by Donald Spoto
Notes
Materials from the Milton Greene Papers are from two separate collections, designated MG and MG2, and have been in each group classified according to folder, file and page numbers. Thus, MG X,3, p. 24, references file number 10, folder 3, page 24 from the first group. Where there are unpaginated sheets, a page number is not provided. RT refers to the genealogical and ancestral papers of the family of Marilyn Monroe and materials related to her first sixteen years. These were collected over almost a decade by the archivist Roy Turner, and the number following the designation RT refers to an assigned folder number for these papers.
Magazine editor Jane Wilkie conducted important interviews with both James Dougherty and Natasha Lytess. There remain two versions of the Dougherty interview: JWP I refers to the unedited, complete notes of Wilkie’s interviews with Dougherty in 1952; JWP II refers to the final version, ghostwritten by Wilkie and published as: James Dougherty, “Marilyn Monroe Was My Wife,” Photoplay, March 1953, pp. 47–85.
On several occasions from 1958 to 1960, Wilkie also interviewed Marilyn’s drama coach Natasha Lytess, from which an important cache of papers emerged. This material also exists in two forms: extensive transcribed, unedited notes and a completed, polished memoir. Both remain unpublished and were subsequently acquired by DS from Wilkie. In these notes, JWP/NL I refers to the unedited transcript, JWP/NL II to the edited version.
BH refers to the notes and manuscripts prepared by Ben Hecht as the original ghostwriter suggested by columnist and Monroe confidant Sidney Skolsky to write her autobiography, which was eventually reworked by Milton Greene for publication as My Story (New York: Stein & Day, 1974). Hecht’s notations are preserved in his Collection at the Newberry Library, Chicago, and are so identified.
IMP refers to the Inez Melson Papers, a box of Marilyn’s personal documents and letters kept by Inez Melson, her business manager from 1952 to 1962. Melson died in 1986, and the collection was acquired by DS in 1991.
For interviews that occurred on only one occasion, the author has, for reasons of space economy, generally mentioned the details of his interview only on their first citation; subsequent citations from the same source refer to the same interview unless otherwise noted.
Chapter One: To June 1926
3
neat as a pin: MG X,3.
5
to pray for: Quoted by Gladys Monroe in a letter to MM: MG2 III, 2; cf. also RT 16.
5
Mama liked men: MG2 X, 3.
5
failure to provide: Divorce petition of Della Monroe Graves vs. Lyle Arthur Graves, Superior Court of Los Angeles County, Petition #B-8426.
8
extreme cruelty: Divorce petition, Baker vs. Baker: Superior Court of Los Angeles County, Petition #D-10379.
10
She was a birdlike: Olin G. Stanley to RT, Oct. 12, 1982.
12
For the Martin Mortensen—Gladys Baker marriage, see California State Board of Health, Bureau of Vital Statistics, register no. 13794.
12
wilfully and without: Divorce claim of Mortensen vs. Baker, File #053720, in and for the County of Los Angeles in the Superior Court of the State of California.
12
I sure would like: Olin G. Stanley to RT, no date.
13
shamelessly boasted: Gifford vs. Gifford, Divorce Petition #D-24788, Superior Court of the State of California.
Chapter Two: June 1926–June 1934
16n2
were themselves children: See A. J. Simon, The Nervous Child (1944), vol. 3, p. 119; and W. H. Newell in The American Journal of Orthopsychiatry, vol. 4 (1934), p. 387, and vol. 6 (1936), p. 576.
17
I was probably: Quoted in MG2 IV, 8, p. 12; cf. also Guus Luitjers, In Her Own Words: Marilyn Monroe (London: Omnibus, 1991), p. 28.
18
for no reason: Ida Bolender, in the David L. Wolper Productions, Inc., film documentary, The Legend of Marilyn Monroe (1964). Hereinafter indicated as Wolper, Legend.
18–19
Medical files of Della M. Monroe: Norwalk State Hospital, Nowalk, California: Record #5093; Death Certificate #4081, Registry No. 132.
18
contributory manic depressive: Ibid.
19
Despite all the: James E. Dougherty, The Secret Happiness of Marilyn Monroe (Chicago: Playboy Press, 1976), p. 9; also, Dougherty to DS, June 20, 1992.
20
Her mother paid: Quoted in Ezra Goodman, The Fifty-Year Decline and Fall of Hollywood (New York: Simon & Schuster, 1961), p. 225.
20
One morning: MM, quoted in Wolper, Legend. Also to MG2 II, 6, p. 4.
20
she discussed her father: Rupert Allan to DS, Aug. 17, 1992.
20
She didn’t come: Georges Belmont, interview with MM originally conducted for the French magazine Marie Claire, published in 1960 and reprinted in Marilyn and the Camera Eye (Boston: Bulfinch/Little, Brown, 1989), p. 14. Hereinafter cited as Belmont.
21
To go to: “Hollywood’s Topic A-Plus,” Life, vol. 32, no. 14 (April 7, 1952): 104.
21
no one ever: Quoted in People, vol. 18, no. 6 (Aug. 9, 1982): 44. This statement recurs frequently in MM’s notes in MG2, I and II.
21
We took her: Ida Bolender, in Wolper, Legend.
21
Every night: Robert L. Heilbroner, “Marilyn Monroe,” Cosmopolitan, vol. 153, no. 5 (May 1953): 40.
21
I always felt: Maurice Zolotow, Marilyn Monroe (reprint of the 1960 original, New York: Harper/Perennial, 1990), p. 21. Hereinafter cited as Zolotow.
22
They were terribly: Belmont, p. 14.
23
It was hard: Quoted by MM in MG2 II, 6, p. 5.
24
I dreamed: Often attributed to MM—e.g., “To Aristophanes & Back,” Time, vol. 67, no. 20 (May 14, 1956): 74.
24
You could have: Quoted by MM in MG2 II, 6, p. 6.
25
We all had: Robert Cahn, “The 1951 Model Blonde,” Collier’s, Sept. 8, 1951, p. 50.
25
I loved playing: Margaret Parton, “A Revealing Last Interview with Marilyn Monroe,” first published in Look, Feb. 19, 1979, p. 26.
27
a people well: Christopher Rand, Los Angeles: The Ultimate City (New York: Oxford University Press, 1967), p. 135.
28
Life became: Belmont, p. 14.
29
Aunt Ida: Belmont, p. 14. Cf. also Time, art. cit., p. 76.
30
There’s a movie star: Quoted by MM in MG2 II, 5, p. 7.
30
Jean Harlow: See Belmont, pp. 14, 17.
30
There I’d sit: MM in Life, vol. 53, no. 5 (Aug. 3, 1962): 33.
31
For an account of Tilford Marion Hogan’s death, see the Laclede (Missouri) Blade, June 2, 1933; cf. also File #17075, Missouri State Board of Health, for the death certificate.
32
This doctor prescribed: Eleanor Goddard to DS, Feb. 21, 1992.
33
reality: Gladys Monroe, medical report from Los Angeles General Hospital dated October 1934: “Mrs. Monroe [sic] visited her family four days, returning of her own will in an agitated state. Referred by Dr. Fellowes to Dr. . . .” This is the only decipherable portion of the record, torn and yellowed, and was preserved by MM in MG2 VIII, 4, p. 1.
34
Grace loved: Zolotow, p. 18.
34–35
Grace Goddard was nice: James Dougherty to RT, in RT 47.
35
We workers: Olin Stanley to RT, 1982.
36
It was just: Charlotte Engleburg to RT, n.d.
36
Grace was captivated: MG2 IV, 4, p. 25.
Chapter Three: June 1934–November 1937
38
there wasn’t anyone: Quoted in Eve Golden, Platinum Girl
: The Life and Legends of Jean Harlow (New York: Abbeville Press, 1991), p. 230. O’Sullivan repeated identical remarks on the 1992 Turner Network Television miniseries When the Lion Roars, a history of MGM. MGM film editor Margaret Booth was among several who enthusiastically agreed.
38
There’s no reason: Quoted by MM in MG2 XII, 2, p. 24.
40
Her illnesses: File of Gladys Monroe Baker from Los Angeles General Hospital, 1935; IMP.
40
I was sorry: “To Aristophanes & Back” (art. cit. in Time), p. 76.
41
You can imagine: MG2 III, 3.
43
Norma Jeane was: Jody Lawrance, quoted in Ezra Goodman, The Fifty-Year Decline and Fall of Hollywood (New York: Simon & Schuster, 1961), p. 227.
44
Doc had a: James Dougherty to DS, June 20, 1992.
44
slept in: Belmont, p. 15.
44
a normal, healthy: Portion of a record of the Los Angeles Orphans Home retained by MM, filed in MG2 IV, 3 (undated, unpaginated).
44–45
MM’s many dramatic accounts of the orphanage persisted to days before her death: cf. Life, vol. 53, no. 5 (Aug. 3, 1962): 38.
45
the man: Many times from 1949 to 1962, e.g., to her publicist Rupert Allan, among others.
45
fix things: MG2 XI, 2, p. 8.
45
trying to fit: MM, in Wolper, Legend.
46
made their appearance: New York Times, June 8, 1937, pp. 1 and 30.
46
Time after time: MM to BH, folder 12.
46–47
Grace’s expense records were preserved by MM and were later discovered by RT, from whom DS received them.
47
she was able: Arthur Miller, Timebends (New York: Grove Press, 1987), p. 9.
47
I was never used: Life, art. cit., p. 38.
47
anxious and withdrawn: Los Angeles Orphans Home: February 20, 1937, report in the file of Norma Jeane Baker, retained in MG2 IV, 2. The signature is illegible.
47
I sometimes told: MM in MG2 IX, 22, p. 4.
48
went up: Ibid.
48
I suddenly stopped: MG2 III, 6, unpaginated.
49
You have: Ibid. MM recited this anecdote with variations: in some citations (e.g., Belmont, p. 15) the cosmetic job that day was Mrs. Dewey’s idea.
49
This girl: New York Times, art. cit., p. 30
49
She added little: Ibid.
49
The incident of Doc’s molestation was recounted to DS by Dougherty, April 22, 1992.
49
I can’t trust: MM in MG2 III, 5, p. 39.
50
At first: MG2 II, 3, p. 17.
Chapter Four: November 1937–June 1942
52
destitute and in need: Olive Brunings Monroe, Petition No. 434981 submitted to the State of California in accordance with Sections 1570–1573 of the State Welfare and Institutions Code.
52
I remember: Ida Mae Monroe Masciello to RT, 1984.
53
The world: MG2 II, 4, 34.
54
Later, I thought: MG2 XI, 4, unpaginated.
55
sexually assaulted: Sam Shaw and Norman Rosten, Marilyn among friends (London: Bloomsbury, 1987), p. 95.
57
She was very: Eleanor Goddard to DS, Feb. 21, 1992.
57
She changed: Quoted in Zolotow, p. 34.
58
Talk about marriage: MG2 VI, 2, 40.
58n3
The controversy about: B. R. Wilson, “Christian Science,” in the Encyclopœdia Britannica, 15th ed., 1983: vol. 4, p. 564; and the same author’s monograph, “The Origins of Christian Science: A Survey,” Hibbert Journal, vol. 57 (1959): 161–170.
60
but nothing did: MG2 VIII, 3, p. 46.
60
Los Angeles was: Gladys Phillips Wilson to DS, Feb. 14, 1992.
61
She was very much: Mabel Ella Campbell, in Wolper, Legend.
62
I was very: MG2 VI, 3, p. 3.
62
She was neat: Ron Underwood to RT, Dec. 2, 1986.
62
she always seemed: Marian Losman Zaich to RT, Dec. 16, 1986.
62
You used to have: MM to BH, 3.
63
Suddenly, everything: Life, art. cit., p. 33.
66
We danced: MG2 XII, 4, p. 37.
67
the smiling and beaming: The Emersonian, vol. 5, no. 15 (June 20, 1941): n.p.
68
After tabulating: “What Is Your Favorite Type of Girl?” in The Emersonian, vol. 5, no. 15 (June 20, 1941): n.p.
69
and I’d say: Often—e.g., Belmont, p. 15.
69
A for Ambitious: The Emersonian, as above.
70
You couldn’t support: James E. Dougherty, The Secret Happiness of Marilyn Monroe (Chicago: Playboy Press, 1976), p. 18.
70
a dreamboat: MG2 XII, 61, unpaginated.
70
she was: Quoted in Robert L. Heilbroner, “Marilyn Monroe,” Cosmopolitan, vol. 134, no. 5 (May 1953): 42.
70
What a daddy: Quoted by Eleanor Goddard to DS; similarly in MG XII, 61.
70
I noticed: James Dougherty, in the unedited, unpublished portion of the interview for Photoplay, preserved in a transcription: Jane Wilkie Papers (hereinafter JWP I), pp. 1–2.
71
expertly maneuvering: Dougherty, op. cit., pp. 19–20.
71
extra close: Ibid., p. 22.
71
She very neatly: Ibid., p. 24.
72
her respect: James Dougherty to DS, June 20, 1992.
73
she was loud: Tom Ishii to RT, 1985.
73
The dialogue is from JWP I, p. 2; cf. also Wolper, Legend.
73
so that she wouldn’t: Elia Kazan, A Life (New York: Knopf, 1988), p. 404.
74
Grace McKee arranged: Belmont, p. 16.
74
but not have: JWP I, p. 2.
76
liked the winding: Ibid., p. 9.
76
never let go: Dougherty, p. 30.
Chapter Five: June 1942–November 1945
77
I’m the captain: James Dougherty, “Marilyn Monroe Was My Wife,” Photoplay, March 1953, pp. 47–85.
78
there were never: Dougherty, Secret Happiness, p. 37; see also Dennis Rowe, “Shattered: The Myth of Frigid Marilyn,” in the Sunday Mirror (London), May 30, 1976.
78
I wouldn’t: Rowe, art. cit.
78
My marriage didn’t: MG2 XII, 4, p. 12.
78
I really didn’t: MG2 IX, 3, p. 34.
78
She was so sensitive: JWP I, p. 5.
79
She called me: Ibid., p. 13.
79
She loved them all: Eleanor Goddard to DS, Feb. 20, 1992.
79
she couldn’t cook: JWP I, p. 4.
80
You ought to: Ibid., p. 5.
80
Our life was: The Listener (U.K.), Aug. 30, 1979, p. 272; see also People, vol. 5, no. 21 (May 31, 1976): 38.
80
“Pull off the road” Dougherty, Secret Happiness, p. 46.
80
anything Jim did: Quoted in Kazan.
80
Of course I: MG2 XII, 10, p. 22.
81
I used to stay out: Dougherty, p. 46.
81
Her mentality: JWP I, p. 8.
81
an enchanting idea: In Wolper, Legend.
>
81
terrified: MG2 XII, 10, p. 23.
81
I insisted: James Dougherty to DS, June 20, 1992.
82
Your old lady: Earl Wilson, The Show Business Nobody Knows (Chicago: Cowles Book Co., 1971), p. 281.
82
very shy and sweet: Robert Mitchum in Feldman/Winters documentary Marilyn: Beyond the Legend.
82
She was just: Nelson, art. cit., p. 62.
82
because she wore: Rowe, art. cit.
83