greenson called, just before he went to Jurgensen to buy the
necessary for the barbecue, scheduled the next day. This time, Greenson
picked up the receiver and answered him that Marilyn wasn't there.
At around 6.30 PM, Greenson came out of Marilyn's room. Pat Newcomb left Helena Drive, Dr Greenson having told her that she didn't need to stay.
Greenson asked Eunice Murray to exceptionally spend the night.
Dr Greenson left at around 7.00 PM.
Marilyn didn't want to have dinner and told Mrs Murray she only wanted to have rest.
Between 7.00-7.15 PM, Peter Lawford called her; this evening, he organized a dinner with friends and invited Marilyn to join them. At this party were invited his impresario, George Durgom, and Lawford's best friend, Joseph Naar (TV producer) and his wife Dolores.
At around 7.15 PM, Joe DiMaggio Jr called once again and this time, Mrs Murray gave the phone to Marilyn. For about 10 mn they had a pleasant conversation, during which he informed her that he had broken his engagement up with the young lady he dated, whom Marilyn didn't like much.
At around 7.30 PM,
she called Dr Greenson who was about to go out with his wife. She
wanted to share the good news Joe DiMaggio Jr had given to her, and
pursued the conversation while going in her bedroom with the phone.
She undressed and went to bed. It was around 8.00 PM. And Eunice Murray was in the sitting-room, watching the television or reading.
Between 8.00 and 8.30 PM,
Peter Lawford called Marilyn back. He found she had a thick voice,
becoming less and less audible. Soon he didn't hear anything, as if she
had put the phone or let it fall. He tried to call her back but the
line was busy.
He asked the operator to stop the call but he was
answered that the phone was picked up.
Being worried about her condition, he called his lawyer, Milton Ebbins at about 8.15 PM. This one called Marilyn's lawyer, Milton Rudin and fell on his messaging service. He learned that Rudin attended a party at Mildred Allenberg, the widow of Sinatra's agent; Ebbins managed to join him there.
At 8.30 PM, a visibly thick feminine voice called Ralph Roberts's messaging service, who was out. It's likely Marilyn trying to join him.
At around 8.30 PM,
Milton Rudin called in Brentwood and talked with Eunice Murray. He
asked her to check if Marilyn was all right; this one went to Marilyn's
bedroom door, pricked up her ears and not hearing anything unsual, came
back to the phone and told Rudin that everything was all right.
8.45 - 9.00 PM, Milton Rudin called Milton Ebbins back, who called Peter Lawford back and reassured him about Marilyn's condition. While Rudin came back to his cocktail party and Lawford with his guests, Eunice Murray wondered why the hell Marilyn's lawyer had called to enquire about her condition.
Officially, Mrs Murray declared having gone to Marilyn's bedroom at around midnight, then she had moved her speech 3 hours back.
But Marilyn's time of death being set at 10.00 PM the latest, Mrs Murray must had checked if Marilyn was all right after Rudin's call.
It's more likely she had opened Marilyn's bedroom door while she was still online with Rudin.
So
she returned once again at the bedroom's door, gently called Marilyn,
and didn't obtain any answer. The bedroom's light was still on and
seeing the phone cord under the door (
),
Eunice Murray opened the door : that's when she discovered the actress,
dead or unconscious; lying on her stomach, on the bed, holding the
phone receiver in her hand.
Panicked, she tried to reach Dr Greenson who was out, and left a
message to his messaging service (or asked Greenson's children to pass
on their father), asking him to come as soon as possible to 5th Helena
Drive for an emergency.
Then she called Dr Engelberg who soon arrived.
Marilyn's body was probably put on her back by Dr Engelberg, but it was
too late. Greenson must have arrived a little bit later, after he was
informed of Eunice's alert message.
Marilyn died at 10.00 PM the latest, probably between 9.00 and 9.30 PM.
Greenson calld Milton Rudin, still attending the cocktail party. First thing to do : join Arthur Jacobs.
At around 10.00 or 10.30 PM,
Arthur Jacobs was at the Hollywood Bowl where he attended a concert
with his fiancée, Natalie Trundy, a young actress, producer
Mervyn LeRoy and his wife.
Arthur Jacobs received a call from Milton Rudin, informing him about
Marilyn's death. Jacobs asked the LeRoy to drive Natalie Trundy back
home, and went to Helena Drive.
Pat Newcomb was only informed at 5.00 AM.
At around 10.30 PM, Lawford's party was over. After his friends leaving, he had much time to think about Marilyn's weird call, few hours earlier. Whatever Milton Rudin had told him, she didn't really feel good. He was soon informed about Marilyn's death from Milton Ebbins.
Not any connection had to be made with the Fox; the movie star couldn't have committed suicide because of her issues with the studio. All those things having taken much time, the time of the body's discovery had to be postponed later that night : midnight, then 2.00 AM, finally 3.30 AM (Mrs Murray's version to the police).
The body must had been put back on the stomach, in the position it was when it had been discovered.
In order to give an explanation about the delay, the story about Marilyn's bedroom locked door and the fact Dr Greenson had to break the window to get in the bedroom became the official scenario.
Officially, Mrs Murray, seeing the light and the phone cord under the door, tried to open Marilyn's bedroom door which was locked. She went outside, looked through the closed window and discovered Marilyn lying on her stomach, in an unsual position. She came back to the house, called Greenson who arrived, took the pocker of the fireplace, broke the window and got into the bedroom : that's where he discovered Marilyn dead, the phone handset in her hand. He removed and replaced it on the receiver. Dr Engelberg, arrived in the meantime, declared Marilyn officially dead at 3.35 AM.
Greenson then called the police of West Los Angeles; sergeant
Jack Clemmons who was on duty that night, received the call at 4.15 AM. He arrived on the scene at 4.25 AM (
).
Clemmons called for support : officer Don Marshall arrived,
shakedowned the house, seeking for a message attesting the suicide, but
didn't find anything. He questionned Marilyn's neighbors, Mr and Mrs
Abe Landau, who declared not having heard anything suspect. Detective
Robert Byron also arrived and took the statements of Drs Greenson and
Engelberg, and Eunice Murray (
).
-she called Dr Greenson who broke the window, entered into the bedroom and found Marilyn dead.
Dr Greenson declared that :
-he had seen Marilyn at around 5.15 PM, on her request because she didn't manage to sleep
-he had been treated her for a year
-he found her lying on her stomach, and had just removed the receiver from her hand.
Byron found on the night table 15 bottles of drugs, including one containing 25 pills of Nembutal Engelberg said having prescribed her on August 3rd
,
)Sunday, August 5 :
,
).
,
,
).
(
)
,
,
)
(
,
).
Pat Newcomb, shocked, had an altercation with the policemen and reporters (
,
,
,
), and ended by leaving Helena Drive with Eunice Murray (
,
,
,
,
)
Joe DiMaggio was in San Francisco; Milton Rudin called him and asked him to deal with the funeral's formalities. Joe arrived in Los Angeles ans settled suite 1035 of the Miramar Hotel, refusing any contact with the press.
Marilyn's body was then driven from the Westwood Village (
,
,
) to the morgue of the Los Angeles County (
), for an autopsy.
Marilyn's body was placed in the crypt n° 33 (
,
).
At 10.20 AM, Dr Thomas Noguchi started the autopsy of Marilyn's body.
A first report was returned (
), then the death certificate (
), and the final report of the autopsy would be returned in August 18th (
,
,
,
,
,
).
) and August 13 (
).
The official conclusion of the head toxicologist R.J.Abernethy was "Acute barbiturate poisoning-ingestion of overdose".
Marilyn's body was taken back to the Westwood Village (
,
,
,
) and was available for the family in the Sunday afternoon.
It was Berniece Miracle, Marilyn's half sister who lived in Florida, who allowed Marilyn's body to be given to Joe DiMaggio.
This one, with Inez Melson's help, Marilyn's financial advisor, took the arrangements for Marilyn's funerals, which was scheduled on August 8, at 1.00 PM.
Monday,August 6 : police follow-up report (
); Drs
Engeleberg and Greenson had been questioned again by detective Byron.
They agreed on the fact that Dr Greenson had received a call from Mrs
Murray on August 5th at 3.30 AM, telling him that the light was still
on in Marilyn's bedroom and that she couldn't entered in the room.
Greenson asked her to have a look through the window and to call
him back. Eunice Murray did it and called him back at 3.35 AM : Marilyn
was laid on the bed, holding the phone in one hand, with a strange
look. Dr Greenson moved off and asked Mrs Murray to call Dr Engelberg.
Greenson arrived at 3.40 AM. He broke the window, entered into the room
and removed the phone from her hand. The Rigor Mortis
had settled. At 3.50 AM, Dr Engelberg arrived and pronounced Marilyn's
death. They talked together for a while and thought it was around 4.00
AM when Engelberg called the police. After a control, the call had been
given at 4.25 AM.
Dr
Theodore Curphey, the Los Angeles coroner, held a press ocnference. He
revealed that Marilyn hadn't died from a natural death, but must had
taken too many sedatives. He added that his department and also the
Suicide Prevention Center, an independent organism base at the UCLA,
investigated. The crew chosen by the Center included Dr Robert Littman
( psychiatrist and professor at UCLA), Dr Norman Farberow (an
eminent psychologist) and Dr Norman Tabaschnik : 
.
During the press conference, the Suicide Prevention Center, leading by Dr Farberow, declared that some exhaustive interviews would be done about Marilyn's probable suicide. By naming a private team as the investigation crew, Curphey made the investigation unofficial. None of the interviewed people took oath and nothing of what was said was revealed to the public. Curphey announced he would interview himself Marilyn's doctors. But, until today, nobody has had access to the complete report of the Suicide Prevention Center. No document indicate that this committee had took part to the establishing of another verdict for the Coroner office.
Dr Greenson was questionned again by the Suicide Prevention Center. Indeed, he was in the best position to know Marilyn's mental condition: she had been consulted him for more than 2 years.
Tuesday, August 7 :
in the afternoon, Eunice Murray met Inez Melson and
Berniece Miracle at Helena Drive, to help them to choose the clothes Marilyn would wear for her funeral (
,
,
,
,
,
).
They chose the Pucci green dress Marilyn had worn for the press conference in Mexico, in February 1962 (,,
).
The seals were affixed on the front door, for the last time (
,
).
In the morning, Whitey Snyder, Marilyn's personal make-up man
came, as he had promised her several years earlier, to touch Marilyn's
make-up up. Because of the damages caused by the autopsy, Agnes
Flanagan had to put a wig on Marilyn's hair, like her
hairstyle in "Something's Got to Give".
), located in the Westwood Memorial Park Cemetery of Los Angeles.
Joe
DiMaggio had given the strict order that none of Marilyn's Hollywood
friends was present, because he thought they were responsible for her
death, morally or at least concretely. As for the journalists and
reporters, they were firmly kept at a distance. Only Walter Winchell, Joe's friend, was present (
,
).
The police mobilized more than 50 policemen (
) to control the crowd and the traffic (
,
,
). Some platforms were built along of the north wall so that the press could climb and see the inside of the cemetery (
,
).
The religious service took place in the strictest privacy and was celebrated by Reverend A.J.Soldan (
),
a Lutheran minister from the Westwood Village Church. The ceremony
started with Tchaïkovski Sixth Symphony, and on Marilyn's request,
Mrs Hockett played "Over the Rainbow".
Poet Carl Sandburg, for health reasons, having declined Joe DiMaggio's request, it was Lee Strasberg who pronounced the eulogy :
"Marilyn Monroe was a legend.
In her own life time she created a myth of what a poor girl from a
deprived background could attain. For the entire world, she became the
symbol of the eternal feminine.
But I have no words to describe the myth and the legend. I did not know this Marilyn Monroe.
We, gathered here today, knew only Marilyn - a warm human being,
impulsive and shy, sensitive and in fear of rejection, yet ever avid
for life and reaching out for fulfillment. I will not insult the
privacy of your memory of her - a privacy she sought and treasured - by
trying to describe her whom you knew to you who knew her. In our
memories of her, she remains alive, not only a shadow on the screen or
a glamorous personality.
For us Marilyn was a devoted and loyal friend, a colleague constantly
reaching for perfection. We shared her pain and difficulties and some
of her joys. She was a member of our family. It is difficult to accept
the fact that her zest for life has been ended by this dreadful
accident.
Despite the heights and brillance she attained on the screen, she was
planning for the fututre; she was looking forward to participating in
the many exciting things which she planned. In her eyes and in mine,
her career was just beginning. The dream of her talent, which she had
nurtured as a child, was not a mirage. When she first came to me I was
amazed at the startling sensitivity which she possessed and which
had remained fresh and undimmed, struggling to express itself despite
the life to which she had been subjected. Others were as physically
beautiful as she was, but there was obviously something more in her,
something that people saw and recognized in her performances and with
which they identified. She had a luminous quality - a combination of
wistfulness, radiance, yearning - to set her apart and yet make
everyone wish to be part of it, to share in the childish naivete which
was so shy and yet so vibrant.
This quality was even more evident when she was in the stage. I am
truly sorry that the public who loved her did not have the opportunity
to see her as we did, in many of the roles that foreshadowed what she
would have become. Without a doubt, she would have been one of the
really great actresses of the stage.
Now it is at an end. I hope her death will stir sympathy and
understanding for a sensitive artist and a woman who brought joy and
pleasure to the world. I cannot say goodbye. Marilyn never liked
goodbys, but in the peculiar way she had of turning things around so
that they faced reality - I will say au revoir. For the country to
which she has gone, we must all someday visit".
During the service, Marilyn's body laid in an open bronze casket, lined with champagne colored satin ; in her hands, she held a bouquet of tea roses, a gift from Joe who had kept watch over her the previous night.
Once the ceremony finished, the casket was taken to the vehicle which drove it to the vault.
The pallbearers were Allan "Whitey" Snyder, hairstylist Sidney Guilaroff, and members of the funeral services Allan Abbott, Ronald Hast, Leonard Krisminsky and Clarence Pierce (
,
,
,
,
).
The guests, in procession, followed the hearse (
,
,
).
Then the casket was put next to the vault (
,
).
A short ceremony was held (
,
,
,
), before the vault was definitely closed (
,
;
,
,
).
The people who attended the funeal were Joe DIMaggio and his son, Joe DiMaggio Jr , her hairstylist Agnes Flanagan
(
,
), one of her lawyers, Aaron Frosch (),Lotte Goslar, her singing and mime teacher in the 50's (
,),her psychiatrist Dr Ralph Greenson and his family (his wife Hildi and his children Joan and Don) (
,
), Sidney Guilaroff, Anna and Mary Karger (
), Rudy Kautzky (her chauffeur during her last months in Los Angeles (
,),Grace McKee's sister and her husband, Enid and Sam Knebelcamp (
,
), Inez and Pat Melson (
), Berniece Miracle her half-sister, Eunice Murray
(
;
), Pat Newcomb (,
),hairstylist Pearl Porterfield (
;), May Reis, her private secretary (
,
), her friend Ralph Roberts (
,), her lawyer Milton Rudin (
), Allan Snyder with his wife Beverly and their daughter Sherry (
), Joe DiMaggio's friend, George Solotaire (
), Lee and Paula Strasberg (,
), and Florence Thomas, one of her employees in New York (,).
It was the flower shop Parisian Floristswhich
made the flower arrangements. Fro the next 20 years, and on Joe
DiMaagio's order, the shop delivered red roses on Marilyn's vault,
twice a week (
).
After a new press conference on Tuesday, August 14th, the Suicide Prevention Center held its last press conference on Friday, August 17th. We have never known who was interviewed, but it seems that Natasha Lytess, Norman Rosten, Frank Sinatra and Peter Lewford were never questionned.
Here's the conclusion of the Suicide Prevention Center, a statement of Dr Curphey, Chief Medical Examiner-Coroner, County of Los Angeles :
Now
that the final toxicological report and that of the psychiatric
consultants have been received and considered, it is my conclusion
that the death of Marilyn Monroe was caused by a self-administred
overdose of sedative drugs and that the mode of death is probable
suicide.
The final toxicological report reveals that the barbiturate, previously
reported as a lethal dose, has been positively identified as Nembutal
by the toxicologist.
In the course of completing his routine examination,n the toxicologist
Mr Raymond Abernethy, discovered in addition to the Nembutal present a
large dose of Chloral Hydrate.
Following is the summary report by the PsychiatricTeam which has
assisted me in collecting information in this case. This team was
headed by Robert Litman, M.D., Norman Farberow, PH.D., and Norman
Tabachnik, M.D. :
"Marilyn Monroe died on the night of August 4th, or the early morning
of August 5, 1962. Examination by the toxicology laboratory indicates
that death was due to a self-administrated overdose of sedative drugs.
We have been asked, as consultants, to examine the life situation or
the deceased and to give an opinion, regarding the latent or Miss
Monroe when she ingested the sedative drugs. which caused her death.
From the data obtained, the following points are the most important and
relevant :
Miss Monroe had suffered from psychiatric disturbance for a long time.
She experienced severe fears and frequent depression. Mood changes were
abrupt and unpredictable. Among symptoms or disorganization, sleep
disturbance was prominent, for which she had been taking sedative drugs
for many years. She was thus familiar with and experienced in the use
of sedative drugs and well aware of their dangers.
Recently, one of the main objectives of her psychiatric treatment
had been the reduction or her intake of drugs. This has been partially
successful during the last two months, she was reported to be
following doctor's orders in her use of the drugs; and the amount
of drugs found in her home at the time of her death was not
unsual.
In our investigation, we have learned that Miss Monroe had often
expressed wishes to give up, to withdraw and even to die.
On more than
one occasion in the past, when disappointed and depressed, she had made
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 4th, it is our opinion that the same pattern was repeated except
the rescue. It had been our practice with similar information collected
in other cases in the past to recommend a certification for such deaths
as probable suicide.
Additional clues for suicide provided by the physical evidence are
: (1) the high level of barbiturates and chloral hydrate in the
blood which with other evidence from the autopsy, indicates the
probable ingestion of a large amount of the drugs within a short period
of time; (2) the completely empty bottle of Nembutal, the prescription
for which was filled the day before the ingestion of the drugs; (3) the
locked door which was unusal.
On the basis of all information obtained, it is our opinion that the case id a probable suicide".
NB : about Marilyn's death, only one reference to read, David Marshall's book, "The DD Group - An online Investigation into the Death of Marilyn Monroe",
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