Marilyn Monroe: The Biography (101 page)

Chapter One:
To June 1926

3

neat as a pin: MG X,3.

5

to pray for: Quoted by Gladys Monroe in a letter to MM: MG2 III, 2; cf. also RT 16.

5

Mama liked men: MG2 X, 3.

5

failure to provide: Divorce petition of Della Monroe Graves vs. Lyle Arthur Graves, Superior Court of Los Angeles County, Petition #B-8426.

8

extreme cruelty: Divorce petition, Baker vs. Baker: Superior Court of Los Angeles County, Petition #D-10379.

10

She was a birdlike: Olin G. Stanley to RT, Oct. 12, 1982.

12

For the Martin Mortensen—Gladys Baker marriage, see California State Board of Health, Bureau of Vital Statistics, register no. 13794.

12

wilfully and without: Divorce claim of Mortensen vs. Baker, File #053720, in and for the County of Los Angeles in the Superior Court of the State of California.

12

I sure would like: Olin G. Stanley to RT, no date.

13

shamelessly boasted: Gifford vs. Gifford, Divorce Petition #D-24788, Superior Court of the State of California.

Chapter Two:
June 1926–June 1934

16
n
2

were themselves children: See A. J. Simon,
The Nervous Child
(1944), vol. 3, p. 119; and W. H. Newell in
The American Journal of Orthopsychiatry
, vol. 4 (1934), p. 387, and vol. 6 (1936), p. 576.

17

I was probably: Quoted in MG2 IV, 8, p. 12; cf. also Guus Luitjers,
In Her Own Words: Marilyn Monroe
(London: Omnibus, 1991), p. 28.

18

for no reason: Ida Bolender, in the David L. Wolper Productions, Inc., film documentary,
The Legend of Marilyn Monroe
(1964). Hereinafter indicated as Wolper,
Legend
.

18
–
19

Medical files of Della M. Monroe: Norwalk State Hospital, Nowalk, California: Record #5093; Death Certificate #4081, Registry No. 132.

18

contributory manic depressive:
Ibid
.

19

Despite all the: James E. Dougherty,
The Secret Happiness of Marilyn Monroe
(Chicago: Playboy Press, 1976), p. 9; also, Dougherty to DS, June 20, 1992.

20

Her mother paid: Quoted in Ezra Goodman,
The Fifty-Year Decline and Fall of Hollywood
(New York: Simon & Schuster, 1961), p. 225.

20

One morning: MM, quoted in Wolper,
Legend
. Also to MG2 II, 6, p. 4.

20

she discussed her father: Rupert Allan to DS, Aug. 17, 1992.

20

She didn’t come: Georges Belmont, interview with MM originally conducted for the French magazine
Marie Claire
, published in 1960 and reprinted in
Marilyn and the Camera Eye
(Boston: Bulfinch/Little, Brown, 1989), p. 14. Hereinafter cited as Belmont.

21

To go to: “Hollywood’s Topic A-Plus,”
Life
, vol. 32, no. 14 (April 7, 1952): 104.

21

no one ever: Quoted in
People
, vol. 18, no. 6 (Aug. 9, 1982): 44. This statement recurs frequently in MM’s notes in MG2, I and II.

21

We took her: Ida Bolender, in Wolper,
Legend
.

21

Every night: Robert L. Heilbroner, “Marilyn Monroe,”
Cosmopolitan
, vol. 153, no. 5 (May 1953): 40.

21

I always felt: Maurice Zolotow,
Marilyn Monroe
(reprint of the 1960 original, New York: Harper/Perennial, 1990), p. 21. Hereinafter cited as Zolotow.

22

They were terribly: Belmont, p. 14.

23

It was hard: Quoted by MM in MG2 II, 6, p. 5.

24

I dreamed: Often attributed to MM—e.g., “To Aristophanes & Back,”
Time
, vol. 67, no. 20 (May 14, 1956): 74.

24

You could have: Quoted by MM in MG2 II, 6, p. 6.

25

We all had: Robert Cahn, “The 1951 Model Blonde,”
Collier’s
, Sept. 8, 1951, p. 50.

25

I loved playing: Margaret Parton, “A Revealing Last Interview with Marilyn Monroe,” first published in
Look
, Feb. 19, 1979, p. 26.

27

a people well: Christopher Rand,
Los Angeles: The Ultimate City
(New York: Oxford University Press, 1967), p. 135.

28

Life became: Belmont, p. 14.

29

Aunt Ida: Belmont, p. 14. Cf. also
Time, art. cit
., p. 76.

30

There’s
a movie star: Quoted by MM in MG2 II, 5, p. 7.

30

Jean Harlow: See Belmont, pp. 14, 17.

30

There I’d sit: MM in
Life
, vol. 53, no. 5 (Aug. 3, 1962): 33.

31

For an account of Tilford Marion Hogan’s death, see the
Laclede
(Missouri)
Blade
, June 2, 1933; cf. also File #17075, Missouri State Board of Health, for the death certificate.

32

This doctor prescribed: Eleanor Goddard to DS, Feb. 21, 1992.

33

reality: Gladys Monroe, medical report from Los Angeles General Hospital dated October 1934: “Mrs. Monroe [
sic
] visited her family four days, returning of her own will in an agitated state. Referred by Dr. Fellowes to Dr. . . .” This is the only decipherable portion of the record, torn and yellowed, and was preserved by MM in MG2 VIII, 4, p. 1.

34

Grace loved: Zolotow, p. 18.

34
–
35

Grace Goddard was nice: James Dougherty to RT, in RT 47.

35

We workers: Olin Stanley to RT, 1982.

36

It was just: Charlotte Engleburg to RT, n.d.

36

Grace was captivated: MG2 IV, 4, p. 25.

Chapter Three:
June 1934–November 1937

38

there wasn’t anyone: Quoted in Eve Golden,
Platinum Girl: The Life and Legends of Jean Harlow
(New York: Abbeville Press, 1991), p. 230. O’Sullivan repeated identical remarks on the 1992 Turner Network Television miniseries
When the Lion Roars
, a history of MGM. MGM film editor Margaret Booth was among several who enthusiastically agreed.

38

There’s no reason: Quoted by MM in MG2 XII, 2, p. 24.

40

Her illnesses: File of Gladys Monroe Baker from Los Angeles General Hospital, 1935; IMP.

40

I was sorry: “To Aristophanes & Back” (
art. cit
. in
Time
), p. 76.

41

You can imagine: MG2 III, 3.

43

Norma Jeane was: Jody Lawrance, quoted in Ezra Goodman,
The Fifty-Year Decline and Fall of Hollywood
(New York: Simon & Schuster, 1961), p. 227.

44

Doc had a: James Dougherty to DS, June 20, 1992.

44

slept in: Belmont, p. 15.

44

a normal, healthy: Portion of a record of the Los Angeles Orphans Home retained by MM, filed in MG2 IV, 3 (undated, unpaginated).

44
–
45

MM’s many dramatic accounts of the orphanage persisted to days before her death: cf.
Life
, vol. 53, no. 5 (Aug. 3, 1962): 38.

45

the man: Many times from 1949 to 1962, e.g., to her publicist Rupert Allan, among others.

45

fix things: MG2 XI, 2, p. 8.

45

trying to fit: MM, in Wolper,
Legend
.

46

made their appearance:
New York Times
, June 8, 1937, pp. 1 and 30.

46

Time after time: MM to BH, folder 12.

46
–
47

Grace’s expense records were preserved by MM and were later discovered by RT, from whom DS received them.

47

she was able: Arthur Miller,
Timebends
(New York: Grove Press, 1987), p. 9.

47

I was never used:
Life, art. cit
., p. 38.

47

anxious and withdrawn: Los Angeles Orphans Home: February 20, 1937, report in the file of Norma Jeane Baker, retained in MG2 IV, 2. The signature is illegible.

47

I sometimes told: MM in MG2 IX, 22, p. 4.

48

went up:
Ibid
.

48

I suddenly stopped: MG2 III, 6, unpaginated.

49

You have:
Ibid
. MM recited this anecdote with variations: in some citations (e.g., Belmont, p. 15) the cosmetic job that day was Mrs. Dewey’s idea.

49

This girl:
New York Times, art. cit
., p. 30

49

She added little:
Ibid
.

49

The incident of Doc’s molestation was recounted to DS by Dougherty, April 22, 1992.