Marilyn Monroe: The Biography (108 page)

298

She wanted me: Ella Fitzgerald, quoted in Gloria Steinern,
Marilyn
(New York: Henry Holt, 1986), pp. 90–91.

299

He, too, wanted: Michael Korda to DS, June 30, 1992.

299
ff

Background material on the formation of MMP is found in MG (all files and folders) and was also provided by Jay Kanter (MM’s MCA agent in New York from 1955) to DS, April 15, 1992.

300

For a brief outline history of Lew Wasserman’s extraordinarily powerful career, see “Lew!”,
California
, vol. 10, no. 3 (Mar. 1985): 95–144.

300

never had a chance: MG I, 2, p. 3.

302

With us she had: Amy Greene to DS, May 5, 1992.

302

Marilyn seemed to me: Jay Kanter to DS, April 15, 1992.

303

because of their: Irving L. Stein, corporate memorandum dated Feb. 2, 1955, in MG II. Hereinafter, Stein’s corporate memoranda, letters, etc., are designated ILS.

303

We will go:
New York Times
, Jan. 8, 1955;
New York Daily News
, Jan. 8, 1955.

303
–
304

The account of the night at the Copacabana was recalled by Amy Greene to DS, May 5, 1992.

304

It is the damndest: ILS to Aubrey Schenck, Jan. 13, 1955: MG II.

305

You’re looking good: Quoted in Sidney Skolsky’s syndicated column (e.g.,
Hollywood Citizen-News
) for Jan. 12, 1955.

306

It might be fatal: ILS, Jan. 27, 1955: MG II.

306

Get Joe DiMaggio: ILS, Jan. 31, 1955.

306

only while DiMaggio: ILS, Feb. 2, 1955: MG IV.

306

Is this a: Earl Wilson, “Marilyn, Joe Tryst Hints Reconciliation,” syndicated column (e.g.,
Boston Mirror-News
), Jan. 25, 1955.

307

Regarding Marilyn’s ease in wandering the streets of New York if she did not make herself up: this she discussed on Edward R. Murrow’s CBS television show
Person to Person
on April 8, 1955.

307
n
6

Regarding RCA’s promotion for her recordings in
Variety
, see the issue dated Feb. 16, 1955, p. 43.

308

For accounts and histories of Lee Strasberg and the Actors Studio, see Evangeline Morphos, ed.,
Lee Strasberg: A Dream of Passion
(Boston: Little, Brown, 1987); Cindy Adams,
Lee Strasberg: The Imperfect Genius of the Actors Studio
(Garden City: Doubleday, 1980); and Steve Vineberg,
Method Actors
(New York: Schirmer, 1991). Much important information also came to DS in several interviews with Susan Strasberg during 1989, 1990 and the spring and summer of 1992.

309

We were like: Eli Wallach, quoted in Joanne Kaufman, “Studio System,”
Vanity Fair
, vol. 55, no. 11 (November 1992): 238.

309

We were dedicated: Shelley Winters,
ibid
., 272.

309

He sometimes got: Anne Jackson,
ibid
.

309

Lee was enshrined: Kazan, p. 539.

310

It made me: Marlon Brando, quoted in the
New York Times
’s obituary of Lee Strasberg, Feb. 18, 1982, p. D20.

310

Lee-you-should-excuse: Quoted in Adams, p. 3.

311

Crying, after all: Quoted in Viner, p. 109.

311

All this talk: Laurence Olivier, quoted by Basil Langton to DS, May 11, 1990; see also Maurice Zolotow, “The Olivier Method,”
New York Times
, Feb. 7, 1960, sec. 2, p. 1.

312

On Strasberg’s insisting that MM submit to psychoanalysis: Susan Strasberg to DS, June 3 and 10, 1992; see also Susan Strasberg,
Marilyn and Me: Sisters, Rivals, Friends
(New York: Warner Books, 1992), p. 31.

313

Milton did more: Amy Greene to DS, May 5, 1992.

Chapter Fifteen:
February–December 1955

314

I had teachers: MG VI: 4.

315

It seemed to me: ILS, Feb. 28, 1955.

316

My problem is: Her remarks have three sources: Belmont, p. 19; MG III, 3, 17, in notes taken at a meeting with Stein on March 10, 1955; and MM to Susan Strasberg, quoted to DS, June 3, 1992.

317

The incidents and dialogue with the Rostens are recounted in Norman Rosten,
Marilyn: An Untold Story
(New York: Signet/NAL, 1973), pp. 11–12, 27–28.

317

When she came: Norman Rosten, quoted in Kahn, p. 67.

319

and the resulting: Miller, p. 354.

319

It was wonderful: James Kaplan,
art. cit
., 242.

321

It meant a lot: MM on Edward R. Murrow’s CBS-TV show
Person to Person
, April 8, 1955.

321

The circumstances of the Murrow television broadcast are derived from Amy Greene’s account to DS, May 5, 1992; and from a study of the program, preserved in the archives of the Museum of Television and Radio, New York City.

322

Imagine what you: Eve Arnold, on the BBC-TV documentary
Eve and Marilyn
(1987).

323
–
324

For Susan Strasberg’s contributions, see
Marilyn and Me
, pp. 143, 145; also, Strasberg to DS, June 3, 1992.

323

She wore: Stanley Kauffmann, “Album of Marilyn Monroe,”
American Scholar
, vol. 60, no. 4 (autumn 1991): 568.

323
n
1

You have only: Susan Strasberg to DS, June 3, 1992.

324

Sam Shaw’s memories of MM to DS, March 7, 1992.

324

Looking at her: Truman Capote, “An Abbess in High-heeled Shoes,”
People
, Oct. 27, 1980, p. 56.

324

I just felt: The incident with Eli Wallach is recorded in Adams, p. 256.

325

The notes by MM are recorded in MG III, VI, VII, IX, as are the poems on pp. 325–327.

327

My father was: Susan Strasberg to DS, June 3, 1992.

328

Don’t you ever: Quoted in Adams, p. 263.

329

Our household revolved: Strasberg,
Marilyn and Me
, p. 19.

329

it was hard: John Strasberg, quoted in
ibid
., p. 44.

329

When I have problems: Quoted in Adams, p. 258.

330

Oh, no: MM quoted by Gloria Steinem in
Ms
., vol. 1, no. 2 (August 1972): 36.

330

Hi, it’s me: Quoted by Susan Strasberg to DS; also in
Bittersweet
, p. 56.

330

anybody who had: Kim Stanley to John Kobal, p. 699.

330

endeavor to develop: Frank Corsaro, on the 1991 American Masters documentary on the Actors Studio, prod. Chloe Aaron, dir. Dennis Powers for PBS.

330

I know they say: For MM on Kafka, see Tom Hutchinson,
Marilyn Monroe
(New York: Exeter Books, 1982), p. 69.

331

That’s all they’re: Shaw and Rosten, p. 95.

332

We’re just good friends:
New York Journal-American
, June 2, 1955, p. 1;
New York World-Telegram and Sun
, same day; and also the
New York Daily News
, June 2, 1955, p. 4.

332

Marilyn was afraid: Lois Weber Smith, quoted in Allen, pp. 199–200.

332

Marilyn told me: Rupert Allan to DS, Aug. 3, 1991.

332

The supplanting of Milton by Lee was suggested in Dorothy Kilgallen’s column in the
New York Journal-American
on June 28, 1955.

332

How do we: ILS, June 30, 1955: MG IX.

332
ff

For details of MM’s time with the Strasbergs on Manhattan and on Fire Island, and for the nighttime dialogue between MM and their daughter, I am grateful for several interviews with Susan Strasberg during May, June and July 1992.

333

One day she: Amy Greene to DS, May 5, 1992.

334

had a great sense:
Eve and Marilyn
, BBC-TV (1987).

334

She was pleased: John Springer to DS, March 5, 1992.

335

This is the girl: Quoted in Edward Wagenknecht,
Marilyn Monroe: A Composite View
(Philadelphia: Chilton, 1969), p. 47.

336

The dialogue with Gilels is reported by Rosten (pp. 24–25), who was present.

336
ff

Regarding the FBI file on Marilyn Monroe, there are eighty pages declassified, beginning at document number 105-40018-1. Documents dated August 19, 1955, and April 27, 1956, concern MM and her request for a visa and the history of her last two years. They are documents numbered 105-40018. The document containing the FBI’s recording of the item from the London
Daily Worker
is numbered 100-351585-A, dated Aug 15, 1955.

337

I expect our divorce: Joe DiMaggio, on the INS newswire service dated Aug. 21, 1955; see e.g.,
Los Angeles Herald-Examiner
this date.

337

I never should: MM to Amy Greene, quoted to DS, May 5, 1992.

338

You all start: George Axelrod,
Will Success Spoil Rock Hunter?
(New York: Samuel French, 1955), p. 7.

338

I saw: Quoted by George Axelrod to DS, April 22, 1992.

340

I’m beginning to: MM, quoted in Pete Martin, “The New Marilyn Monroe,”
Saturday Evening Post
, May 12, 1956, p. 110.

Chapter Sixteen:
1956

341

There is persuasive:
Time
, Jan. 30, 1956, p. 62.

341

But then she had: Laurence Olivier,
Confessions of an Actor
(New York: Simon & Schuster, 1982), pp. 205–206.

342

The questions and answers at the press conference were widely reported: see, e.g.,
Time
, vol. 67, no. 8 (Feb. 20, 1956): 94 and the
Manchester Guardian
, Feb. 10, 1956 (“Miss Monroe Meets Her Idol: Alliance of Pulchritude and Art”).

343

Shall I take: Josephine DiLorenzo and Theo Wilson, “Marilyn Can Act Too, Sez Olivier,”
New York Daily News
, Feb. 10, 1956, p. 3.

343

The strap breaking: John Moore to DS, Aug. 23, 1992.

343

Before we went: Eve Arnold in the BBC-TV documentary
Eve and Marilyn
(1987).

343

artless: Quoted in Hugo Vickers,
Cecil Beaton
(Boston: Little, Brown, 1985), p. 393.

343

Brooklyn became Nirvana: Sam Shaw to DS, March 7, 1992.

343

heavenly: often, as in Hedda Hopper’s syndicated column for Jan. 24, 1956.

343

There are all: ILS, Jan. 6, 1956: MG IV.

344

Teenage boys: Vincent X. Flaherty, “Will Marilyn Become an Intellectual?”
Los Angeles Examiner
, July 6, 1956, sec. 1, p. 2.

344

America’s best known: Walter Winchell’s radio broadcast of Feb. 12, 1956, recorded as FBI document number 62-31615-966.

344
ff

For an account of Miller’s troubles with the FBI, see Natalie Robins,
Alien Ink
(New York: Morrow, 1992), pp. 310ff.

345

the next stop: Walter Winchell’s broadcast of June 10, 1956, recorded as FBI document number 62-31615-983.

345

Miss Monroe, after: Memo from SAC, Los Angeles, to Director, FBI, dated June 1, 1956, FBI document number 23-100-422103.

346

Regarding the final disposition of MMP shares and control, information is detailed in ILS memoranda throughout October and December 1955, culminating in the memorandum of February 11, 1956.

346

Be conservative: The Wasserman memorandum to Stein was dated Feb. 14, 1956; subsequent calls and correspondence on this matter occur through the twenty-first.

346

Marilyn Monroe, Blonde: Quoted in “The New Marilyn,”
Look
, vol. 20 (May 29, 1956): 73.

347

This was really: Maureen Stapleton to DS, April 22, 1992.

348

I couldn’t see: Quoted in
Redbook
, Feb. 1958, p. 96.

348

very deep: Anna Sten to John Kobal, p. 140.

348

often brilliant: Robert Schneiderman, “Drama teacher remembers Marilyn Monroe,”
Spotlight Chicago
, week of Aug. 4, 1992, p. 6.

349

The press reception at the airport was documented on film and has been included in virtually every documentary on MM: see, e.g., Feldman and Winters, “Beyond the Legend,” and Wolper,
Legend
.

349

For the court appearance of MM, see these newspapers, all dated March 1:
Hollywood Citizen-News; Los Angeles Mirror; Los Angeles Times; Los Angeles Examiner
.

350

She seemed content: Allan Snyder to DS, May 2, 1992.

350

Irving Stein’s statement is from ILS, memorandum dated March 3, 1956: MG VII.

351

In Marilyn’s powerful: JWP/NL II, p. 25.

352

But Marilyn can’t act: Joshua Logan,
Movie Stars, Real People and Me
(New York: Delacorte, 1978), p. 35.

352

I have worked:
Ibid
.

354

she wants to: Milton Greene to ILS, March 17, 1956: MG IV.

354

Like a child: Guy Trebay, “Don Murray,”
Interview
, October 1973, p. 21.

355

Milton seemed to want: William Woodfield to DS, Sept. 20, 1991.

355

surrounded with intrigue: Ezra Goodman,
The Fifty-Year Decline and Fall of Hollywood
(New York: Simon & Schuster, 1961), p. 239.

355

He just kept clicking: George Axelrod to DS, Nov. 6, 1991.

356

I can’t do it: Miller, pp. 379–380.