The Final Years of Marilyn Monroe: The Shocking True Story by Badman Keith

Author:Badman, Keith [Badman, Keith]
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
ISBN: 9781781310519
Publisher: Aurum Press
Published: 2012-06-20T23:00:00+00:00

Chapter Eight

Despondency, Rebirth, Photo Shoots and the Cal-Neva

Saturday 9 June 1962–Monday 30 July 1962

‘Being fired from Something’s Got To Give was hard for her to take,’ Eunice Murray admitted in 1962. With despondency engulfing her life, Marilyn was unexcited by the prospect of sharing another stage with the President. Following the White House rejection, she knew that in any case it was a hollow promise.

Her appearance was suffering too. ‘Her hair was unkempt,’ wrote the Hollywood reporter Martin Buckley, ‘her nails were longer than usual.’ The actress’s consumption of alcohol, in particular champagne, was also increasing. Daylight was almost a luxury for her now. She would get through the days, but it was the nights that were too long. Suddenly, she was at a loss about what she should do with herself. Fox had fired her for tardiness, but now she had no reason to be on time. Yet she found herself watching the clock. Murray would suggest she eat something. She didn’t answer. ‘She would get quiet, stay quiet for hours and hours,’ the housekeeper recalled. In her 1975 book, Marilyn: The Last Months, she revealed that the actress ‘spent a lot of time musing with a far away look in her eyes. Some might have seen this as depression.’ In the words of her good friend, the Hollywood publicist Rupert Allan, Marilyn was ‘facing the dark tunnel of her career’.

She used to enjoy the idea of staying at home all day. But not any more. The interior decorating ideas that had once engaged her no longer seemed important. Ornaments she had purchased for her Mexican-style bar cantina still lay in the box. She had no desire to open it. On the occasional nights when she did go out, she would go for a drive with Murray in the housekeeper’s green Dodge car. Her favourite was along the Santa Monica beach where she would trail the curve of the sand, without having to ponder where she was going. Sometimes she would drive past Peter Lawford’s house. Many times she thought about stopping. She rarely did.

Saturday 9 June was spent holed up in Beverly Hills in her white brick apartment at 882 North Doheny Drive. Far from the party spirit, and with the bruises still prominent on her face, she failed to show that evening at Dean Martin’s special bash for her. The eleventh-hour get-together at his home in Beverly Hills was intended to cheer her up following her sacking. Instead, as the rain fell, Marilyn sat alone, contemplating her future. Her solitary companions were her dog, Maf, and the Sinatra records that spun continuously on her player. Fruitless calls to the Attorney General and her fan club secretary, Madge Inman, punctuated her banal proceedings. The actress’s despondency increased when the latter informed her that, once more, she had just 50 letters waiting for collection.

It was a far cry from September 1953, when Fox assigned 20 girls from the script department just to help catch up on the actress’s mail, which was piling up at the rate of 10,000 letters a month.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.