Goddess: The Secret Lives of Marilyn Monroe

by Anthony Summers

  549 Schaefer: int. (repeatedly), 1985.

  550 Hunter re. ‘comatose’: Speriglio, Conspiracy, 59.

  550 Hall: int., 1986; The Death of Marilyn Monroe — Report to the District Attorney, Dec, 1982, 13 on.

  550 Hall relatives: int., Dr George Hall (father), Lynn (sister), Kitty (ex-wife), 1986.

  550 Seven employees: int. Joe Zilinski, Carl Bellonzi, Tom Fears, Sean O’Bligh, Joe Tamowski, Edgardo Villalobos, Murray Leib, 1985–6.

  550 Engelberg: interviewed by Los Angeles D.A.’s investigator, 1982, and by Sylvia Chase, 1985.

  551 Sherlock: int., 1992.

  551 Murray: int., 1985 (by author for BBC and separately); and by Sylvia Chase, 1985.

  551 Clayton: int., Murray, 1982, witnessed by Marie Pollak, described in corr., 1985.

  551 Iannone: int., 1986.

  551 Byron: int., 1986.

  552 ‘evasive’: cf. this book Chap. 48, p. 453.

  553 Conners: int., Michael and Patricia Conners, 1985.

  553 Zonlick: int., 1986, Rolling Stone, Dec. 5, 1985.

  553 Connelly: int., 1986.

  553 Otash initial statement: cf. this book, Chap. 49, p. 466.

  553 Otash now: int., 1985.

  554 Seaton: int., 1985; Los Angeles Times, Sept. 29, 1985.

  554 Globe Photo: int. former executive, who requested anonymity, 1986.

  555 Guilaroff: Sydney Guilaroff, Crowning Glory, LA: General Publishing, 1996, p. 165.

  556 White House log: archived at Kennedy Library.

  557 Monsky: conversation, and meeting with contact, 1985.

  560 Phone ‘clutched’: Greenson corr., August 1962.

  560 Pathologists: Prof. Gee, Home Office Pathologist (UK), int., 1986; and Dr Christopher Foster, St Bartholomew’s Hospital (UK), on contraction of muscles, int. 1986.

  561 Holt: int., 1983.

  561 Morrissey: int., 1985.

  561 Morrissey fn.: New York Times, Jan. 23 & 24, 1975. 523 Butterfields: int., 1983–86.

  561 Kamin: int., 1986.

  561 Jaycox: int., 1986.

  562 Spindel raid: Spindel, 221; int. Mrs Spindel, 1982–86; World Journal Tribune, Dec. 18 & 20, 1966; Newark Star-Ledger, Dec. 21, 1966.

  562 CIA and FBI: CIA memo, Feb. 20, 1967; two FBI documents, Mar. 13, 1967 (as well as Jan. 28, 1965), obtained under FOIA, 1985.

  562 Suit: Court files: New York Times, Dec. 21, 1966.

  562 Neary: int., 1983, drawing on notes of Jan. 1967 int. Spindel.

  562 Court records: affidavit of Peter Andreoli, in People of the State of New York v. George Varis, John Connors, Richard Rutherford, Bernard Spindel, Indictment No. 4817-1/2 1966; inventory of Dec. 15, 1966.

  562 Mrs Spindel: int., 1982–86; and by Frank Capell, July 20, 1973.

  562 FBI destruction: letter, SAC Paul Daly to author’s attorney, Feb. 8, 1984.

  562 Stream: int., 1985.

  564 Kennedy’s whereabouts: FBI file 77-51387 & researcher Ranftel check with Henry J. Gwiazda II, Curator of Robert F. Kennedy Collection in John F. Kennedy Library, April 7, 1986.

  566 Evans briefing: FBI document 77-51387-310, Evans to Belmont, Aug. 20, 1962.

  566 Original version of surveillance: House Select Committee on Assassinations JFK Exhibit F-624, suppressed in HSCA press handout, Sept. 28, 1978, as described in Fort Worth Star-Telegram, Oct. 1, 1978.

  566 Syndicate conversation: FBI surveillance documents, Aug. 20, 1962, for Vol. 7 of 13 files on organized crime. Vol. 7, which originated in LA, was obtained from a congressional source.

  566 Hoover letter: FBI file 77-57387, letter of July 8, 1964, to Attorney General.

  567 Clemmons: int., 1982–85; (Fi-Po) Power on the Right, by William Turner, Ramparts Press, 1971, 224.

  567 Ries: int. Clemmons, 1982–85; Toward Soviet America (chapter notes: Maurice Ries), Elgin Publications, California; New York Post, Oct. 4, 1985.

  568 Clay: int., 1983, and int. Bobbie Butigan, 1983–86; Capell files, lodged with John Birch Society, Belmont, Mass.

  568 Capell book: The Strange Death of Marilyn Monroe, by Frank A. Capell, Herald of Freedom, 1964.

  568 Engelberg ‘communist’: Capell, supra. 33, citing Senate Fact Finding Committee of Un-American Activities of the State of California Report, 1948; & testimony of Dr Oner Barker and Dr Louise Light, in Report of same Committee, 1955; and of Elizabeth B. Cohen, in Hearings of U.S. House Committee on Un-American Activities, May 28, 1954.

  568 Strasberg & Rosten: Capell, 43 & 44.

  568 Hoffa-Otash contact: corr. of Sept. 15, 1964, Otash to Spindel, provided to author by Otash.

  570 Bugging of Capell: The Final Days, by Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein, New York: Avon Books, 1976, 40.

  570 Nixon: transcript of 60 Minutes, Vol. XVI, No. 31, CBS TV, April 15, 1984, p. 6.

  570 Capell & Clemmons indicted: Bridgewater, NJ Courier-News, July 20 & Aug. 4, 1965.

  570 Police report on Clemmons: Confidential LA Police Investigation re: Article in ‘Oui’ Magazine, Oct. 22, 1975, p. 4.

  570 Clemmons’s experience: Police Report supra. p. 4.

  571 de Toledano: int., 1982–83–85; de Toledano, Hoover, 309.

  572 ‘Secrets’: Guilaroff, p. 167.

  572 Lesar/FBI briefing: report to author by attorney Lesar, Mar. 28, 1986.

  572 FBI on ‘voluminous’ refs: letter, David Flanders, Chief, Freedom of Information Division, Privacy Acts Branch, Records Management, to Robert Slatzer, May 29, 1980.

  572 105 file: FBI releases, revealing 1955 inception of file 105-40018 on Monroe, obtained by Robert Slatzer, 1980, and the author, 1983; (31 pages) letter of May 2, 1983, to attorney James Lesar from James K. Hall, Chief, FOI Privacy Acts Section, Records Management Division.

  572 D.A. unable to see FBI material: int. Assistant D.A. Ronald Carroll, 1983; The Death of Marilyn Monroe — Report to the D.A., Dec. 1982, p. 2.

  573 Field: int., 1983–86; Field autobiography, see Bibliography.

  574 Lawford & Field releases: (Lawford) FBI ‘see’ refs. to Peter Lawford, serials Jan. 1960 to Sept. 1962; (Field) serials from Legat, Mexico City, 100-2278.

  574 Monroe documents: 105-40018-2, to Director FBI, from LEGAT, MEXICO, Mar. 6, 1962; and 105-40018-3, to Director FBI, from LEGAT, MEXICO, July 13, 1962.

  576 Murray: (husband) Murray int. with Maurice Zolotow, 1973, related to author by Zolotow, 1983; Speriglio, Cover-up, 236; (Churchill) Murray, 53, 64.

  576 Bolaños: cf. this book, pp. 391, 416, 344–5; int., 1983; research of Mary Powers, 1983–84.

  576 Rebuffs questioning: New York Daily News, Aug. 8, 9, 10, 18, 1962.

  577 Kane: int., 1983.

  577 Arvad: Parmet, Struggles, 92.

  578 President’s movements: research of Robert Ranftel in files of New York Times, Washington Post, and calls to John F. Kennedy Library, April 1986.

  578 Jacobs’ widow: int., Natalie Jacobs, 1985.

  578 Robt. Kennedy travel: FBI file 77-51387, covering June/July 1962, and consultation with John F. Kennedy Library.

  579 Atom tests & Cuba, 1962: research of Robert Ranftel in files of New York Times, Washington Post, and call to John F. Kennedy Library, April 1986; Thirteen Days, by Robert Kennedy, New York: W.W. Norton, 1969; The Brink: Cuban Missile Crisis, 1962, by David Detzer, New York: Thomas Y. Crowell, 1979.

  580 Field FBI file: FBI file 100-2278-418 to 436, on Frederick F. Field.

  580 ‘blinding row’: int., Bolaños, 1983.

  580 Reddin: int., 1986.

  581 Carroll: int., 1986; (superficial inquiry into bugging) The Death of Marilyn Monroe — Report to the D.A., Dec., 1982, 18—.

  581 Noguchi: (scene ‘disturbed’) int., 1984; (1985 statements) int., ABC TV affiliate, San Diego, Cal., Oct. 30, 1985; New York Post, Oct. 31, 1985; Los Angeles Herald Examiner, Nov. 1, 1985; Reuter, Nov. 1, 1985.

  581 Antonovich: comment for author’s use, March, 1986.

  Acknowledgements

  FOUR YEARS IN THE making when I first wrote
it, this book has had its hooks into me ever since. Though fresh information has claimed its place in Goddess, my basic findings on the fate of this brilliant, sad creature remain the same.

  The work began when, in the early 1980s, the Los Angeles District Attorney announced a review of the circumstances surrounding the death of Marilyn Monroe. I was commissioned to write a short article on the case, and I traveled to California. I soon realized it would be pointless to tackle the death issue without long research. I also discovered, to my astonishment, that not a single author had attempted an in-depth examination of the actress’s personal life, coupled with serious inquiries into her death and the alleged connection with the Kennedys. In 1986, after publication of the hardback edition led to international furore, and renewed calls for a new official investigation into Marilyn’s death, I conducted further intensive research.

  Some 650 people were interviewed. I thank them all — though many must have regretted ever having allowed me into their lives. A handful of interviewees asked to remain anonymous; I agreed in very few cases, when testimony was crucial to the story, and when it withstood hard scrutiny. My publishers were briefed in each instance. Neither Joe DiMaggio nor Arthur Miller agreed to be interviewed. The late baseball star never did discuss his wife, and the playwright was involved in writing his autobiography.

  Of those who crossed paths with Marilyn Monroe, and who did talk to me, some were especially patient with my questions, and frank in their answers. They include Rupert Allan, Marilyn’s press aide, her New York hosts, Amy Greene and her late husband Milton, her psychiatrist’s widow, Hildi Greenson, and his children, Danny and Joan. James Haspiel, once her teenage fan, today perhaps the most informed person on the planet about Marilyn, generously gave me access to his knowledge and his archives.

  I thank the family of Fred Karger, whom Marilyn once hoped to marry, and especially Anne Batté. Author Richard Meryman, a former Life reporter, proved that one writer’s integrity can redeem a thousand column inches of the type of nonsense so often spewed out on Marilyn. Patricia Newcomb, the last close female intimate, granted me interviews where she rebuffed others. She tried to be honest without compromising old loyalties to the Kennedy brothers.

  Gordon Heaver and Gloria Romanoff, who both knew Marilyn, offered insights into the Los Angeles of thirty and more years ago. In New York, Ralph Roberts gave me his trust and a unique tape recording, and Norman Rosten opened up more than just the safe-deposit box in which he kept Marilyn’s fragments of poetry. Hal Schaefer, the quiet musician who suffered for his relations with Marilyn during the DiMaggio marriage, impressed me with his courage. Lynn Sherman brought to life for me the social games once played, by the wealthy beach dwellers of Santa Monica. Steffi Sidney, daughter of Marilyn’s friend Sidney Skolsky, gave me first access to her father’s papers, following his death during the writing of this book. Skolsky’s files are now lodged with the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, where I was received with great tolerance.

  Robert Slatzer, who claimed to have been briefly married to Marilyn, took my interrogations with good humor, even though seriously ill, and he proved an invaluable source of vital documentation. Neil Spotts, one of the many former policemen interviewed, opened doors long tightly closed. Bobbette Butigan shared research done after Marilyn’s death, and Nevada historian Bethel van Tassel told me about the Cal-Neva Lodge. Bill Woodfield told me of the only serious effort to report Marilyn’s death at the time, and — together with his wife Lili — offered warm hospitality in a chilly town.

  The late Maurice Zolotow’s book about Marilyn, written while she was still alive, still stands as one of the best overall works. He kindly allowed me access to the Zolotow Collection, housed at the Humanities Research Center of the University of Texas at Austin. I am grateful to Paul M. Bailey of the Theatre Arts Library there, and to Henry J. Gwiazda II, Curator of the Robert F. Kennedy Collection in the John F. Kennedy Library, who went out of his way to give honest answers to sensitive questions. Carl Rollyson allowed me to see parts of his manuscripts, The Replicated Life of Marilyn Monroe. Edward Wagenknecht, a veteran Marilyn scholar, gave me the benefit of his collection of rare articles, and Roy Turner, who was laboring to clarify Marilyn’s ancestry, generously shared his knowledge.

  For the third time in my writing career, I turned for assistance to the late Professor Keith Simpson, who was one of Britain’s most distinguished forensic pathologists. He patiently analyzed the medical aspects of Marilyn’s death along with Dr Christopher Foster, pathologist at St Bartholomew’s Hospital in London. I am indebted to the psychiatrists of the Los Angeles Suicide Prevention Team, and especially Dr Robert Litman, who allowed me to see materials hitherto sealed. Former FBI Assistant Director Courtney Evans, who had the daunting job of acting as liaison between J. Edgar Hoover and Attorney General Robert Kennedy, more than lived up to his nickname, ‘Courtly.’ I have tried not to disappoint Assistant Los Angeles District Attorney ‘Mike’ Carroll, who conscientiously ran the limited 1982 review of Marilyn’s death, and who believed that I would deal responsibly with a case that had left him troubled.

  From its inception, this project included plans for a television documentary as well as a book. In that connection I joined forces with Ted Landreth, a former CBS executive who tried for three years to find an American television network with the guts and the will to bring the story of Marilyn’s final tragedy to a national audience. Those in power in the networks were afraid to rock the historical boat. As described in the Postscript, ABC TV s 20/20 producers eventually made a program, only to see it cancelled by executives on the day of the transmission.

  Our efforts did bear fruit, however, thanks to the British Broadcasting Corporation and independent backers from several countries. Will Wyatt, George Carey, and producer Christopher Olgiati at the BBC were especially enthusiastic. The program they made, Say Goodbye To The President, has now been seen many times across the United States and around the world. It was the last film cut by a great BBC film editor, and faithful friend to many producers, the late Ian Callaway.

  I came to respect Landreth and his investigative team, especially Ed Tivnan and Anthony Cook, for their tenacious journalism. When America is poorly served by a timid establishment media, there is honor in being freelance and determined.

  Almost all important interviews were conducted by myself, even when witnesses had first been approached by colleagues. However, I am indebted to researchers Kathy Castle and Gay Watson in England, Theresa Garofalo and Charlie Holland in New York, Larry Harris and Robert Ranftel in Washington, Jack Crane, Monica Gruler and Paul Hoch in California, and Mary Powers in Mexico City.

  I am indebted to Lori Winchester in Los Angeles, without whose expertise many witnesses could never have been traced, and her partner Bill Jordan, a retired Lieutenant of the Los Angeles Police Department. They offered, virtually free, the help of WCJ Inc., which provides investigative and protection services to clients as diverse as politicians, celebrities and — in 1984 — the organizers of the Olympic Games.

  Kitty Kelley, then writing her Sinatra biography, generously exchanged information. Attorney James Lesar, a master of the labyrinth called the Freedom of Information Act, burned the midnight oil on my behalf. As the Postscript shows, his work paid off handsomely. Mark Allen shared invaluable FBI documents.

  Cynthia Rowan once again supplied wisdom and helped construct the chronology on which the book is based. Jean Manship and Joan Withington dug me out from under mountains of paper, and Angie Carpenter looked after logistics. Angela Curtin served as vital liaison in California. In Ireland, Joanne Kett, Lesley Morrisson, and Anne Steam coped with the author during the last stages of the hardback edition. Alma Clissman, Caroline Burrell, and Denise FitzGerald helped pull the paperback together. Marathon runner Willie Henry was again a faithful friend.

  I am grateful to my then agents at Curtis Brown, Anne McDermid and Peter Ginsberg, and to the company’s present chairman, my loyal friend Jonathan
Lloyd. My publishers and editors, Hillel Black and Brenda O’Brien of Macmillan, Joanna Goldsworthy of Gollancz, Barbara Boote at Sphere and now Gail Paten and Paul Murphy at Orion, have been patient — and above all enthusiastically involved.

  Olga, my then wife, committed the folly of telling me to write another book. Robbyn, my wife and co-author of the past twenty years, has as ever given her time and enthusiasm to this fresh edition.

  Heartfelt thanks to all.

  A.S.

  Photo Credits

  Marilyn’s mother (1963) … Photo file.

  Marilyn’s mother as a young woman … Photo file.

  An early developer … Photo file.

  With her first husband … Photo file.

  Somebody else’s baby … Photo file.

  A starlet with a library … Photo file.

  The jogger … Photo file.

  A little man … Photo file.

  The lifeguard … Courtesy of Tommy Zahn.

  The voice coach … Courtesy of Anne Batté.

  The second husband? … Copyright © 1974 Robert F. Slatzer.

  At home with Nana Karger … Courtesy of Anne Batté.

  The acting lesson … Photo file.

  The courtship … Photo file.

  Announcing separation … Photo file.

  “Co-conspirators.” … Photo file.

  The fan … MND Collection.

  A brief affair … MND Collection.

  A final fling … MND Collection.

  Table companions … Photo file.

  The man who lasted longest … Photo file.

  The French lover … MND Collection.

  A mistress of The Method … MND Collection.

  Actress at work … Photo file.

  Trysting place … Courtesy of Dr. Donald James.

  The President at midnight … Courtesy of Irving Steinberg.

  “Happy Birthday Mr. President.” … MND Collection.

  The psychiatrist … Courtesy of Mrs. Hildi Greenson.

  The last birthday … MND Collection.

  Three months before the end … MND Collection.

  A place to die … Photo file.

  Death in a bottle: The floor is heaped with scripts … Photo file.