The Mammoth Book of Celebrity Murders (20 page)

It is virtually impossible to guess whether or not he did indeed have one final meeting with his former lover, as Robert too is dead. He was assassinated in June 1968; struck by a gunshot wound
to the head in the Ambassador Hotel in Los Angeles. He had just given a speech after winning the California primary election for his campaign for the Democratic presidential nomination. His
assassin was named as Sirhan Bishara Sirhan, a Jordanian Arab.

It was believed that after Bobby had left Marilyn, she rang her good friend Peter Lawford for a shoulder to cry on and even talked of taking her life, but Peter must not have considered her to
be serious, as he didn’t think it necessary to make the journey to visit her. He probably put it down to a cry for attention.

To add even more confusion to the debate, it was heavily suggested that Marilyn’s home was being bugged. One theory was that she was being watched by the Mafia, namely by Jimmy Hoffa. He
would have gained much if he could collect information from Marilyn, which he could then use to bribe the Attorney General. Another group who could well have been interested in the goings-on of the
lover of the Kennedy brothers was the CIA, who may well have considered her a security risk. Lastly was the Federal Bureau of Investigation – the FBI. John Edgar Hoover was just as keen as
the next to keep abreast of any situation involving the Kennedys and indeed the Mafia.

It is anybody’s guess who would have ordered the termination of Marilyn Monroe, or indeed if anybody did: but owing to the fact that Mrs Murray lived, not necessarily to tell the tale, she
must not have been aware of all the facts of the evening. She was obviously well cautioned as to what the implications would be if she ever gave too much away, and she never did give a satisfactory
account of her employer’s death. It is suspected that she came across Marilyn in a terrible state and then decided to call her close friend Peter Lawford, which was why he was involved in
getting Marilyn to hospital – although, with her dying shortly afterwards, Lawford was desperate to get her back home. He was worried that her suspicious death might have bad implications for
his brother-in-law and obviously wanted her to be “discovered” serenely in her own bed, after dying in her sleep. He might well have wanted extra time to get his story straight before
having to call the police. In the end, he must have decided to leave the scene, after removing private documents in order to protect his friend. He left Mrs Murray to wash Marilyn’s
nightclothes and bedlinen; possibly if she had been given an overdose by way of an enema, her night-ware and sheets might have been soiled.

The scene was then left for the police to pick through, which they did, but they came to unsatisfactory conclusions. The press were not missing the point and wanted answers for readers.

When Marilyn died, she was one of the most famous women who had ever lived but she had been brought into the world in totally unexceptional circumstances. She had been born to single parent
Gladys Baker on 1 June 1926 in Los Angeles General Hospital. Her father was listed on her birth certificate as Edward Mortenson, although Marilyn never knew him and was never sure if he was her
father or not. Gladys had apparently been married to a Martin E. Mortenson a couple of years before Marilyn’s birth, but it was thought that this Norwegian baker had died in 1929 in a motor
accident. However, this information cannot be confirmed as definite.

Gladys suffered throughout her life with mental health problems and, as she was unmarried at the time of her daughter’s birth, the baby was taken into foster care. She was placed with Mr
Albert and Mrs Ida Bolender and lived with them until she was seven years old. She had a strict early upbringing, as the Bolenders were quite religious, and Marilyn later recalled that they brought
her up quite austerely.

By the time Marilyn had reached her seventh birthday, her mother was coping well and was able to take up full-time responsibility for her daughter. Sadly this was short-lived and soon Gladys was
readmitted to a mental hospital for treatment in Santa Monica, after a seemingly vicious attack on one of her friends. Marilyn spent the remainder of her childhood between various foster homes. She
spent over a year living in the Los Angeles Orphans’ Home, returned to foster care and then was appointed to legal guardian, Grace McKee. Marilyn lived happily with Grace for around four
years, until Grace had the offer of marriage and moved away. Not really wanting to take her teenage charge with her, Grace took on the role of matchmaker and encouraged the 16-year-old Marilyn to
marry one of her neighbour’s sons, 21-year-old Jim Dougherty.

After a whirlwind “romance” the two were married on 19 June 1942. Marilyn later admitted that Grace had arranged the marriage and that she felt that she had no choice but to marry
Jim. But the pair were not together long before Jim joined the Merchant Marines and was soon sent overseas. He left Marilyn behind and she found work at a local factory called Radio Plane, where
she had the job of inspecting parachutes. Marilyn managed to have the odd weekend with her husband when he was on leave. It was while she was at work that she caught the attention of an army
photographer, Private David Conover. He had visited the factory to take pictures of attractive girls to send on to the troops to help boost morale.

Conover didn’t take long to realize that Marilyn was special, and after photographing her on the assembly lines, in her overalls, he asked her if she would like to earn extra money as his
model.

Her modelling success was speedy and she found herself on the cover of various magazines; her job in the factory was quickly left behind. She found herself on a number of modelling assignments
and thoroughly enjoyed the experience. When Jim came back from the Pacific for his leave, the pair had little in common. The marriage was doomed and ended in late 1946.

Marilyn had already signed a contract with Twentieth-Century Fox Studios, and had changed her name to Marilyn Monroe. Monroe was her mother’s family name – her grandmother was Della
Monroe, who died at the age of 51 in an asylum. Her grandfather, Otis, also died in an institution with a form of insanity.

Marilyn’s acting career was underway and she went on to star in over 20 movies; she was to become a household name and a massive Hollywood star. Her early roles were, as you would imagine,
small bit parts, but the young actress would dominate the screen whenever she walked on and was soon to take the starring role.

In 1952 she met her next husband, Joe DiMaggio, who had recently retired from baseball. He was 12 years older than the 25-year-old actress, but this was not to stop the pair from forming a close
relationship. After Marilyn had finished filming
Monkey Business
, she flew straight to New York to spend time with him.

It wasn’t long before Marilyn was back on location, this time to film the brilliant
Niagara
, which was renowned for its amazing scenes and of course its beautiful blonde star.

There were rumours that, while Marilyn was filming
Niagara
, she rekindled an old friendship with Robert Slatzer, a writer and reporter. No firm evidence exists, but Slatzer claimed that
he and Marilyn crossed the Mexican border and were married on 4 October 1952. If this is true, all records were quickly destroyed, as the famously jealous Joe DiMaggio wasted no time in confronting
the pair and the whole thing was hushed up. This was also to the relief of the studio bosses, who were not keen for their most famous star to be dragged through the gutter press.

At the end of the year Marilyn was back on set. This time she was starring alongside Jane Russell in
Gentlemen Prefer Blondes
. The two became good friends, and in the summer of the
following year they were invited to Hollywood Boulevard where they made imprints of their hands and feet and signed them; the imprints were left to dry and were displayed on the sidewalk.

Joe and Marilyn finally tied the knot on 14 January 1954 at the City Hall, San Francisco. The marriage was presided over by Judge Charles Perry. There were no friends or members of
Marilyn’s family present at the ceremony; the only guests were the witnesses, Frank “Lefty” O’Doul, one of Joe’s old friends from his baseball days, and Reno
Barsochinni, Joe’s best man and friend. If Joe was hoping for a quiet wedding, he was to be disappointed as Marilyn spent her last couple minutes of singledom calling her media contacts, to
enable them to spread the word that she was about to become Mrs DiMaggio. Joe presented Marilyn with a beautiful diamond-encrusted wedding ring, and the couple were declared man and wife. Marilyn
signed the register as Norma Jeane Mortenson Dougherty.

By the time the couple emerged from the City Hall as Mr and Mrs DiMaggio, they were greeted by a crowd of hundreds, all wanting the first photograph of the happy couple. After a few short
interviews, the pair left for their honeymoon and were not seen for two weeks – quite a feat for Marilyn.

The couple appeared to have different ideas of what married life would entail. Marilyn was hoping to continue with her acting career, but with the stability and protection offered by her new
husband. Joe, on the other hand, was looking for a wife to be his partner and his other half; he was expecting Marilyn to tail off her acting work and spend more time with him.

He was soon to be put straight. When they visited Japan for an extension to their honeymoon, they were mobbed, and he was soon aware that whether he liked it or not Marilyn was going to carry on
being a hot commodity. This was to cause a great strain between the newly married pair and was a constant cause of arguments. Joe was intensely upset when Marilyn performed before several thousand
American troops in Korea. She sang several songs, including
Diamonds Are a Girl’s Best Friend
, and the audience went wild. She thoroughly enjoyed the experience of being adored by so
many, much to the irritation of her new husband.

At the end of May, Marilyn began filming
There’s No Business Like Show Business
, but her performance was constantly interrupted by her medical problems. She was poorly throughout
the summer with anaemia and bronchitis. Some put this down to her chronic use of sleeping pills, and she was described as being very tearful and lethargic as well as having difficulty in
remembering her lines.

By mid-September she was well enough to be photographed while promoting her recently completed movie
The Seven Year Itch
. Outside the Trans-Lux Theater in New York City, in the early
hours of the morning, with an astonishing over 2-000-strong audience of camera crews, media reporters and fans, she performed her world-famous “skirt blowing” scene. To her credit, the
shoot was a total success. The triumphant Marilyn didn’t ignore her fans and stayed for several hours to pose for photographs and sign autographs.

None of this publicity went down well with her husband, and the marriage was well and truly on the rocks. By October the marriage was declared over and the couple were soon divorced.

Within a year, Marilyn was involved in another romance which was to lead to marriage. Her new beau was Arthur Miller. Again an older man, he was just what Marilyn needed to get her life on
track. He was much quieter then her previous husband and was a steadying influence on her. Some would say that this was an unusual match, but the mix of the intellectual playwright and the blonde
bombshell somehow seemed to work.

In February, Marilyn returned to Hollywood to shoot her role in the movie
Bus Stop
. As soon as filming was completed, she returned to Miller in New York and they were married on 29 June
1956. Amazingly they were together for over four and a half years. When Marilyn wasn’t away shooting a movie, the couple lived in either their farm in Connecticut or their apartment in New
York on East 57th Street.

When
Bus Stop
was released, Marilyn was highly praised for her comic talent, her sense of timing and brilliantly conceived sensitivity. She was triumphant, but also exhausted and was
ready for a break.

The couple rented a house at Long Island, where they spent weeks relaxing and Miller was able to complete his play
The Misfits
. Five years later, this play would be turned into a
screenplay, the last movie that Marilyn would make. This holiday was described by Marilyn as one of the happiest times of her life. The couple were able to chill out and, in relative anonymity,
spent time together like any other married couple, but this bliss was short-lived as Marilyn became pregnant. Initially, the couple were elated – until they discovered that the pregnancy was
ectopic and had to be removed surgically. Marilyn was distraught, and suffered from chronic insomnia, seeking solace in sleeping tablets. This could have been the turning point for Marilyn, who now
appeared to be on a downward spiral.

By 1958, she was back in Hollywood, filming
Some Like It Hot
with Tony Curtis and Jack Lemmon. Due to her deteriorating health, she was invariably late arriving on set. She also had
difficulty in remembering her lines, and her marriage was starting to show cracks. Like the true star that she was, Marilyn managed to pull the cat out of the bag and came up with the goods; again
the film was a hit.

By 1960 Marilyn was seeing Dr Greenson on a regular basis. He frequently prescribed her tranquillizers and barbiturates. She was about to embark on filming
The Misfits
, but due to her
poor health she was once again irritating her fellow actors. She was to keep her leading man, Clark Gable, waiting around on set for hours. She was constantly late on set, and was still unable to
remember her lines – if indeed she had tried to learn them in the first place.

Miller was also on location, but by now they were hardly speaking and were living in separate quarters. By 4 November, thankfully, the filming was completed and everybody breathed a sigh of
relief. Despite numerous problems during the shooting, they had managed to produce another success. Unfortunately, the following day Clark Gable suffered a heart attack and died on 16 November.
Marilyn blamed herself; she thought the stress she had put him under had contributed to his condition. This then pushed her deeper into despair.