Reflecting on a Tragic Legacy

This episode is brought to you by Progressive Insurance Do you ever think about switching insurance companies to see if you could save some cash Progressive makes it easy Just drop in some details about yourself to see if you're eligible to save money when you bundle your home and auto policies The process only takes minutes and could mean hundreds more in your pocket. Visit progressive. com after this episode to see if you could save Progressive casualty insurance compomany and affiliates. Potential savings will vary not available in all states. This episode is brought to you by IQBar Pretty much everyone I know struggles with their energy levels these days, but if you often find yourself flagging The solution might be easier than you think IQ bar protein bars, IQ mix hydration mixes, and IQ Joe mushroom coffees are the delicious low sugar brain and body fuel that you need to win your day. We got the ultimate sampler pack and let me tell you, it disappeared in days. especially the IQ Mix Zero Sugar drink Mix Saches They hydrate you with electrolytes, improve your mood and bast your mental clarity All IQBar products are packed with clean, delicious ingredients that keep you physically and mentally fit, like magnesium, lion's manaine, and more And right now, IQBar is offering our special podcast listeners twenty percent off all IQBar products, including the ultimate sampler pack, plus free shipping To get your twenty percent off, text red handed to sixty four thousand. Text red handed to sixty four thousand That's red handed to sixty four thousand. Message and data rates may apply, see terms for details He. Hello. I can't remember Ishan. How do we do that? Welcome to Ishahan, o Hello, this isel hat In the early hours of the fifth of august nineteen sixty two Marilyn Monroe was found Dead in her bed. sprawled naked under a sheet. Platin and blonde hair spilling over the pillow One hand clutching an off the hook phone Ety drugs bottles scattered all over her nightstand J just thirty six One of Hollywood's brightest stars had tragically fizzled out. Her death was ruled a probable suicide But for years, People have suspected There was more to this story than meets the eye height of Cold War paranoia and with rumors that she'd bedded President John F. Kennedy And his brother Robert, but who hadn't everyone was fucking the Kennedys Was Marilyn silenced for knowing too much What started as Whispers, ignited into a wildfire of conspiracy theories that still hasn't died out to this day which isn' difficult when We've got the FBI, the CIA, the Mafia and the Kennedys It's not surprising becausecause they're in literally every single other one Even in death, the blonde bombshell kept the spotlight Firmly on her but was her mysterious demise the result of suicide accident or an assassination. This is the star Stded shorthand You, I know the answer, but I'm going to ask. Is it no? Have you seen TV show Smash I knew it. The concept of smash is that Deborah Messing wants to make a musical about Marilyn Monroe Basically Katherine McPe And Meghan Hilty are battling it to the death to play Marilyn in this Broadway show, which they eventually call bombshell. Okay becausecause she's not fragile like a flower. She's fragile like a bomb Good name. I love Smash. and may or may not Sing it to my friend on the phone U What's so hyerical about Smash is that Meghan Hilty is a broadway star Kather Mce on American Idol So trying to pitch them as equals. is so hysterical so early on that the way the production team have to like jump around to make it look like Catherine McPeee could even once take make a reality. No, it's like no, it is a drama, but like becausecause in reality, they are so mismatched in talent. I see. It's very interesting as the viewer to be like, how are they going to make it look that Catherine McPhee is better than Meghan Hilty? Because like she is It's not even Is it not an underdog story? Well, they're trying to make it an underdog story, but the underdog doesn't win Well, it Even when she does, you're like, but she can't. So like it adds this like element to the show which makes it much more interesting than anything else in its field, I think. Okay because of poor casting Well you go. recommendations Getting back to Maryilyn. specifically The bombshell, the real one at the heart of our story today. Before we get into her dep We should start by revisiting her life Norma Jean Mortenson on the first of june nineteen twenty six hundred years ago. Like bigig M. Today If you are listening to this episode of Shorthand on the Day of release, which you bloody well should b She was born in Los Angeles And her early years were a world away from the glitter of the silver screen H single momum Gladys had schizophrenia and was institutionalized in nineteen thirty four This normagene bounced between an orphanage and eleven different foster homes where she alleged that she experienced sexual abuse She escaped her turbulent home life by going to the cinema and dreaming of Hollywood When Norma turned sixteen, her foster carers set up a marriage With her and their twenty one year old neighbor, a man named Jim Doughherty in more of a sort of babysitting arrangement than a love match which like Now while Jim served in the Pacific, Norma Jine worked at a munitions factory where she posed for morale boosting pin upp snaps She joined a modeling agency, and one die job later, the blonde bombshell was born In nineteen forty six, Norma signed a contract with twentieth century Fox Stiting her first hubby and her old name, Glamorous movie star known as Marilyn Monroe Her real breakthrough came in nineteen fifty three With starring roles in Niagara, gentlemen prefer blondes How to Marry a Millionaire It all came out in the same year. Gentlemen prefer blondes is where dimes or a girl's best friend comes from That was our second film. Wild Now these saucy roles cemented Maryn's public image as the dumb blonde archetype that post war America was going absolutely wild for and her fame skyrocketed When she married, retired Yankees player Joe D' Maggio in nineteen fifty four. becoming the nation's most beloved it couple. their fairy tale romance was hiding friction from the start Remember the iconic still from the seeven year itch with Marilyn's white dress lifting up? Well, the director actually set up a publicity stunt to film the scene with over a hundred male photographers gleefully taking snaps up per dress And Joe Demaggio was absolutely fuming. Here has angry dance break in Smash. After he allegedly flew into a jealous rage and beat up Marilyn The pair split and got a quicky divorce in Mexico after just nine months of marriage But he loved her until the day he died. When he died, he said, I'm going to see Marilyn M And I feel like he's right to be angry, but he's wrong at who he's taking it out on. Yeah Marilyn might have made her name as a sex symbol, but she wanted to prove that she was more than just a pretty face In nineteen fifty four, she studied at the actor' studio under metethod acting guru Lee Strasbberg She was very keen to become a serious actress She set up her own company and started a tug of war with Hollywood execs who just wanted to cast her in sexy roles that made big bucks. Marilyn also raised eyebrows by dating playwright Arthur Miller who was under scrutiny by the McCarthy regime for his rumored communist sympathies. Do you know the story of where Marilyn goes to Arthur Miller's house to meet his parents Oh about the toilet Yes. Okay, never mind that you might peoplee might not have. Please tell them So she she's so worried that they can hear her weing She runs the tap upstairs And then they leave and Arthur Miller either rings his dad or sees him later and it's like like,, what do you think of Marilyn He's like, nice girl, piss is like a horse. Anyway. This was right at the height of the Red Scare. and if you've seen Trumbo, you won't need this explaining to you, stududio bosses weren't thrilled to see their biggest name canoodling with an outspoken Lfty because people were getting blacklisted and they were getting like compleomtely expelled from the industry. And they still really needed to make films As the FBI opened a file on Marilyn, Fox executives urged her to dump Arthur Millda to protect the squeaky, clean, apolitical image that they wanted from their stars Maryilyn refused And she and Arthur Miller got married in nineteen fifty six She tried to start a family, but she tragically had two miscarriages, which were linked to endometriosis Marilyn's struggles with infertility took a toll on her. with her friends later saying that she would have chosen to be a momum of Stardom any day By the late nineteen fifties, Marilyn was a fully fledged celebrity at the height of her fame behind closed doors, her personal life was on a downward spiral She started intense therapy to revisit childhood trauma which combined with her method acting classes Gary Vitako Roblers called a psychological Recipe for Daster. Yeah, sometometimes you can just leave the things in the box. Yeah. I push them down like the rest of us, you know? Yeah Not everything needs to be explored So mid century psychotherapy treatment was seriously hardcore. There was no antidepressants, just dredging up trauma and stuffing the open scars with powerful barituate drugs. Marilyn had been taking sleeping pills for years to treat insomnia. leading to a growing dependency that snowballed into a full blown addiction by the end of the decade Marilyn's neuroticism derailed the filming of Some Like It Hot where she was chronically late and obsessively did multiple takes until she was happy with her performance Soill for a while, Marln could always deliver the magic when the cameras were rolling During filming for the Misfits in nineteen sixty. The wheels well and truly fell off On set in the sweltering New Mexico desert, Maryilyn would turn up hours late in an almost catatonic state off her head on pills Production even had to be halted mid shoot for Maryland to spend four days in rehab and her relationship with Arthur Miller at this point also disintegrated He cheated on her during the shoot, and they announced their divorce in november nineteen sixty They would also studios would periodically Yes, she did have a drug problem and yes, she did need to go to rehabb and yes she did do those. thingsings mid shoot and I'm sure that was very disruptive But they would send her off mid shoot so she would lose some weight also. They would literally just send her off to a rehab center, be like, comeome back when you've lost ten pounds and then we can keep going This is a paid advertisement for betterter Help. Some people love summer Schools out, sun is shining and adventures the name of the game There is the other side of the season sweaty commutes, lifeve admin, the social pressure of feeling like you have to make the most of the longer days Summer becomes less about thriving and more about surviving. And I am in that second camp. If you're a summer stressor too, then therapy is a great way to find balance. With over thirty thousand therapists worldwide, BetterHelp is one of the leading online therapy platforms having served over six million people globally And it works. With an average rating of four point nine out of five for a live session based on over one point seven million client reviews P can help people better understand their needs, feel more confident setting boundaries and create a version of summer that actually feels good You don't have to say yes to everything this summer. find support and therapy Sign up and get ten percent off at betterterhel d. com slash reed handanded. That's better H ELp. com slash red handed Wedding season Officially is here. And by now our loyal listeners Well know that we at Red Handed are committed to a very special brand for all of our shape, wear needs and that is, Honey loveove, and I honestly get asked about this by my friends more than anything else that we advertise. Do you need a strapless bra that won't let you down whilst you're cutting shapes on the dance floor? perfect pair of seamless underwear to smooth you out and suck you in without making you sweat. Honeyove has got you covered, friends, My friends, your friends, everyone's friends Their products are intelligently designed with bonding technology that provides support and comfort all at once And I swear by their cloud embrace bra for every day wear. It's the comfiest wireless t shirt bra that really does feel like a cloud against your skin And it's a best seller, so make sure you snap it up while you still can Treat yourself to the most advanced bas and shapewear on the market. Use our exclusive link and save twenty percent off honey loveove at honeylove dot com slash red handed. That's honeyove dot com slash red handed. And after you check it out, they will ask you where you heard about them Please support our show and tell them that we sent Jer Experience the new standard in comfort and support with Honey Love My dad has lived a pretty crazy and interesting life. Honestly, you wouldn't know it He can be pretty private Sometimes all it takes though, is a memory and he's off So this Father's Day, I'm getting him an aura frame. It's a digital photo frame that you can preload with unlimited photos So you can tee up some of his best stories and make sure those memories don't just exist in his head. and aura frrames come with free unlimited storage And you can preload as many photos and videos as you want before it even ships So by the time he opens it on Father's Day, it's already chock full of memories And if you download the free orura app, you can share new photos and videos anytime Named number one by Wirecutter You can save now by visiting auraframes. com For a limited time, listeners can get thirty five dollars off their best selling carver matte frame code red handed A U are a frames. com prroma code red handed Support the show by mentioning us a checkout terms and conditions apply Summer always makes me rethink what I'm reaching for in my daily wardrobe. Lighter fabrics, better materials, pieces that just feel good the moment you put them on And that's why I keep coming back to Quint They focus on high quality essentials, like breathable linen, soft organic cotton, washable silk Without that luxury price tag Quince works directly with ethical factories and cuts out the middleman, so you're paying for quality instead of pointless brand markups So the great news Every at Quince is priced fifty percent to eighty percent less than similar brands. Their lightweight linen sets have been a lifesver for me in these warmer months, and with prices from just thirty two dollars for a one hundred percent European linen You honestly can't go wrong. Elevate your summer wardrobe, go to quinint dot com slash red handed. For free shipping on your order and three hundred and sixty five day returns. Now available in Canada too That's QU IN cE d. com slash reded handanded for free shipping and three hundred and sixty five day returns. Quint dot com slash red handanded In early nineteen sixty one, Maryland psychiatrist, Dr. Marianne Chris had her hospitalized at the Payne Whitney Clinic in New York City for depression administrative cockup meant she was chucked into a padded cell with the most severe psychotic cases that I ever had I bet none of them actually believed who she was Thank you much I marry M Of course, this was, like most people's Maryilyland's worst nightmare. given especially her mum's history In the end, help came from an unexpected source her ex husband, Joe Dimagio Do you know who I am, Card and yanked Marilyn out of there In nineteen sixty one in March, a newly divorced Marilyn moved back to LA looking for a fresh start She found herself a new therapist, Dr. Ralph Greenson whose unorthodox methods. or controversial even for the early sixties Calling her a waife who was acting out her orphan girl rejections, Dr. Greenson diagnosed that what Marilyn needed was the family she'd never had So he essentially adopted her into his own feels like crossing a line Yeah Marilyn became a regular fixture at the dinner table and spent time with his wife and children alongside their intense psychoanalysis sessions. Critics have slammed Dr. Greenson's unethical conduct as counter transference which is where a doctor projects emotionally onto their patient and blurs therapeutic boundaries, which I to get mildy And if you thought that was all bad enough, there's more Dr. Greenson was also prescribing Marilyn A lot, a lot, a lot of drugs Dr. Greensen shared Marilyn's medical treatment with her GP Ooxer Hyman Engelberg Keeen to prevent Marilyn from pill shopping with different doctors, the two men teamed up in a bid to control her drug use by being her sole source They failed to communicate that plan with each other So what ended up happening was that Marilyn had Double the drugs she had in the first place Some people reckon that Marilyn took over nine hundred pills in just a ninety day period One doctor would give her Nmbutal, a powerful bbituate, and the other would give her chloral hydrate to wean her off, those barbs. And those chemicals don't play nicely with each other In short, Marilyn was necking a potentially lethal cocktail every single day In early nineteen sixty two, Marilyn bought her very first home in the quiet suburb of Brentwood Dror Greenson hired a woman called Eunice Murray to be a housekeeper for Maryland O rather keep tabs on her with some biographers calling her a glorified spy. Meanwhile, Marilyn was shooting a movie called Something's Got too giveive. wasn't going well? Marilyn missed countless shooting days, claiming sickness But the studio felt she was just taking the pits Eespecially when she' skkyed off filming to fly to New York and verbally hump her way through the bars of Happy Birthday to President Kennedy that May Fox sacked Marilyn from the film in June slamming her as mentally disturbed Which like for aart, what is going to market your film more than her singing happappy birthday to the president. I' give her a couple of days to go do it Still, Marilyn was giving tellell all interviews with top magazines to keep her star power burning It seemed as though she wasn't giv up on Tinsel Term without a fight. No, and I think like what everyone Because she tragically dies It wasn't like there was only one Marilyn. Everyone looked like her and like She had to graph to keep it that way, and she did By doing all of these things And that leads us to Saturday the fourth of august, nineteen sixty two Marilyn's last day on Earth Eunice Murray recalled that Marilyn woke up after a poor night sleep at around eight AM and had just a glass of grapefruit juice for breakfast Also, anyone who says that she was si sixteen No, she wasn't is as a someone who has always been quite big I think it sort of gets said like, oh well you don't have to care about siding because Marilyn Monroe was an international sexens when she was size sixteen. No, she wasn't Perhaps the like surprised clothing sizes aren't the same as they are now and Maybe. Some of her clothing was a size sixteen in the forties. To even alllude that it is the same as a size sixteen today is complete insanity, stop doing it Anyway. At around nine AM, photographer Larry Schilling came to show Marilyn some riske snaps that he'd taken on the set of Something's Got to Give in a bid to relaunch her sex symbol status Marilyn didn't eat anything at lunch. And she had an argument with her friend and her PR agent Pat Newcom, who had stayed over the night before. Maryilyland's mental state deteriorated over the afternoon to the point that she summoned Dr. Greenson for a house call Greenson to leave and then conducted a lengthy therapy session leaving at about seven PM with the opinion that Marilyn had calm down a fair bit But still, he was worried enough to ask Eunice Marary to stay over and keep an eye on her From about eight PM, Marilyn spent a while chatting on the phone in her bedroom She spoke to Joe Di Maggio's son and Dr. Greenson Before, actor Peter Lawford, JFK's brother in law, called to check and see if she was coming to his dinner party later that night Maln was slurring her words and sounded out of it. tellelling him, say goodbye to Pat, say goodbye to Jack and say goodbye to yourself Be you're nice guy Worried, Lawford rang Marn's lawyer to ask him to check on her The lawyer called the house's other phone line and spoke to Eunice Murray who shrugged that nothing seemed to miss. Marilyn had Sinatra crrooning on her record player and the telephone cord trailed beneath her closed bedroom door, just like always But here is where things get a bit confusing Essentially, Eunice Mari testified that she woke up at about midnight and noticed the light was still on under Marilyn's door which was unusual and told her something was wrong. Later, she changed her statement to say that that happened at around three thirty AM Whatever time it was, her spidey senses were tingling and she went outside to check on Marilyn through her bedroom window seeeeing her lying face down. and naked in bed Unice called Dr. Greensen, who rushed over and used a poker to break Marilyn's window He summoned Dr. Engelberg to officially pronounce Marilyn dead at about three fifty AM The LAPD were called out at four twenty five AM. And they got there just five minutes later Deputy coroner Thomas Nagooki, who'd later get the nickname of Coner to the Stars Eestimated Marilyn's time of death to be between eight thirty and ten thirty PM based on rigor mortis Her cause of death was ruled as acute barbituate poisoning There were no signs of external trauma And the administration of the fatal overdose was believed to be oral based on the empty bottles at the scene and her known drug habit After reviewing Marilyn's mental health history which included at least three previous attempts to take her own life with sedative drugs The coroner's office ruled the manner of death probable suicide. The evidence pointed to Maryilyn chugging several gulps of Nmbutol solution over a period of just a few minutes. but she surely knew. would lead to our oing While they couldn't state conclusively that it wasn't an accident The authorities were satisfied that there was no foul play or any third parties involved And on the eighth of august nineteen sixty two Marily Monay was laid to rest in a surprisingly quiet funeral. just around thirty mourners present At first, the official narrative of her death rested in peace two. ' not the lot. Do you know who bought the because it's one of those like like a filing cabinet that they have in America, where the caskets go in one or all f Oh yeah, yeah. Do you knowon who bought the one above Maryilyland Someone creepy. Hugh Hefna. Oh my for exactly the reason you're thinking. probablyably been screaming at us this whole episode, but what about the Kennedys They are the elephant in the room. They've already killed me once And I're probably gonna to do it again when I have a look at Bobby, but anyw During her life, Marilyn was no stranger to gossip with one of the most prevalent urban legends being that she was romantically involved with both Jack and Gobby Kennedy Some took Marilyn's Husky birthday seererenade of JFK in may nineteen sixty two as confirmation that they were shagging Although there's no hard evidence placing them in the same room before that. a single party in Palm Springs, the March before Far louder were the whispers that Marilyn was seeing the president's brother RFK was thoseose claims actually corroborated by several people close to Maryland. Even the FBI took an interest in the potential pillow talk At a crisis point in the Cold War The Bay of Pigs invasion. A loose liipped politician could be a serious liability if you believe that the Bay of Pigs was not entirely orchestrated by the CIA, which it was That's accepted fact notot a conspiracy But it is a conspiracy. It's just conspiracy isn't a dirty word when it's the truth. Anyway, the bureau ultimately concluded that the nation's favorite blonde was not a national security risk. evenven if she was banging the atttorney general who was just making Jimmy Hoffer's life more difficult day by day. until he ran off to Cuba. The FBI noted that while Marilyn's views were, positively and concisely leftist, she didn't appear to be actively involved in the communist movement During the Cold War, Mud really did stick and it planted the seed for an even wilder story My dad has lived a pretty crazy and interesting life. Honestly, you wouldn't know it He can be pretty private Sometimes all it takes though, is a memory, and he's off So this Father's Day, I'm getting him an aura frame. It's a digital photo frame that you can preload with unlimited photos So you can tee up some of his best stories and make sure those memories don't just exist in his head. And aura frrames come with free unlimited storage And you can preload as many photos and videos as you want before it even ships So by the time he opens it on Father's Day, it's already chock full of memories And if you download the free aura app, you can share new photos and videos anytime named number one by Wirecutter. You can save now by visiting aurarames. com. For a limited time, listeners can get thirty five dollars off their best selling carver map frame with code red handed. A U R a frames. com prroma code red handed Support the show by mentioning us at checkout Terms and conditions apply Summer always makes me rethink what I'm reaching for in my daily wardrobe Lighter fabrics, better materials, pieces that just feel good the moment you put them on. And that's why I keep coming back to Quintince. They focus on high quality essentials, like breathable linen, soft organic cotton, washable silk Without that luxury price tag Quintince works directly with ethical factories and cuts out the middleman so you're paying for quality instead of pointless brand markups to the great news is that everything at Quintince is priced fifty percent to eighty percent less than similar brands Their lightweight linen sets have been a lifesver for me in these warmer months, and with prices from just thirty two dollars for one hundred percent European linen You honestly can't get wrong. Elevate your summer wardrobe, go to quinint dot com slash red handed For free shipping on your order and three hundred and sixty five day returns. Now available in Canada too That's QU IN cE dot com slash red handanded for free shipping and three hundred and sixty five day returns. Quint dot com slash red handed the nineteen sixties answer to Reddit forums right wing pamphlets In nineteen sixty four PI turned anti communism activist named Frank Capppell publish the first maor conspiracy theory in early fllit entitled the strange death of Marilyn Mon Roe which is just like ip b C of your at the time. For sure So Capball seized upon the potentially murky gap between when Eunice Murray supposedly found Marilyn's body. when the LAPD were actually called There was an hour to a four hour delay which he reckoned proved fertile ground for a potential cover up for what was covered up? Capal had his own agenda at The pamphlet spawned from meetings with police officer Jack Cleens, the first responder at the scene of Maryland's debath and another far right activist named Maurice Rice who wanted to help Kppel down the Lfty Kennedyys Based on gossip, they'd heard about Maryilyn's alleged affair with RFK The trio concocted a narrative where Bobby tried to break it off, and Marilyn threatened to expose explosive secrets that he'd supposedly told her about the Cuban missile crisis Reizing his mistress had become a missile herself Bobby ordered his communist powers to silence Marilyn forever with a good old fashioned murder staged as a suicide blatant political smear campaign. tore open the floodgates of speculation. Oh there's so many issues I think the reason that theories like this get any airtime at all 's because of how we perceive her now. Yes, she was famous But she wasn't an icon when she died. All of that happened after hering. So I can see I can see why Now it seems like Of course, fabulously famous woman shagging Bobby Kennedy has to be to do with Cuba because they're so high profile, but I just I don't think so. I don't I think I think Marilyn killed Marilyn. I don't think she did it on purpose I don't think it is anything to do with the CIA and that is the only time you will ever hear me say that. Yeah. I think that whether she did it on purpose or not I think the amount of drugs she was consuming I'm just like How was this not going to happen at some point There probably wasn't that much to do with the Cuban missile crisis Yes, he was secretly sent off to Turkey to like remove some nukes and nobody found out about that for decades It's not like She just wasn't a threat to anybody, not even Bobby Anyway Thinking that anybody in government In the early sixties gave a shit about what a woman had to say is wild Ten years after Maryilyn's death, famous writer Norman Mayer released a new biography that dropped some massive bombshells, including a claim that the CIA and the FBI were the most likely suspect to have ordered her murder When if they ever work together, first of all, that's a huge hole in that problem? Mailer base this speculation on the idea that BI boss J Edgar Hoover had beef with the Kennedys and he could have used Marilyn to get revenge on them. I'm sure Hoover had Beef with the Kennedys Just no one cared about Marilyn that much, you know Unsurprisingly, because he was lying, Norman Mayler backtracked a lot after the book's publication, waffling on about how the book contained factoids, i. e. speculation that he just pulled out his ar