•          HOME PAGE
• BIOGRAPHY
• FILES
• BOOKS
• LINKS
• COMMENTS
• S

GENEROSITY

As soon as she earned some money with her extra-parts, she gave some presents to everyone she loved. When her income increased, her largesse spread to everyone who was in need, either in the form of charities or in the form of direct help to the members of shooting crews in difficulties. 

With the 800$ she earned in the beginning of 1949 for her appearence in the movie "Love Happy" of the Marx Brothers, she bought a golden watch for her lover Fred Karger, and some gifts for his mother and sister. She also sent a present to her former benefactors, Lucille Ryman and John Carroll.

 

Agnes Flanagan, who was for a long time her appointed hairdresser, often hesitated to mention in front of her, clothes or items she liked, because, the next day, Marilyn invariably called the shops to make the items delivered directly at the Flanagans.

During a shopping-trip in Tijuana, in December 1950, she spent a large part of her money to offer her trip-mate, Natasha Lytess, a gold broch decorated with with an ivory Camée.

Two months later, she helped her again; Natasha Lytess missed 1000$ to buy a small house in Hollywood.
The day after she had known about her difficulties, she went and visited Natasha Lytess with the sum, obtained by the sale of a present given to her by Johnny Hyde.

 
In 1952, the year of the real start of her career, she contacted Lucille Ryman and offered her the repayment of the charges they had engaged for her when she was penniless. Lucille Ryman was surprised by this offer, refused and suggested her to devote this sum to help a peniless young actress.

Marilyn felt a real need to "pay" the people back for their kindness. She did it with the widow of her drama teacher, Michael Tchekhov : for years, she visited Xenia Tchekhov, and offered her some money if she needed some, and left her a sum in her will.

While she was divorced with DiMaggio, she offered him a golden watch for his 40th birthday.

 

She gave a string of pearls (offered to her by the Japan Emperor)(), to Paula Strasberg because this one admired it constantly.

She gave to John Strasberg, for his 18th birthday, her 1955 black convertible Ford Thunderbird

.

The Strasbergs were flowed with books and records, and she offered Susan Strasberg a Chagall's drawing because it "looks like her".

 
She offered Arthur Miller a complete publication of the Encyclopaedia Britannica.

In 1962, during her trip in Mexico to buy some furniture for her Spanish-styled house, she visited an orphanage

and offered 10 000$ ,

 

In her last interview to a Life magazine reporter, Richard Meryman, she asked him not to mention in his article her allusion to the donation she had made. She considered her donations and charities as a personal case and didn't want it to be kind of a publicity.

 

BACK TO INDEX                                                                                                                                                  NEXT FILE