In most accounts, the tale of Marilyn Monroe’s life begins with her passing away. The vast majority of people aren’t familiar with her acting career, but they are familiar with her rendition of “Happy Birthday” for former President John F. Kennedy, as well as the manner in which she passed away. The obituary that was published in the Los Angeles Times on August 6, 1962, describes Monroe as “a troubled beauty who failed to find happiness as Hollywood’s brightest star” and states that she was found lost in her Brentwood home from an apartment overdose of sleeping pills on Sunday. These are the general facts that are commonly associated with Monroe’s image.
But the reason why there is even mythology around Monroe is because of the person that she was when she was still living. Both men and women were taken aback by Monroe’s natural charisma and impressive acting skills. John Huston, famous for directing “The Misfits,” said in an interview with writer Anthony Summers that there was more to Marilyn Monroe than her physical appeal. “Women had the same emotions as males. Always, there was something that was very affecting about Marilyn “(via E! Online). According to IMDb, Marilyn Monroe chalked up a total of 33 acting credits throughout the course of her brief career, which began in 1947 with the film “Dangerous Years” and ended with “Something’s Got to Give” in 1962. In “Dangerous Years,” she played a waitress.
Monroe’s dream job was to have a career in the entertainment industry. According to E! Online’s story, Monroe may be heard on an audio tape stating that she’d “want to have a career as a credible and successful actor. An artist who upholds their morals.” However, despite the countless lines that Marilyn Monroe has said throughout the years, none of them have aroused as much intrigue as her last remarks.
You can’t really comprehend the circumstances surrounding Marilyn Monroe’s demise until you have a firm grasp on her romantic relationships in the years leading up to her loss. During the brief span of her life, Marilyn Monroe had a handful of high-profile relationships with notable men, some of whom went on to become legends in their own right. These men included baseball star Joe DiMaggio and writer Arthur Miller. The controversy that surrounded Monroe’s marriages, on the other hand, was nothing in contrast to the time she spent with former President John F. Kennedy and his brother, former Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy.
Monroe’s relationships with JFK and RFK are the entanglements that launched a thousand conspiracy theories surrounding her loss. These theories were investigated by journalist Anthony Summers for his book “Goddess: The Secret Lives of Marilyn Monroe,” and they will be discussed in the 2022 documentary “The Mystery of Monroe: The Unheard Tapes” that will be available on Netflix. In each, Summers makes the claim that her connection with the brothers was the primary factor that directly contributed to her passing away.
According to Time-article Life titled “D.e.a.t.h.s. That Shocked the World,” Marilyn Monroe’s last words were reportedly said to JFK’s brother-in-law Peter Lawford before she passed away. Around eight o’clock (Pacific Standard Time), she had a call from Lawford while she was confined in her bedroom. It was his intention to invite her to a party later that evening, but she declined his invitation. Lawford said that the famous actor had a “drugged” quality to his voice and had given a tense farewell at the conclusion of the phone conversation. Not only did Monroe urge Lawford to bid adieu to his wife, but he also told him, “Say goodbye to the president, and say farewell to yourself, because you’re a lovely person,” before sending Lawford on his way.
Reporting that was done by Anthony Summers and just made public demonstrates that the timing for Marilyn Monroe’s loss isn’t what we were all told it was, including her last words. This includes the fact that she died in the manner in which we were told it happened.
According to the obituary that was published in The New York Times on August 6, 1962, it was around 3:25 a.m. when Monroe’s maid Eunice Murray observed that a bedroom light was still on in the celebrity’s bedroom. Nevertheless, according to an essay that Summers wrote for Vanity Fair, things began going downhill for Monroe far earlier than that.
On August 5, 1962, Marilyn Monroe had a visit from her longstanding psychiatrist, Dr. Ralph Greenson. Greenson would remain with the actress until around 7 p.m. when he would then leave for supper. The visit occurred earlier in the evening. Summers’ reporting doesn’t include the call with Peter Lawford but does say she spoke with notable dressmaker Henry Rosenfeld “between 8 and 9 that evening” and then with Sydney Guilaroff at 9:30.
The results of the summers In his memoirs, Guilaroff reported that Monroe “telephoned [him] in despair” on that particular night, ranting “about being encircled by danger, about betrayals by men in high places,’ about covert love relationships.” Guilaroff claimed that Monroe made these statements to him over the phone (via Vanity Fair). During the same phone call, Monroe disclosed that the individual who had visited her that day was not limited to merely her doctor. She reported to Guilaroff that Robert F. Kennedy had been to see her earlier that day and had been “threatening” and “yelling at” her throughout their interaction. Monroe asserts that Kennedy made a commitment to marry her at some point in the future but that on the day in question he visited her home in order to end their relationship.
According to the autopsy report that was made public after Marilyn Monroe’s passing, the cause of loss was “probably suicide.” The absence of a definitive explanation provided fuel for conspiracy theorists and opened the door to assassination attempts that may be traced back to Jimmy Hoffa, Sam Giancana, and the mafia. According to The Scotsman’s story, Wendy Leigh contends that these guys were the ones who murdered Marilyn Monroe by injecting an enema into her body in her book “The Secret Letters.” John Miner, who was there at Monroe’s autopsy, lends his support to Leigh’s contention by saying that he doesn’t believe the reporting that Anthony Summers has done.
According to The Scotsman, the origin of Leigh’s idea lies with Joe Kennedy, the father of John and Robert Kennedy, who was in business with Frank Costello, a “notorious mafia figure.” During Joe’s candidacy for president, these contacts were important in securing John’s support, and it is said that he relied on the Cosa Nostra for assistance in “buying votes.” But when Robert Kennedy was appointed attorney general in his brother’s administration as president, things swiftly took a turn for the worst in the Kennedy family’s ties with the mafia. Hoffa’s plans were being thwarted by Robert’s determination to put an end to organized crime.
Summers explains in his story for Vanity Fair that the mafia and the FBI were both interested in Monroe because of her relationship with the Kennedy brothers, despite the fact that all of this seems like it’s too good to be true. Hoffa, the government, and the mafia had all bugged Monroe’s home because they were interested in listening in on what the Kennedys could be saying to their mistress. However, the evidence does not support a claim that anybody other than Monroe had direct involvement in causing her loss.
One of the primary reasons why the mystery surrounding Marilyn Monroe’s passing persists is because there are too many reports that contradict one another to ever know for certain the when’s and hows of her loss. If you’re like many of us, you probably thought you knew the official timeline of Marilyn Monroe’s loss until you watched “The Mystery of Monroe: The Unheard Tapes” on Netflix. Similarly, some people couldn’t conceptualize the realities of living with a schizophrenic mother until they read “Blonde” by Joyce Carol Oates. Both of these examples are from works of fiction.
Pieces of conversations that Monroe had in the hours before her passing, which may be seen as their own kind of a note, are all that we have to work with in order to attempt to solve the enigma surrounding her passing. Not only did she say her goodbyes to Peter Lawford, but she also revealed to her psychiatrist, Dr. Ralph Greenson, that she was “feeling rejected by some of the people she had been close to” after plans to see a “very important person” — one of the “extremely important men in government” she’d been having a relationship with — were unexpectedly canceled. This was reported in Vanity Fair. Not only did she tell Peter Lawford that she wouldn’t be seeing him anymore,
It is not hard to understand how the dominoes were falling toward Monroe’s demise when one considers the evidence that places former Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy in Los Angeles on that day as well as an audio clip of his purportedly last visit. What Dr. Greenson described was undoubtedly accurate; Monroe was a forlorn and lonely lady. She was revered by everyone, but no one genuinely loved or knew her on a personal level.
