Marilyn Monroe (30 page)

On 8 April Marilyn appeared on Edward R. Murrow’s television show,
Person to Person,
during which she answered questions with the help of Milton and Amy Greene. Shortly after she was interviewed by Dave Garroway for his radio show, and then by Peer J. Oppenheimer, who was working at the time as editor-in-chief of
Family Weekly,
a Sunday supplement which is now
USA Weekend.
He met Marilyn on several occasions, but the first was in 1955, while she was living at the Waldorf Towers. He remembered: ‘I took her out to dinner for a story in “Family Weekly”. I found her totally helpless in the presence of a man. I was willing to do anything for her although I had a slight suspicion that maybe it was partly an act. Nevertheless, she gave a great interview. While there were hundreds of people I interviewed for “Family Weekly”, and later for a television series I created and produced for NBC, the two hours with her were the most memorable I spent with a star.’

But one thing Marilyn wouldn’t have discussed was her decision to begin taking therapy with Milton Greene’s ex-therapist, Margaret Hohenberg, which led her further down the road of psychoanalysis. She declared Freud her hero, but due to the technique of continually going back to childhood problems and situations, the therapy sessions were not easy for her. ‘It is the biggest waste of anyone’s time to keep looking back,’ she said in 1953, but by 1955 she was willing to give it a try, though time would tell if it was doing her any good at all.

One friend who disliked both the journey into psychoanalysis and the Strasbergs was Arthur Miller, to whom Marilyn had
been reintroduced in 1955. Although he was still married to his wife, Mary, he began to fall in love with the actress, and the two spent many stolen hours together in her apartment at the Waldorf Towers.

Obviously Marilyn was keen to play down any talk of a romance between Miller and herself, and probably didn’t worry when rumours began circulating that she was secretly dating Actors Studio actor, Eli Wallach. Stefan Gierasch once witnessed the two actors together: ‘I followed her up Broadway, while she was walking with Eli Wallach. She had grease on her face and was dressed down, but everyone still recognized her. Everyone always wondered if she was dating Eli, but they never knew for sure.’

The rumours reached the newspapers and also Eli’s wife, Anne Jackson, but after persuading her that he was merely a stand-in for real-life boyfriend, Arthur Miller, Anne laughed at the stories and the four became friends.

Another friend at this time was Norman Rosten, who knew Arthur Miller and was introduced to Marilyn through her friend, photographer Sam Shaw. They first met on a rainy afternoon when Shaw took her to dry out at the home Rosten shared with his wife, Hedda, and his daughter, Patricia. Wearing no make-up and wet through, Marilyn was completely unrecognizable and by the time the Rostens finally realized they had Marilyn Monroe sitting in their living room, they had accepted her as a person, not a superstar, and a lifelong friendship soon developed.

However, her relationship with the Rostens was not always an easy one: she would call in the middle of the night, giving bulletins on the health of her pregnant cat; or ask if anyone wanted to meet up for coffee. Then during one visit to the beach, she almost got herself and Norman drowned when fans clambered around them, forcing the couple to go deeper and deeper into the sea, until a passing boat was able to save them from a grizzly end.

Another trip to the beach – this time with Milton Greene – was slightly more light-hearted, as described by John Thorndike, son
of Joe Thorndike, the managing editor of
Life
magazine: ‘My father had long been friends with Milton Greene . . . Marilyn was spending the weekend in Connecticut with Milton and his wife, and mentioned to them that she wanted to try out the new sport of waterskiing, so Milton called my dad. We lived on Long Island and had a little boat, though the motor was barely strong enough to pull a skinny twelve-year-old out of the water. I was twelve and, disastrously, had gone off with a friend for the day, but Dad knew someone with a bigger boat. Charlie Goit leapt at the chance, and Milton, Marilyn and a small retinue drove over to our place . . . All I really know is that someone had to get into the chest-deep water with Marilyn and help with her skis and keep her from tipping over until the line drew taut. And that was my father.

‘Up she surged, then crashed. Charlie circled around, Dad held Marilyn, and off she went again. On the third try she skied for a hundred yards, and Charlie got to haul her into the boat. But when I came home that evening the detail I heard from friends, neighbours and family, over and over, was how Charlie had to drive while my father stood in the water with his arms around Marilyn Monroe. I think everyone liked the irony of that, because Charlie was kind of lascivious, and my father more of a gentleman.’

Long Island was also where Norman Rosten had a home, and Marilyn would often visit at weekends, helping to cook, playing badminton and walking in the woods with the cat. The friendship was also extended to the Rostens’ daughter, Patricia, who was thrilled when she found herself amidst Marilyn’s make-up, several years later: ‘She plunked me down at her vanity mirror and said that since I was so intrigued by the art of make-up, she would show me how to do the job right.’

Twenty minutes later the job was finished, and Marilyn then showed Patricia off to the Rostens, proud of her handiwork on their daughter. Patricia wasn’t the only one to experience Marilyn’s affinity with young people; Lee Strasberg’s daughter, Susan, became close to her, and Sam Shaw’s daughters, Meta
and Edith, were friends too. For Edith, who shared a birthday with the actress, Marilyn was just a friend of her parents, not a celebrity, and on one occasion, she even accompanied her to the circus as a celebration of their joint birthday.

Halfway through their big-top excursion, somebody in the crowd recognized Marilyn, but she was adamant that nothing was going to interfere with the birthday trip. She denied her identity, pretended to be someone else, then took Edith to get some cotton candy. ‘As we went down the escalator,’ remembered Edith, ‘Marilyn turned to me and said in quite a soft voice, “When you talk to me, don’t call me by my name. Say: Hey you, Hey there, or Haystack.” She laughed. I thought she was so funny and I will always remember these words to me.’

Meanwhile, Marilyn continued her acting lessons, attending private sessions with Strasberg and observing studio classes five times a week. She worked hard but found the lessons challenging, as often her mind was elsewhere, and that made it difficult to concentrate. She also found the regular Marilyn Monroe Productions meetings taxing, as witnessed by a friend who saw her getting ‘pretty bored after a while. It’s hard to keep her attention after an hour, even on matters that concern her vitally. She sort of stops listening and stops absorbing.’

Despite having moved across country to begin a new life, Marilyn still kept in touch with Joe DiMaggio, who was even now hoping to win his ex-wife back. He kept a journal during 1955, in which he wrote notes to himself to stop being jealous and try to be patient. He knew his behaviour in the past had made Marilyn unhappy, and was determined to make it up to her; he spoke to her on the telephone, sent her letters and telegrams, and they met occasionally when he was in New York.

Marilyn even found time to travel to Boston with Joe in late January 1955, and he accompanied her to the premiere of
The Seven Year Itch
in June. His hopes were definitely raised but he was confused by her signals; when asked if they had reconciled, he answered, ‘I couldn’t answer that question if I wanted to, or even if I had the answer. Marilyn is the only person who can do
that.’ But his hopes were dashed when Marilyn was asked the same question in front of him, ‘No,’ she answered, ‘Let’s just call it a visit.’

In early August 1955, Arthur Miller went to Cape Cod with his family and the cast and crew of
A View from the Bridge,
while Marilyn travelled to Bement, where she was to take part in the town’s centennial celebrations. Although feeling the effects of a kidney complaint and limping as a result, Marilyn travelled with photographer Eve Arnold, who was to record the event for posterity. It has been said that Marilyn was tricked into thinking the event would purely be about Abraham Lincoln and had no idea she would have to perform duties such as judging a beard contest, but this is not true. Before she left New York, she told reporters that she was ‘going to Bement to see the lovely men with the beards; they are so powerful and masterful.’

As well as giving a speech on her idol Abraham Lincoln, Marilyn also travelled to a local nursing home where she met the eldest resident, 100-year-old Clara. Albert Winer’s mother was proprietor of the residence, and he took great pleasure in meeting Marilyn. He remembered: ‘I thought Marilyn was a very beautiful lady. She had an injured ankle and was hobbling around – walking with a noticeable limp – but seemed happy to be there; enjoyed being there.’

Back in New York, Marilyn was becoming an avid fan of Arthur Miller’s work, and attended three performances of
A View from the Bridge.
The press picked up on her new-found interest, but to try and quash any unwanted attention, after a performance on 29 September she went to the El Morocco with composer Harold Arlen. She was also rumoured to be dating Marlon Brando, but in reality she was very much involved with Miller, and by October, his marriage had finally imploded. He moved into a hotel just as Marilyn received her final divorce from Joe DiMaggio and moved into an apartment at 2 Sutton Place. There both Marilyn and Arthur spent many evenings together, looking out over the city and planning their future.

But Miller wasn’t the only one who had developed a relationship with Marilyn in 1955. During the course of the year she built up a unique friendship with her fans, particularly seven eager teenagers who would wait each day outside her hotel. Six of the fans were nicknamed ‘The Monroe Six’, while the seventh fan may never have been an official member of the group, but did enjoy a close friendship with Marilyn that lasted until her death in 1962. James Haspiel was so close to Marilyn that the two would share taxis, drink coffee and otherwise ‘hang out’. He took photos of her that were later compiled into a book,
The Ultimate Marilyn,
and took delight in documenting her going about her normal life. But he was not the only fan to be allowed to do this: Peter Mangone spent much of winter 1955 outside Marilyn’s hotel, and she even agreed to let him film her while she went shopping. She welcomed the attention, although from time to time she was known to wear disguises in order to maintain some kind of anonymity.

During her days off, Marilyn was unconcerned with her physical appearance and would go round town with no make-up and sloppy clothes, and never be recognized. ‘A pretty girl like you doesn’t have to wear a lot of make-up like Marilyn Monroe,’ she was amused to hear from an unsuspecting taxi-driver.

Meanwhile her hairdresser at the time, Julius Caruso, complained that after hours spent fixing her hair, she would mess it up the moment he’d finished. But when Norma Jeane felt like ‘being Marilyn’, it was all hands on deck, as stylist George Masters found out when he was assigned to work on her face and hair, later in her life.

Describing her as ‘the biggest egomaniac I ever worked with,’ Masters complained that it took her up to eight hours to get ready for a night out, and he would spend the first couple of hours trying to get her out of bed or away from sipping champagne and listening to Sinatra. If she was in a bad mood, she would splash water on her face so that he would be forced to start again, or would jump into the bath, completely ruining his work. Masters also claimed that she became upset when
someone mistook the fair-haired Masters for her brother and asked him to dye his hair black. Masters resisted her wishes, eventually dying her hair a lighter shade than his to try and keep the peace.

On 31 December 1955, the year-long feud between actress and studio was resolved when Fox executives announced that they had given Marilyn a new contract. It called for her to make four movies for them over the next seven years, but gave her both director approval and the opportunity of appearing in outside movies, television programmes and plays. At a time when the studio system was still very much in force, the contract was remarkable and paved the way for other actors and actresses to gain more independence too.

Of her new contract, Marilyn admitted that it was a compromise on both sides; ‘I do not have story approval, but I do have director approval. That’s important. I have certain directors I’ll work for and I trust in them and will do about anything they say. I know they won’t let me do a bad story.’

On 9 February, Marilyn and Laurence Olivier held a press conference at the Plaza hotel to announce their joint project,
The Sleeping Prince
(which was later retitled
The Prince and the Showgirl),
the first film to be made by Marilyn Monroe Productions. The relationship began on a positive note, with Marilyn impressing Olivier so much that he feared he would fall in love with her, but his opinion soon changed. He had played opposite his wife Vivien Leigh in the stage version of the play, and Marilyn became concerned when it was announced that he intended to direct the film as well as star. She feared that their techniques would clash and she was proved right when production began in July 1956.

But back in February 1956 Marilyn had other things on her mind when she invested money into
Mr Johnson,
a play written by her friend Norman Rosten and starring Earle Hyman, who later went on to star opposite Bill Cosby in
The Cosby Show.
‘She probably lost the money,’ remembered Hyman, ‘because the play was not a success financially – it only ran six weeks.
But it was a success for me because I was able to join the Actors Studio because of my performance.’

The first time Marilyn saw Hyman in class, she greeted him warmly, and he found her, ‘Extraordinarily beautiful in a way that was never fully captured on screen. She was an extraordinary actress. She sat at the back, wearing black slacks and a mink coat, and exuded an incredible light. Even if it wasn’t Marilyn, people would have still wondered who she was.’