Marriage to Arthur Miller and The Misfits

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Just add a song to your chosen playlist and put your summer on track Red Bull Summer all day play, Red Bull gives you wings Visit reedbull dot com slash bright suummer Ahead to learn more. See youa this summer When we think of Marilyn Monroe, many of us will conjure up an image of beauty, fame, and tragedy But on the centenerary of her birth, we're reevaluating that image Speaking to Charlotte Vosper for this episode of The History Extra podcast, Lucy Bolton reveals that Monroe's ascent to Hollywood Icon actually took an extraordinary amount of work and effort Together, they reconsider Munroe's personal and professional life, unveiling the career driven hard working side to Marilyn Munroe Today, the first of june, twenty twenty six is the centenary of Marilyn Mumroe's birth. And we're going to be talking all about her career, relationships and ambitions But before we dive into our story Lucy, could you sum up who Marilyn Monroe was in a nutshell? I mean, in a nutshell, the greatest movie star of all time, epitomizes Hollywood stardom and glamour, beauty, femininity, sexuality, just the most powerful star image that Hollywood ever produced. Okay, so let's start our story at the beginning. Marilyn was born in nineteen twenty six and she had quite a difficult, unstable upbringing, didn't she Oh yes, she really did. I mean, her mother was basically very unwell So although initially her childhood started off quite happily. Her mother suffered from severe mental illness, which led to her being taken into institutions and Marilyn as a little girl, or Norma Jean, Mortonson as she was then, being passed from foster home to care home to foster home. mean several times. So she had a very difficult childhood Having said that She did get quite a lot from her mother. She got the love of the movies from her mother. Her mum worked as a negative cutter in the studios and she took Normaean to the movies and Naan fell in love with Jean Harlow, the first blonde Bombshell and she wanted to be Jean Harlow when she grew up. She wanted to be a movie star So she got that from her mum And also her mother tried to do her best for her by asking friends and neighbourors and relations to take care of her Yes, she had a tough, tough childhood. At the age of s of fifteen, it looked like Norma Jean was going to have to go back into foster care or a care home Be her aunt, the woman that she was living with, had to move for her husband's job and he made it quite clear that he didn't want Normage to go with them So essentially in order to avoid going back into care Normaen married a local boy, the boy next door Jim Duckty who was a bit older than her, I think it was early twenties, so five, six years older than her. And he was quite aware of the age difference. It wasn't something that he particularly wanted, which sounds quite amazing that someone might not want to marry Marilyn Monae, but she was only fifteen and they got married just after she was sixteen. But this early marriage saved her going back into care, as I say, and also gave her a degree of stability. Her husband joined the Marines and she moved with him to a house on the base And she sort of played a bit at being a stay at home wife for a while. She even thought actually about having a baby The war came along and Jim Tori said, well, we've got time to do that. We can do that later. So He joined the Marines as I say and he went off to serve leaving Norma Jean behind. And what did she do when she was left behind? Did she try and aim for this life of stardom and fame that she was so taken with? or what was she doing at that stage? Not quite yet. She got a job, but it was in a munitions factory, so not quite as glamorous as her future would be. But she was earning money, I mean, not great money, but she was earning money and she was going to work And then one day, a photographer came to the factory who was essentially there, he hadd been briefed to compile a morale boosting calendar with photos of, I guess, like the attractive workers there and Marilyn Posted for these photographs and she loved it and the camera loved her And she got a bit of modeling work as well as working in the factory And this kind of developed a bit and she signed for a modelling agency, the Blueb modeling agency. her husband and her mother in law were not keen on this. So they actively didn't want her to pursue this career, even though actually she earned a lot more money modeling than she did in the munitions factory. and despite her husband's and her mother in law's quite strong objections. Marilyn didn't take any notice of that and she decided to divorce Jim Dahhoodi and to pursue career I think it's really clear from this early stage, particularly now at the first sign of opposition to her desire to work and build a career She ditched the private life. you know, she was committed. She had her determination Right there and then you can see it for the first time As a result of this modeling work, it led to her getting a screen test and the screen test didn't go brilliantly, but she was offered a contract by twentieth century Fox. Esentially To stop her being signed up by anybody else, I think it was Colombia And when she got this contract, she really made the most of it. So her first contract was only six months and during those six months, she was like a sponge on the film set. She spoke to all the crew, she spoke to the lighting crew, she spoke to the costume people, the makeup people. She was really committed to learning all she could about how to look best on film Different from modelling, she was seen as a bit of a kind of cheesecake pin up model But she really wanted to act. So by nineteen forty six, she had signed with twentieth century Fox, like you say, initially on a six month contract this stage, had Norma remodelled herself as Marilyn? When Norma Jean was modelling and as part of her drive towards becoming more of an individual, she had dyed her hair platinum blonde, Jean Harlow style, probably not quite as whitite as Jean Harlow's was And when she got her first short term contract, it was basically on the condition that shed change her name Normagene Maltonson was deemed to be too difficult to say. So she spoke with Ben Lyion who was a talent scout at the studio And they came up with the name together essentially. She wanted to use her mother's maiden name. which was Monroe And Ben Lyon said, Well, you remind me of this actress another blonde actress, Marilyn Miller who I think he'd actually been involved with romantically, but anyway, she reminded him of her. And so he said together they went That's it, Marilyn Monroe. And so Hell look started to be formed and her persona really, Marilyn Monroe started to develop It was a very professional persona Uhu It's well known that she used to say things like, o W watch me become her or do you want me to be her? She saw Marilyn Monroe as her creation, her professional, dramatic creation, her star image and she devoted herself to oning that and working at it. Absolutely. It sounds like at this stage in nineteen forty six, then Marilyn is putting a lot of effort into developing her acting career and she's really laying the foundations for that Did these efforts pay off? Did she end up with lots of jobs from her contract with twentieth century Fox? It's perhaps surprising that she didn't just set the world on fire and get taken onto screens straight away. It was never that easy. Remember, Hollywood was the place where everyone wanted to be and it was full of the rather patronisingly named starlets and I guess that t this stage with a contract but not yet a sort of leading player by any means, she definitely wouldn't be considered a star And so they had their pick of many, many beautiful young women and men to offer long term contracts to. And for various reasons, some of which are more understandable than others. So some of the drama coaches at the studio felt that she was very nervous and quite insecure, probably true Others described her as not being very photogenic, which is extraordinary because that is a word that is almost kind of ubiquitously applied to her face and body, how photogenic she was Anyway, they dropped after six months. So over the next couple of years, she had periods of goingoing back to modelling and then getting another short term contract and then being dropped from that and then going back to modeling. So It wasn't straightforward, but she kept working. And during this time, She had drama lessons, she took voice lessons Dancing lessons, she read all the time. She was a vociferous reader It's interesting also to think how because of the kind of constant drive to describe her as a dumb blonde. People actually question much how true it is that she was a reader, a vuciferous reader. but you can tell from so many of her interviews that she quotes people and she uses aphorisms and ideas that she's read. and she's a very hungry eight toz reader who just wants to soak up all the information about the world that she possibly can Although those first couple of years were a bit of a struggle, it did pay off And in fact I mean, there were other reasons as well. for it paying off. some of the modeling she did including the nude phhotos shoot Golden Dreams by photographer Tom Kelly which has become one of the most iconic Marilyn Monroe photographs. She did at the time, in a very kind of low key way, literally just for the money to pay her rent And then also she started a relationship with Johnny Hyde, who was vice president, I think, of the William Morris Talent Agency and He really fell in love with Marilyn He wanted to marry her, but she wouldn't marry him because she said if I do No one will ever take me seriously as an independent working actress. She knew what that would look like and she didn't want to be married to him It has to be said, however, that he negotiated two extremely important roles for her in films that really launched her as an actress, not just walk on park as a waitress or pin up girl or a secretary. She played a lot of secretaries in films like Monkey Business. But these first two films in nineteen fifty all about Eve and the Asphalt jungle, gave her good screen time in quality productions with top notch players, Betty Davis who was really impressed by Marilyn and Dperate Jungle with Sterling Hayden, Louis Calharn And she is magnetic in these films. they stand up She's very different in both of them in all about Eve. she plays Miss Carswell, who's a wanabe star wannabe actress And she has this look Oh hunger in her eyes when she realizes that there's an opportunity for her to maybe make a contact or do a bit of networking And in Eessbt Jungle, she's a rather disquuieting, very young Gangsters Mall but she shows again, vulnerability, but also a kind of quite conniving strength as well. So both these films, which are very popular in classic films confirmed her potential I think it's fair to say and Fx signed her again in nineteen fifty one. And this time it was a decent contract, a seven year contract And following that, the roles started to come. Some of them were still sort of glamorus roles, know glamorirl roles two stand out that are really important and often overlooked. When you think about Marilyn's filmography, clash by night and don't bother to knock. Both quite dark films. and in Clash by Night, Marilyn plays a factory worker in a canning factory. She's quite assertive. It's a very natural performance. And then and don't bother to knock She plays a mentally unwell murderous babysitter. with some great scenes, some great action. and neither of these films fit image of Marilyn that's about to develop in nineteen fifty three. But in nineteen fifty two, these two black and white films Clash by Night and donon't Bother to knock show her stretching her acting muscles. It was then in nineteen fifty three that her stardom took off, particularly in Niagara Monroe's body and face and look is aligned with Niagara Fools as being the two great attractions of the film. I the poster says something like to forces of nature that cannot be controlled or something like that. know And so she looks amazing Her long term makeup artist and friend, actually, Whitey Snyder and she had collaborated on her look for years and by Niagara They got it cracked. So the famous Monroe makeup of the kind of wide set eyes and eyebrows. the little bit of white eyeliner on the outside of the eyes. the little bit of fake lash shadow to make it look like her lashes were even longer and of course, the lips, you know repeutatedly They used five shades of red lipstick to get that gloss and all the kind of multidimensional shine and richness that they wanted to get This era, like early fifties women were expected, they'd had their freedom and their jobs in the war. Now the men come back. They' expected to be Hy again go back into the home and happily be wives and mothers. and she knew that the kind of alternative to that type of femininity was this sort of ultra sexy, voluptuous, sort of nakedly sexual persona. So Fangra, she and Whitey had got that sorted And it also introduces the world to the Monroe Wiggle The film got in trouble with the sensors because of her walk There's a sequence in the film where she sets off with a kind of jaount in her step to meet who she thinks is the successful killer her lover And she walks away from the camera along side Niagara Falls towards the Bell toer, and the camera stays on her as she retreats So Despite the amazing rop of Niagara Falls. It is Monroe's wiggle dominates the screen That's the intention and that is the effect I mean, she's quite clearly By the end of that film, an absolute undisputed star Expedia and Visit Scotland invite you to come step into centuries of history that await in Scotland Castle steeped in legend, walk along coblestone streets Come share the warmth of stories passed down through generations This is a place with a past that is fully present today and all yours to explore. Plan your Scottish escape today at expedia. com slash visit Scotland This Father's D, do more with dad and spend less with low prices guaranteed at the Home Depot. 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That's the science of Wow Cal Gate Optic white I think it's really important to pull out that Marilyn's career picked up after she changed her image in nineteen forty six and that her success comes from that combination of her incredibly glamorous look, but also her concrete acting skills So By nineteen fifty three, after she's done her hard work to hone that skill set, Marilyn had become a cultural icon, hadn't she? Could you give us some examples of her status as a cultural icon? By Gentlemen Preferred Blondes and then How to Marry a Millionaire, which she makes after that with Lauren Bcour and Betty Grble to establish stars Marilyn had top billing above them. She's a star by the end of nineteen fifty three and which is very popular. She's receiving immense amounts of fan mail, far more than the other two stars who although she's in the same film with them, they're being paid more than her for the time being because she's still under that restrictive contract with Fox. She's definitely becoming the most popular film star of her day. and also she becomes notorious for a few reasons. so she appears on the cover of the first ever Playboy magazine, which she never got paid for and which was a photograph that had been taken previously. but She was seen to kind of epitomize the playlboy ideal, as H Hefner and Norman Mayer, all these guys have said She epitomized kind of sex without danger, just fun, consequence free sex. and that's what the playayboy model was supposed to epitomizeise. And then also those nude photos that she'd taken before she was established Golden Dreams, they came back to haunt her because they were reproduced on calendars and so they were all over the country. and it became quite clear that it was likely to be heard rather than sort of run away from that or pretend it wasn't her She completely accepted it and said, yeep, that was me. I needed the money. I was desperate. And she sort of cracked a joke about it saying, Oh yeah, I don't think he got my best side which is pretty funny because she's completely naked in these photographs This genius move to just accept them was consistent with this image developing of her as totally guilt free about sex and her body When we think about Moving into the realm of cultural icon, there are another couple of things One would be that she married another cultural icon, Joe Di Maggio, who was a greatly beloved baseball player, a sports star, and consolidated her as half of a a leading power couple really in a way And then also There was the Seven Year Rich and the famous white pleated dress blowing up above her hips around her hips standing of the grating on Lexington Avenue in New York And when that film was released, which was a year or so later. But even at the time actually, photographs from that shoot became hugely popular. They were used as pre publicity. They were in magazines I've got Vintage magazines with whole spreads of those photographs in them And quite sort of ironically, I think, you would say They established her as this really iconic figure, but they also drove Joe D' Maggio completely wild with jealousy and fury and in some ways actually marked the end of their marriage. He'd been very jealous of her. He'd wanted her to effectively give up career and stay at home give up Hollywood. he couldn't bear all these people ogling his wife's body She went on a tour of the troops in Korea to entertain them by singing and doing her numbers in front of hundreds and hundreds of soldiers and she loved it. She said it was the best thing that ever happened to her He found it really difficult. And then the seven year itch footage, he was there on set, watching all this press and all these crowds leer and shout about seeing his wife in her knickers basically and he couldn't take it, which is another instance of herer husband wanting her to not be a star, not to work and her saying, well the work will win out. So the ending of Marilyn's relationship with Joe D' Maggio, that speaks to her continued desire to better her skills as an actress and grow her career After their divorce, what major career move did she make next? This was a really seismic time in Marilyn's life W the marriage to Dimaggio only lasted nine months And she essentially escaped Dimaggio and the marriage but also Hollywood and moved to New York Now the reason why she wanted to get away from Hollywood was because She was sick of the Dom blonde or Dipsy blonde roles that she was being given Even the seeven year Rich, which is has a lot of great things about it, mainly Marilyn's incredible performance. She doesn't even have a name in Seven Ye Rich. She's just the girl. And she'd had to do River of No Return, which if she hadn't enjoyed that'd been an awful experience. And then she was offered the Girl in Pink Tights, which was actually made eventually with Sophiliaa Rain as Heela in Pink Tights. The role came to her and She didn't like it. and yet again her co star, who was supposed to be Frankston Archer, I think, was going to be paid like three or four times more than she was and she just hadad enough So she left and She went to New York and Fox basically sector suspended her. She didn't care. She had demands about what she wanted. She wanted to have more say in the roles that she played more say in the choice of director, the choice of cinematographer. There's a famous clip actually of her in an interview where she's asked by the interviewer why she doesn't want to do any more musical comedies and she says that's not true. I like doing musical comedies. I just don't want to do just musical comedies. I want to do other things as well. So her time in New York was really like a sort of reinvention period She was able to go casually around New York with her sunglasses and makeup free and casual clothes and she attended to studio. the sort of Holy grail of method acting. run by the Strasburgs by Lee Strasbberg in New York And Marilyn saw that as a chance to W on her craft, work on her acting, to position herself more serious roles and she did well there. Strasbourg was impressed. She also mixed with a different sort of person. she mixed with directors like Ilia Kazan and writer she mixets with Tuma Capoti and Marlon Brando and she met Arthur Miller. It was at this time that she also set up her own production company with her friend and photographer, Bilton Greene. You could tell they had a really easy trusting friendship and the production company that they set up, Marilyn Monroe Productions Incorporated One of the first film star to set up their own production company. One of the first women and it was Just a staggeringly bold thing to do She had left the studio because she wasn't having the work that she wanted there. gone to New York to reinvent herself, to change To an extent how she looked as well, let alone how she acted and to take charge of her career. This was really Very striking way to behave. Absolutely. You mentioned there about Marilyn fighting the stududios by the end of nineteen fifty three. For our listeners, if you're interested in finding out more about women who fought back against Hollywood, then you should definitely check out our History Extra podcast episode with Helen O'Hara, where she talks about her book Women versus Hollywood. It's a great listen and you can find it anywhere you get your podcasts, but I'll also pop a link to it in the description below. to Marilyn. What was her relationship with Arthur Miller like at the beginning? You mentioned that she met him studying under Lise Strasberg? Marilyn and Arthur Miller had met actually when they were both married to other people in nineteen fifty four. But they reconnected in, I think nineteen fifty five and they both got divorced and then they married each other in nineteen fifty six. So it was seen as a very sort of unlikely pairing actually, but by all intents and purposes, they had a very strong connection problems in the marriage from early days really. I think it's a a rather sad story of the reality of being married to the world's most glamorous woman. being as much fun as the idea being married to the world's most glamorous woman I think yet again, I mean, I think Miller wanted her to be different wanted her to stay at home. And she did try actually. She didn't work for a while, learned how to cook your favorite food, converted to Judaism, She really did devote herself But she loved working and she wanted to work and also they needed money. He did eventually encourage her to go back to work to make some like it hot because he needed her to earn the money for them. There was also famously the very sad story of her When they were in the UK filming the Prince and the Show Girl, which was the first project under the auspices of Marilyn Monroe Productions. and in fact, they were essentially on honeymoon when this was being filmed. They were renting a house and she found a noteepad or diary that Miller had written where he Bast is disappointment in Marilyn. I mean, really crushing stuff to read that He thought she was stupid, he was embarrassed of her in front of his friends, things like this, terrible things to read, plus the suspicion that she was had that he actually left it there for her to and that was very early on in the marriage So there were problems of incompatibilities. He was very aware of her drive for better roles, better dramatic parts After that, she made Let's Make Love, which was a very troubled production and unsuccessful movie In fact, Arthur Miller was brought on board to help rewrite it because the script was so awful and That was co starring with Yve Montont, who was married to Simone Signer at the time P a couple of French cinema. and during the production they were staying in bungalows at the Beverly Hills Hotel. And there is an amazing set of photographs of them having dinner together, sitting around the table with Miller and Montend. It's incredibly atmospheric, but the fact is that Monroe and Montend had an affair. And she fll quite hard for him. You know, the marriage with Miller was really on the rocks But the affair was a disaster. It was short lived. ery traumatic for Marilyn very traumatic for Simonee Signiere, who never recovered either, frankly. And then after this, she made the misfits which is an incredibly influential and impressive piece of making, directed by John Houston, written by Arthur Miller and he wrote the part of Rosallyn for Marilyn. You mentioned The Misfits, which was actually Marilyn's last completed film. It was written by Arthur, as you said How did working together impact their relationship? Ms Fitz had a very destructive effect on their relationship. It wasn't so much just working together, it was the fact that Miller had written this role for Marilyn as a strong, dramatic part that ostensibly gave her the kind of role that she wanted. But what in fact the role did was sort of mercilessly Expose her own personal demons and vulnerabilities. Even her backstory of having a difficult childhood in foster homes and in care and vulnerabilities, disappointment in love, all those kind of things, mental illness. So it really played on her weaknesses. And also the schedule was tough. The director John Houston was tough And Marilyn really suffered on that film. Her marriage was ending, really Miller was beginning a relationship with a woman who was working on the film. which is inconceivably awful And it really also came at a time, clearly not coincidentally where Marilyn's problems with drugs and alcohol were dominating her life. She did have physical health problems as well H medication both prescription medication prescribed by various ors and deealers we might call them around the studios and around the set but she abused those medications. and she was addicted to many types of painkillers, seditives And well, John Houston said that There were days when she was effectively catatonic didn't even seem to be there. that ended up with a period of time in hospital. there are differing accounts as to how she ended up in hospital. Some say that she was basically sent there. Others say that Houston needed a break. for various reasons mainly financial and Mroe took the opportunity to check herself in for a break, but that in any event she did spend time in hospital on the shoot And indeed, by the time production was finished She was very unwell and spent time in a psychiatric Institute and then also had surgery as well for various medical conditions So it was certainly a low point. and Project of the misfits had led to a serious decline in her health and the end of their marriage. When Marilyn did split from Arthur Miller How did the divorce impact her personally and professionally. Well It's interesting because she was in a bad way, physically and mentally around that time. Also some really positive things happened. So Yet again Marilyn survived hospitalizations and her surgeries. And she bought a house She called it Little Haciender, her fortress, little Mexican style cottage. in Brentwood in LA and This was the first home she'd ever owned. And she bought it on her own and she loved it she took real pleasure in hopping over the border to Mexico to look for tiles and carpets and furniture to decorate it in this style. And she took a long time to unpack. In fact, I'm not sure she ever did fully unpack. She wanted to read and sleep and listen to Frank Sinacha Records and speak to her friends on the phone And she said that she was turnurning her mind back to work, having had this kind of physical and mental overhaul after the misfits and after the divorce. And she also started being in discussion with ks about various projects Now Fox was in trouble at this time, not least because of the massively over budget and ridiculously careering out of control Cleopatra, starring Elizabeth Taylor that had taken them to the cleaners. And also Really, the studio system was kind of winding down In some ways, Marilyn had contributed to that with her own Marilyn Monroe productions. but she was discussing various projects with them, expressing strong opinions about what she would and wouldn't do And then she signed up. to do something that's got to give directed by George Kuor, who she was very happy with. and she'd agreed to this and it was going to be the final fil of the four films that she was contracted to with twentieth century Fox And she lost a lot of weight and In the screen tests, for something's got to give She looks very thin. I mean, she lost a lot of weight for this, but clearly she was really working hard on her body and her mind and her acting to get her a game ready for somethinghing's got to give. But once the shoot started A lot of the old problems came back. herer health suffered genuine health problems with severe tonsillitis that doctors signed her off work for, but every day she was off Fox is losing money and her absenteeism had gained her quite a bad reputation over the years She barely turned up And then something happened that really kind of pushed her over the limit. She very much wanted to go to Madison Square Gardens to sing happappy Birthday to Okay. Happy birthday, Mr. President. and Despite Fx saying you can't do it because you're always ill, you can't get here, you're never on set She went anyway And it was obviously one of the most iconic moments in her life and incredibly high profile She's even really poignantly in retrospect, introduced by Peter Lawford as the late Marilyn Monroe because she's late then, and she's late for everything in a way, it was fantastic publicity for the film It pushed Fox over the edge Also around that time, shed shot a scene of nighttime skinny dipping in the pool on the set somethingomet's got to give, which she had said she wanted to do because She was so fed up with Elizabeth Taylor, getting all this publicity around Cleopatra and she said, I want to knock Elizabeth Taylor off all the front pages. So she did this shoot And again, that's very famousn't? So she was still really committed to herer star persona has value as really leading player in Hollywood. She knew she wanted to compete and could possibly beat Elizabeth Taylor to the front pages and also make the most of this opportunity to sing happy Birthday to the president. There were rumors about her and him and her and Bobby Kennedy and whether or not they were having affairs. So she knew she was capitalizing on that high profile gossip, really wouldn't have it. so they sacked her. And even so, she didn't give up. That's often where the story kind of stops. People say, o, she was at her lowest And then she ide at her own hands But in fact thingsings began to turn around. She didn't stop work. again, she kept going. She did various photos shoots and interviews of various magazines. and her last interview, which was for Life magazine, you know, a massive Scoot in which she talked about where she was in her life now and her plans for work and how she wanted to keep working and also reflected upon her status as a sex symbol And I think it's there she says that great line or something like I don't really want to be a symbol of anything. but if you've got to be a symbol of something, I'd rather it was sex than anything else And then she's rehired. By fox for something he's got to give And she had other projects lined up includluding biopic of her heroine Jean Harlow So in fact, when it came round to the time when she actually died in August in nineteen sixty two, it was far from the case that she was at her lowest eb She'd survived much worse and In fact, things were if not looking up. She certainly had things on the cards to look forward to and to work at. Yeah. So by july nineteen sixty two Marilyn had been rehired for somethinghing's gotot to give and she was planning to return to work. But on the fifth of august, nineteen sixty two, before filming could resume, Marilyn passed away at the age of thirty six. Her death was ruled as a probable suicide How do people react to the news of her death? I mean, the country was devastated It was so shocking. There were people, notably Joe Demaggio, actually, her second husband, who was absolutely devastated And he kind of took charge. they'd rekindled their relationship by the time of her death. They were friends, they were seeing each other and He was absolutely devastated. I think that it was seen as unbelievable because she seemed so perfect in so many ways and had a lifestyle in the press so many people wanted You know, the glamour, the lovers, the boyfriends, the parties, that life She also was so beautiful And that's clearly always offered up as something that everyone should strive for So I think people found it really hard to believe. And as a result of that all these conspiracy stories and wild allegations developed. I think also because It wasn't clear cut As you say, the verdict was probable suicide There were questions about her death, about the toxicology report, her state of mind, all kinds of things. people who had seen her that weekend The delay between the finding of her body and the reporting of the death to the police, all kinds of questions So There were reasons for people to speculate and propose their own theories. and of course it still happens today There are, I have to say, innumerable casts and books. about who was responsible for the death of Marilyn Monroe And we all know the names from Frank SZinatra to the CIA, FBI, the Kennedys, the Mafia doctors, it's just wildly speculated upon. You touched on it a little bit there, Beyond these early responses to her death, How has Marilyn been remembered? Phaps more importantly How should she be remembered? do you think? For me, this is the most important thing that on the occasion of her centenary I mean, wouldn't she be amazed. there's so much What Be dumb. by people like us, but also you know by galleries, National Portrait Gallery, British Film Institute. There are exhibitions all over the world to mark her centenary and film seasons, the screening of her work So How has she been remembered? I think in various ways, Over the years as a tragic victim The victim of men, the victim of her own illnesses and addictions I think it was No coincidence that when Diana Princess of Wales died. Elton John reissued his song Candle in the Wind, devoted to Diana which had been devoted and inspired by Marilyn about the idea that you were essentially a vulnerable flame who was blown out in a whisper of cruelty by cruel press and men. But then also various things have happened that have changed this. So there's been work done on her archives and her diaries when they were released, Her notes and her jottings and her poems were released in the book Fragments And that shed a different light on her. It showed that she was a very contemplative person, that she actually had a very rich prolific. and pretty tormented life of the mind And she also in that fabulous quote said that she was trying to think in ink. She was trying to get her words out into her notebooks theseese aren't sort of like well being journaling entries. These are really quite searching, heartfelt incredibly insightful analyses of her distress and her aims they show a person hellld to self improvement who is constantly saying, I need to do this, need to work harder, read more, think more. She was really driven as a soul searching person. Creativity comes through in her writing and that was a real shift, I think towards seeing her person individual I remember going to see an exhibition of her costumes and clothes in Florence at Salvatore Fragamo Museum And they had loads of costumes and shoes all beautifully displayed, looking amazing And then a sign that said, private collection And we went in this small room essentially had couple of evening coats an array of about four or five black cocktail dresses and a couple of pachy shirts and pants. and that was kind of it. She was a nomad, she was collector of books but not possessions and that has shifted the associations with her personality into a really fascinating realm of independence and intellectual life of very emotionally intuitive striving at not just career success, but self improvement, trying to be happier working on her happiness, working on her craft and her state of mind and her relationships, reflections on the fact that marriage really isn't a natural state because they always want to change you. And that love is very difficult because they always want to consume you. thingsings like this, I mean really amazing ideas that she had. And then I think also there've been various attempts to claim her for various communities. Is she a feminist icon? she a queer icon, she a businesswoman. and yes, all of those things, actually There's so much about her in popular culture in so many forms, her image is used to advertise everything from Coca Cola, which she loved or shoes or bags or lipsticks Charlotte Tilby uses her for Rem of Kate Mor dressed up as her forot to advertise makeup So many people have adopted her persona in the pursuit of their own careers famously Madonna, for Dimes of Re Gsest friendriend and living in a material world, but so many Ryan Gosling' Ken and Barbie like reenacted it at the Oscars a couple of years ago, and Lady Gargar in the Olympics opening ceremony in Paris. So the power of her image is incredibly strong and only diversifies. When thinking about how we should remember her now I think it's as a really complex woman who had physical and mental health problems, who was devoted to her work and to her interior life And Her exterior life, she worked out, she went jogging when these things were not usual behavior for most women She saw herself as an ongoing project Iost's Marily Monroe and Nooma Jane So I think compleomxity and a kind of getting real attitude to Marilyn Monroe, you know, as Shelly Winter said, she would have been much happier if she'd been more stupid. She was a bright woman who was very aware of the inequalities that she faced in work and in love