by Wendy Leigh
Senator and Mrs. John F. Kennedy
1095 North Ocean Boulevard
Palm Beach, Florida
Miss Marilyn Monroe
Apartment 3
882 North Doheny Drive
Beverly Hills, California
October 9, 1953
Dear Miss Monroe,
Thank you for your charming letter and enchanting wedding gift. The Senator and I were extremely touched by your kindness and generosity.
Naturally, we were crushed that you were unable to attend our wedding, but quite understand that your moviemaking commitments must take priority and look forward with eagerness to seeing River of No Return as soon as it is released.
With kind regards and many thanks,
Jacqueline Kennedy
__________________________
In her 1964 memoir of Marilyn, Forever Blonde (Düsseldorf: Muller Books, 1981), her voice coach, Vera Romanoff, recalled the events of October 15, 1953, when Marilyn received Jackie’s letter: “Marilyn was in the middle of reciting Shakespeare’s Sonnet 18, and kept getting the line ‘Sometime too hot the eye of heaven shines’ wrong, and saying, ‘Sometimes too oft the eye of heaven shines,’ when the mailman arrived. She ran to the door, as if she had been waiting for a special letter all morning long, and when she saw ‘return address, 1095 North Ocean Boulevard,’ her eyes lit up and a dreamy look came over her face. Then she tore it open, read it, and went ashen. ‘I never thought SHE would reply,’ she said, her voice shaking. I looked at her questioningly, and she shook her head.”
Senator and Mrs. John F. Kennedy
1095 North Ocean Boulevard
Palm Beach, Florida
Mr. and Mrs. Joe DiMaggio*
The Beverly Hills Hotel
9641 Sunset Boulevard
Beverly Hills, California
January 15, 1954
Dear Mr. and Mrs. DiMaggio,
Please accept our sincere congratulations on the occasion of your marriage. This gift† is a small token of our esteem and brings with it our best wishes for your future happiness.
With warm regards,
Senator Kennedy and Jacqueline Kennedy
__________________________
* After Jack failed to respond to Marilyn’s letter—with its veiled declaration that she was devastated by his wedding (“When I saw your beautiful wedding photographs in the newspaper this morning, they brought tears to my eyes” and “Marilyn Monroe is thinking of you with love”)—she finally accepted Joe DiMaggio’s proposal and married him.
† Jackie sent Marilyn the gift of a picture frame, a gift she would select for friends and acquaintances with alarming regularity during her White House years. (See Tish Baldrige, A Lady, First [New York: Viking, 2001].)
MRS. JOE DIMAGGIO
2150 Beach Street
San Francisco, California
Senator and Mrs. John F. Kennedy
1095 north Ocean Boulevard
Palm Beach, Florida
February 24, 1954
Dear Senator Kennedy and Mrs. Kennedy,
Joe and I were thrilled with the beautiful silver Cartier picture frame. We would love it if you would send us a photograph of yourselves—as neither of us can think of anyone else’s picture we would rather have in such a beautiful frame.
Joe had to go to Japan on some baseball business, so we decided to make the trip our honeymoon and go to Korea, where I entertained the troops* It was such a privilege for me and, for the first time in my life, I felt like I was accepted and doing work that mattered. Much better than making movies. I have just finished No Business Like Show Business, and the studio wants to rush me right into a real stinker called Girl in Pink Tights.
But all I really want now is to be plain Mrs. Joe DiMaggio because Joe is the only man now for me, and to he a good wife. In the end, I’m just another pretty girl, while Joe is immortal—a legend. We want to have six children—at least I do, Joe says he will be happy with one.
Thank you again for the picture frame.
Love,
Marilyn
P.S. Please call me Marilyn, as I feel I already know you.
__________________________
* In Korea, “Marilyn performed ten shows in snow flurries and sub-zero temperatures, wowing the troops in a skin tight, low-cut purple sequined gown and no underwear—husband Joe was furious when he saw the newsreels. … Marilyn recalled what it felt like:
‘There were 17,000 soldiers in front of me, and they were all yelling at me at the top of their lungs. I stood smiling at them …, Standing in the snowfall facing these yelling soldiers, I felt for the first time in my life no fear of anything. I felt only happy.’” (See Adam Victor, The Marilyn Encyclopedia [Woodstock, N.Y.: Overlook Press, 1999].)
Jackie recorded her reaction to Marilyn’s letter in her diary: “Another endearing note from Miss—sorry, Mrs.—Marilyn Monroe. Confidences from Mount Olympus! Is the blush fading from marriage to Mr. D so soon? Or do things run deeper with Joe K than we all thought …? Then again, maybe I’m being a touch too cynical? Perhaps she really is sincere, although I do tend to doubt it.”
SENATOR AND MRS. JOHN F. KENNEDY
3321 Dent Place
Washington, D.C.
Mrs. Joe DiMaggio
2150 Beach Street
San Francisco, California
March 6, 1954
Dear Marilyn,
Thank you for your charming letter. It is most kind of you to ask for a photograph of both of us. Here is one taken outside the Kennedy compound in Palm Beach, which I hope you will like.
Your last letter was so enchantingly informal. Consequently, I should like to reply in the same vein; you might find it amusing to learn that when I worked as “Inquiring Fotographer,” for the Washington Times-Herald,* I regularly asked celebrated Washingtonians the question “If you had a date with Marilyn Monroe, what would you talk about?”
How life has changed since then for both of us! Being married is so much better than dating, isn’t it? Especially given that we are both married to such exceptional men.
You will see from our new address that although the Senator and I do not yet have our own home, we are now renting a sweet little house in Georgetown. It may be small, but at least it is our own private domain at last.
The Senator and I saw How to Marry a Millionaire last week, which we both absolutely adored. He has asked me to convey our congratulations to you upon winning the Most Popular Actress Award and to reiterate that we both think that it would be exceedingly sad were marriage to keep you away from the screen for too long.*
Warm regards,
Jackie
__________________________
* On March 26, 1952, Jackie was given the title of Inquiring Fotographer by the Washington Times-Herald. In that role, she asked prominent Washingtonians a brief series of questions and then photographed them.
* At this point, six months into his marriage to Jackie, Jack may have been feeling restless and, as a result, used the unwitting Jackie to signal to Marilyn. The subtext of the letter—one that he knew Marilyn would divine—is that he wants her to use her career as a means of momentarily escaping from Joe DiMaggio and making it easier for him—Jack—to see her once more.
MRS. JOE DIMAGGIO
2150 Beach Street
San Francisco, California
Senator and Mrs. John F. Kennedy
3321 Dent Place
Washington, D.C.
March 28, 1954
Dear Jackie,
The photograph is lovely. I shall always treasure it. How cute that you ashed all those men about me. I’d love to know what they answered, if you have the time to write and tell me.*
Love to you and to the Senator,
Marilyn
__________________________
* In her diary, Jackie wrote, “Letter from MM wanting to know what my interviewees answered when I asked them, ‘What would you say to Marilyn Monroe if you went on a date with h
er?’ I am utterly amazed that she would care about something so trivial, given the current magnitude of her career. And to show it. … I could never be so open-hearted, nor would I ever wish to be.”
SENATOR AND MRS. JOHN F. KENNEDY
3321 Dent Place
Washington, D.C.
Mrs. Joe DiMaggio
2150 Beach Street
San Francisco, California
April 2, 1954
Dear Marilyn,
How very remiss of me not to have gone into details regarding the responses to my question about you. Fortunately, I kept my columns and thus am mailing the relevant ones to you for your amusement. I do hope you will enjoy reading them.
Warm regards,
Jackie
MRS. JOE DIMAGGIO
2150 Beach Street
San Francisco, California
Senator and Mrs. John F. Kennedy
3321 Dent Place
Washington, D.C.
April 10, 1954
Dear Jackie,
Thank you for sending me the columns. I was so glad to get them and they made me laugh a lot. But I wish those polite and friendly answers were closer to what men really said to me on dates, but they couldn’t he further from the truth. When I used to date—and it seems like forever ago—men would all say the same stupid things, like “Gee, you’ve got such lovely white skin,” or “You look smaller than in the movies.”
It must have been wonderful to have such an important, serious job on a newspaper. I’m only ever on the receiving end of newspaper reporters, and most of them, particularly the women, write about me as if I were some kind of exotick [sic] dumb animal, and not a person at all. Living and working in Washington must be so much better than being in Hollywood and doing what I do. I’d love to know more about your life there, so please write back and tell me about it when you have the time.
Love,
Marilyn
P.S. What did men say to you on dates? I am sure the Senator said some special, clever things to you, not like the men I knew.*
__________________________
* Marilyn was clearly so gratified by Jackie’s friendly response, and her thoughtful gesture of sending her the columns, that she began the letter in a spontaneous frame of mind, thus manifesting the first indication of how much Jackie’s approval and friendship would come to mean to her. It is only when she ended her own letter that Marilyn reminded herself of Jackie’s role as Jack’s wife and probed as to whether Jack (who never paid her compliments) was in the habit of complimenting Jackie, his wife.
SENATOR AND MRS. JOHN F. KENNEDY
3321 Dent Place
Washington, D.C.
Mrs. Joe DiMaggio
2150 Beach Street
San Francisco, California
April 15, 1954
Dear Marilyn,
How extremely enjoyable our new correspondence is! But I am deeply saddened Co learn that men didn’t always treat you with the courtesy you so richly deserve.
As for the Senator, he did, indeed, have an enchanting way of talking to me during our dates. He was amusing, witty, and endlessly curious about me. Or so he seemed. I, in turn, was fascinated to hear about his childhood amid such a large family, the Ambassador (who, as I am sure you know, is a unique individual), * and of the time they all spent in England. But no matter what he is speaking about, Jack has an almost hypnotic quality—as if he is peering straight into your heart and mind.* As if he can read your thoughts, which I found both disquieting and somewhat flattering. Being the focus of his attention is rather like burning up in a red-hot beam of light—spellbinding.
I am deeply flattered that you would like to know more about my life in Washington. In comparison to the glittering existence you must lead in Hollywood, mine will sound extremely turgid. At the moment, I am drowning in books on American history† (which I am studying at Georgetown University), and am also trying golf (which I am not crazy about).
As for cooking, most of the time I tear up to a little Greek place that makes wonderful casseroles and bring them home for dinner. Or else Jack takes me out. I signed up for a cooking course because I definitely did not want to be one of those bird-brained housewives who burn everything. The great day dawned when I was to make my first ever supper for Jack. I don’t know what went wrong, but I rubbed the potatoes in olive oil, just like the course taught. First, I placed them in the gas oven, then I closed the kitchen door with a sigh of relief, and went into the bedroom to read Gone With the Wind (for the fifth time), until the potatoes were done. Next thing I knew, the whole house was full of smoke and the neighbors had called the fire engines!
Jack has just walked in and saw that I am writing to you. He says he would adore meeting you when we come out to California this summer. Naturally, my sentiments are identical and I should find it enchanting to meet you and Joe if you both happen to be in California when we are.
Warm regards,
Jackie
__________________________
* Here Jackie is slyly alluding to what she believes to be Marilyn’s illicit affair with her father-in-law, Joe Kennedy. In reality, Marilyn never met Joe Kennedy. However, had she ever been in his proximity, with her fondness for dominant, controlling men, she would probably have been susceptible to him.
Jackie’s own fondness for Joe Kennedy is a matter of record (see Bradford, Klein, Heymann) and she prided herself on being the one woman who was capable of manipulating him. A cousin once said of Jackie’s attraction to men who resembled the bootlegger and kingmaker Joseph P. Kennedy, “If Jackie were at the court of Ivan the Terrible, she’d say, ‘Ooh, he’s been so misunderstood.’ “
* Myriad women have breathlessly enthused about Jack Kennedy’s charisma. One of many examples: “I was almost hypnotized by the sight of this man. He was such a stunning figure. He didn’t have to lift a finger to attract women; they were drawn to him in the battalions, by the brigades.…” (Gloria Emerson to Seymour Hersh in The Dark Side of Camelot [Boston: Little, Brown, 1997])
† “My brother and Jackie knew everything about the Civil War,” Teddy Kennedy recalled. “She had a fantastic desire for historical knowledge, and she was a sponge once she learned it. She caught every nuance.” (Sarah Bradford, Americas Queen: A Life of Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis [New York: Viking Press, 2000])
MRS. JOE DIMAGGIO
2150 Beach Street
San Francisco, California
Senator and Mrs. John F. Kennedy
3321 Dent Place
Washington, D.C.
April 25, 1954
Dear Jackie,
I am so excited that you and the Senator are coming to California. I know that once you get here you won’t want to leave, at least that’s what most people say. I’ve missed L.A. so much that I’ve convinced Joe to let us move back next month and I’m so glad. Because although it is pretty here, and close to the Manna, there is nothing like L.A. I know that you will love it.
I feel as if we know each other so well already and are so similar. Gone With the Wind is one of my favorite books, and I am not great at cooking either.* I do try and cook for Joe—Italian, of course, he insists—but sometimes I long for the days when I was broke, living in a rooming house and just eating yogurt mixed with raisins, fresh fruit, and peanuts and not having to cook at all. But men do seem to like us cooking for them, and they get so mad if it doesn’t work out exactly the way they want. It doesn’t always go well. I tried homemade noodles and the book said wait till they dry, but they didn’t. By then the dinner guests arrived, but they still hadn’t dried, I gave the guests drink after drink, and in the end dried the noodles with a hair dryer. Never told anyone, because when I did tell people that I washed lettuce leaves with Brillo, they thought I was a weirdo or something. I didn’t want them to say that about the noodles because I knew I was right.
Maybe when you come out, you would like to take a tour of the studio, and I can arrange it, though there isn’t much to see. Washington must
be so much more exciting. History was always one of my favorite subjects at school, and there is so much of it in Washington, but I’ve never been there, or to Europe either. My movies don’t do badly over there, so maybe one day they’ll send me for publicity.
Please let me know the dates of your trip so I can look forward to it.
Love to you and the Senator,
Marilyn
__________________________
* The fact that Marilyn and Jackie both adored Gone With the Wind (see Chris Anderson, Jack and Jackie [New York: Morrow, 1996], and Colin Clark, The Prince, the Showgirl and Me [New York: St. Martin’s, 1996]) is indicative of their underlying similarities. Like Scarlett, Marilyn and Jackie were both wilful, self-centered, narcissistic, iron-willed, intensely ambitious, accomplished actresses—in Jackie’s case, off-screen.
SENATOR AND MRS. JOHN F. KENNEDY
3321 Dent Place
Washington, D.C.
Mrs. Joe DiMaggio
508 North Palm Drive
Beverly Hills, California
May 15, 1954
Dear Marilyn,