When a Star Fades Away…

Marilyn Monroe at the President Kennedy Birthday Party (Madison Square Garden on May 19, 1962)

On Friday night I rented a new DVD titled My Week With Marilyn. Coincidentally, I was recently looking through a sound archive with Ms. Monroe recordings, so I felt compelled to pick the movie up. The movie opened with a statement which read “in 1956, at the height of her career, Marilyn Monroe went to England to make a film with Sir Lawrence Oliver. While there she met a young man named Colin Clark, who wrote a diary about the making of the film. This is their true story.” It was an interesting look at Marilyn through the eyes of a man with big dreams and the drive to match.

As an archivist, I am aware that new perspectives on history can be withdrawn from diaries. These raw accounts often hold the most intimate feelings and thoughts of the writer. Naturally I started to wonder where the original diary is housed? Unfortunately, I was unable to pinpoint an archive tonight. I will keep looking. It is possible that this specific diary could be in private hands. It is likely worth a large amount of money.

Once I finished looking around for an archival collection, I started to look into where Monroe was laid to rest? In one of her last major public appearances before her death, Monroe’s lips mouthed her personalized Happy Birthday song for the President of the United States, John F. Kennedy. The actress made that appearance on Saturday, May 19, 1962, in a gorgeous evening dress which is worth a grip of cash today! The song was performed in honor of Kennedy’s 45th birthday. How sad that she died a few short months after singing that song. The last public appearance Marilyn made was at a baseball stadium. She appeared at Dodger Stadium for a benefit two months before she died. She was my exact age at the time of her death.

On the web site findagrave.com, I was able to find the burial site of Marilyn Monroe (Norma Jean Baker). The photos show that she has a rather simple grave. The site says that she was born on June 1, 1926 in Los Angeles, California, and died on August 5, 1962 in Los Angeles, California. Below is information I have taken off that site. Frankly it could have been written better. Often this woman doesn’t get any credit for being smart. She was smart. At some point I will have to post about that- it happens far to often that beautiful women are negatively stereotyped. Because how can a beautiful woman possibly be smart? It is such a pity for people to think that way. I was sad to learn that she was basically orphaned. Maybe that explains her problems with addiction?

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“In a career that spanned 16 years, with no acting experience and through the promotion of her sex symbol image, Marilyn became a Hollywood media star and a legend while making 29 movies. She was born in Los Angeles at General Hospital to unmarried Gladys Pearl Monroe Baker. Her father was Charles Stanley Gifford, a salesman for the studio where Marilyn’s mother worked as a film-cutter. The recently divorced Gifford had no desire to be involved and left Gladys when informed of her pregnancy. She received her name, Norma Jean Baker during baptism performed by Aimee Semple McPherson at the Angeles Temple. Her unstable, overwhelmed mother gave her up and Norma Jean was declared a ward of the state. She was passed around among relatives, foster care and even spent time at the Los Angles Orphanage. She never graduated but attended Emerson Junior High School in Los Angeles and then Van Nuys High School in nearby Van Nuys. To escape her ‘ward of the state’ status, she married James E. Dougherty while under-age in Nevada. With her new husband off to war, Norma joined millions of other women in America and began working at a defense plant in Burbank. A chance publicity photo of her wound up on the cover of the plant magazine prompting Norma Jean to quit and seek a career as a photographer’s model. Her images began to appear on pin-up posters, advertisements and throw-away magazines. She was catapulted to fame after her picture appeared on the cover of the premier issue of Playboy Magazine. She then pursued a movie career finding some work while being bounced from studio to studio. By 1954, under her stage name Marilyn Monroe, she became a huge star at Fox Studio with films such as “Gentlemen Prefer Blondes,” “How to Marry a Millionaire” and “There’s No Business Like Show Business.” She grew tired of the dumb blonde roles, broke her contract and went to New York to study acting. She returned and with her own production company made the blockbuster, “The Seven Year Itch.” Fox Studio re-signed her to a new contract granting her more control and the option to make one film a year. The first movie was “Bus Stop,” followed by many more. In contrast to a bright professional career, her personal life was dismal. The first marriage of convenience ended in divorce. Her story book wedding to baseball great Joe DiMaggio, after a two-year courtship, captivated the nation, ended in divorce – just 274 days later on grounds of mental cruelty. A marriage to playwright Arthur Miller followed and lasted some five years punctuated by an abortion and a miscarriage resulting again in divorce. Marilyn completed the film, “Misfits” in 1960 which would be the last for her and co-star Clark Gable. Her behavior during 1962 signaled the beginning of her demise. She appeared dazed and disoriented at times. She was fired from Fox for repeated absences. Her final public appearance was at Dodger Stadium for a Muscular Dystrophy benefit on June 1, 1962. Two months later, she was found dead by her housekeeper in the bedroom of her recently purchased Brentwood, California, home on Helena Drive…at age thirty-six. The Los Angeles Coroner office ruled the cause of death an overdose of barbiturates. Her untimely demise and cause has spawned numerous conspiracy theories that abound even to this day. Her funeral was at Westwood Memorial Park Chapel arranged by her ex-husband Joe DiMaggio. It was conducted by Lutheran minister, Reverend A.J. Soldan from the Village Church of Westwood. Judy Garland’s ‘Somewhere Over the Rainbow’ was played. Her drama coach, Lee Strasberg, delivered the eulogy. Marilyn was interred in a nearby wall crypt occupying a bronze casket. Awards, Honors and Legacy…She received three Golden Globe Awards; ‘World Film Favorite’ 1953, Best Actress in a Comedy ‘Some Like It Hot’ 1960, ‘World Film Favorite’ again in 1962. She appeared on the cover of Life magazine twice, April 7, 1952, and August 3, 1962. The Postal Service featured her on a 32 cent commemorative postage stamp in 1995. Marilyn never won nor was nominated for an Academy Award but served as its emcee during one.”
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