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Born Norma
Jeane Mortenson on June 1, 1926, to Gladys Monroe
and Edward Mortenson,
she never knew her father. She was placed in a foster
home with Albert and Ida Baloney until she was 7, then
returned to her mother. Until the following year, when
her mother was admitted to a mental home for depression. Norma Jean was taken
in by her mother's friend, Grace McKee. Grace married Erwin
Goddard, who Norma Jean accused of attempting to rape her.
"She
used to come by the house with Beebe Goddard from high school.
They had quite a ways to walk. So I would drive them home.
... She was going to have to go back to the orphanage because
Doc Goddard and Grace Goddard were moving to Virginia. His
company was transferring him. And grace talked to my mother
and asked if I would like to marry Norma Jean. I had taken
her to a dance before, and I realized she was a big girl
for 15 or 16. And she was -- she was a sweetheart. " Jim
Dougherty
Grace and Erwin arranged
a marriage in June 1942 between Norma Jean, 16, and Jim
Dougherty, 21 that lasted 4 years. They divorced in September
of '46.
"She became
a movie actress. ... She wanted to live together and maintain
a relationship, and I told her, no, that I wanted a family.
And I said good-bye to her on the porch of Aunt Anna's.
And that's when she told me that her name was going to
be Marilyn Monroe. ... It's a shame that she had to give
up half her life for that fame. .. I loved her. I was very
much in love with Norma Jean. " Jim
Dougherty
To
Norma Jeane with Love, Jimmie by Jim Dougherty,
Lc Van Savage The marriage of Jim Dougherty
and Norma Jeane Baker before Hollywood. It's a view of
a girl married at 16, in love with her husband, Jim Dougherty.
This book will give you a different perspective on Hollywood
stardom. Dozens of photographs.
Monroe was uneducated
but savvy. Monroe wasn't stupid, helpless or victimized by
fame. She loved being a celebrity.
She was in the first
issue of "Playboy."
Joe
DiMaggio, her greatest sex partner, upset her after he
became enraged over the "The Seven
Year Itch" (1955) VHS - DVD sheer
panty-flashing shoot that went on for many hours, while Marilyn
was obviously basking in the attention of the crowd cheering
her on. According to reporter and close friend of Marilyn's,
James Bacon, DiMaggio beat her up that night.
There were many
connections to Nevada during her short life, beginning
with the divorce in Las Vegas in September 1946 from first
husband James Dougherty at age 20, to her last visit to Frank
Sinatra's lavish, new Cal-Nevada Lodge at Crystal Bay, Lake
Tahoe, with actor Peter Lawford in July 1962.
In
the last interview before her death, Marilyn pleaded
unsuccessfully with a reporter to end his article like this: "What
I really want to say: That what the world really needs is
a real feeling of kinship. Everybody: stars, laborers, Negroes,
Jews, Arabs. We are all brothers. Please don't make me a
joke. End the interview with what I believe". The media always
ignored what Marilyn Monroe really believed.
Norma Jean Baker, Marilyn
Monroe, was
found dead in her Brentwood home from an overdose of sleeping
pills on August 5, 1962, by her housekeeper, Eunice Murray. She
was nude, atop her telephone on her bed. But signs of barbiturate
overdose were absent. The last person to see Marilyn alive was
her doctor, or the housekeeper. Controversy surrounds
her August 4, 1962 death. Many believe her affairs with Bobby
and John Kennedy meant she "knew too much." She
loved Jack Kennedy very much. The only time Robert Kennedy came
to see her was to talk her out of seeing Jack because it had
been a scandal. Learn more about America's
Kennedy family. Who was Lee
Harvey Oswald?
"Well, she
was drinking fairly heavy. And she had champagne and vodka,
drinking vodka straight on the rocks. And then she'd pop
pills. And I said, Marilyn, the combination will kill you.
She says, It hasn't killed me yet, and took another drink.
... " -- James
Bacon, close friend and only reporter who got into her bungalow
the night she died
Interviews
with Marilyn's first husband, Jimmie Dougherty, Jane Russell
costarred with Marilyn in "Gentlemen Prefer Blondes," Marilyn's
friend, actress Mamie Van Doren, James Bacon, a close friend
and only reporter who got into her bungalow the night she died,
cried as the ambulance drove away, Arlene Dahl who dated Kennedy
as a senator, introduced Marilyn to Jack Kennedy, Steve Crist,
Marilyn's longtime lover and friend, editor of a new book "Marilyn " featuring
the work of photographer Andrei de Dienes. She
felt betrayed by her friends." Marilyn's
Autopsy -- Coroner Thomas Noguchi conducted the operation.
Some claim J. Edgar
Hoover and his Mafia cohorts are directly responsible for the
murder of Marilyn Monroe. John
F. Kennedy & Marilyn Monroe Papers -- John F. Kennedy & Marilyn
Monroe Papers - Inside Information on the Controversy and Litigation
Concerning the Files of JFK's Secret Advisor, Attorney Lawrence
X. Cusack, Sr.
Marilyn
Monroe: The FBI Files by
Tim Coates
Remembering
Marilyn Monroe, with her first husband, Jimmie Dougherty.
He was 21 when he married his 16-year-old neighbor, Norma Jean
Baker, in 1942. Jeanne Carmen, Marilyn's closest friend in
Hollywood, Mickey Rooney, who co-starred with Marilyn in one
of her earliest films, 1950' "The Fireball," Cyd Charisse,
the brilliant, beautiful dancer who co-starred in Marilyn's
unfinished final film, 1962's "Something's Got to Give," and
columnist and author James Bacon, first reporter on the scene
when Marilyn's body was found, and so close to Marilyn, he
was once her lover.
An
Unfinished Life: John F. Kennedy, 1917-1963 by
Robert Dallek --Drawing upon previously unavailable material
and never-before-opened archives to tell for the first
time how sick Kennedy was, what medications he took and
concealed, and how severely his medical condition affected
his actions. We learn the real story of how Bobby was selected
as Attorney General. Dallek reveals what Jack's father
did to help his election to the presidency, and follows
evidence to show what path JFK would have taken in the
Vietnam entanglement. Never shying away from Kennedy's
weaknesses, Dallek explores his strengths. The result is
a portrait of a bold, brave, human.
Jack
Anderson: JFK, the Mob & Me -- Jack Anderson
one of the most respected and accomplished investigative
journalists details his close relationship with John F.
Kennedy and his belief the Mafia was involved in his assassination.
Anderson's theory is bolstered by close contacts with important
Mob bosses in the 1950s, '60s and '70s, and revelations
of organized crime's relationships with Castro, Cuba, and
the CIA. Extensive footage documents the relationships
Anderson claims were at the heart of the tragedy, and interviews
with Anderson sources shed light on the theory. Revisit
the discoveries that led Anderson to the conclusion embraced
by conspiracy theorists worldwide. Oliver Stone tells how
Anderson's work influenced his Academy- Award winning JFK.
MarilynMonroe.com
Featured:
Marilyn
Monroe - The Diamond Collection -- DVD -- VHS --
5 Marilyn Monroe films plus the documentary The Final Days.
Bus Stop (1956) stars Monroe as a singer who finds herself
trapped at a bus stop in the middle of nowhere during a blizzard. How
to Marry a Millionaire (1953) was built around Monroe, Lauren
Bacall, and Betty Grable, who play friends with a plan to find
and marry rich men. Monroe plays an ambitious showgirl in 1954's There's
No Business Like Show Business, which brings together Ethel
Merman and Irving Berlin to celebrate vaudeville. Howard Hawks's
1953 musical Gentlemen Prefer Blondes stars Monroe and
Jane Russell as friends who go to Paris looking for mates. The
Seven Year Itch (1955) is a memorable laugh machine. A married
man left alone during a hot summer, matched by Monroe's zesty
comic flair, and the scene in which her white dress is blown
skyward by a passing subway train has entered the encyclopedia
of great movie images. In The Final Days, producer-director
Patty Ivins chronicles Monroe's final, aborted feature film, Something's
Got to Give, which was ultimately shut down after the star
was dismissed from the production. Beyond Monroe's fragile emotional
and physical health, this profile examines the financial crisis
facing her studio as well as the mounting frustration as Monroe's
absences drove the shoot over budget. The documentary concludes
with a 40-minute reconstruction of footage completed for the
feature, which would subsequently be reshot as a vehicle for
Doris Day and James Garner, Move Over, Darling.
Marilyn by
Andre de Dienes, Steve Crist -- Worldwide
limited edition of 20,000 individually numbered copies. A
rare and unbelievable treasure. After sitting in storage since
his death in 1985, Photographer Andr de
Dienes's complete Marilyn archives have been gathered for this
exclusive publication! de Dienes's life was changed forever
in when he met an aspiring model named Norma Jeane Baker. They
took off on the road together so that Andr could photograph
her in natural settings across the West. During their travels,
they fell in love and were briefly engaged. After their romance,
they remained friends and he continued to photograph her. His
unique photographs helped launch her model career and, the
film career. His relationship with the star, including private
moments never before revealed, are detailed in memoirs, written
shortly before his death. These tell a bittersweet story of
love and friendship, tracing the evolution of a sensitive,
ambitious girl into a deeply troubled megastar. From their
trip to see Norma Jeane's mother in an Oregon mental hospital
to her visit to his home the year before her death, de Dienes
recounts emotional moments they shared. This special edition
is a touching autobiography and an exclusive personal exploration
into the psychology, history, and iconography of Marilyn. Andrei's
were the first real pictures of Marilyn. He photographed her
young, in November 1945 '53. An extra-large format, 240-page
hardcover book featuring a vast selection of photographs and
excerpts, printed on 150g matte stock a 608 page softcover
facsimile of de Dienes's complete Marilyn memoirs and his Marilyn
composite book includes the complete set of nearly 1000 Marilyn
photos, and all 24 of Marilyn's magazine covers shot by de
Dienes With some exceptions, these images-especially those
in color-have never been seen before!
Milton's
Marilyn: The Photographs of Milton H. Greene
by Milton H. Greene, James Kotsilibas-Davis
Milton Greene "the greatest photographer of women." Milton's
Marilyn appears as enchanting gypsy, saloon girl, barely clad
ballerina, innocent high school yearbook heartthrob, and screen
siren in incendiary scarlet dress. He also captures privileged
glimpses of her private life: clowning with her boyfriend Brando,
backstage on films, frolicsome in a swimming pool. In some shots,
she wears no makeup. In others, she's tipsy; she used to travel
with Greene under the name Zelda Zonk. Rock
Hudson spurned the costar role in Bus Stop because producer Milton
Greene rebuffed
Rock's sexual proposition. Greene was Monroe's
business partner and mentor until he outlived his usefulness,
and this book adds interesting news to Barbara Leaming's intelligent
bio Marilyn Monroe.
The
Marilyn Encyclopedia by
Adam Victor
"the most
comprehensive book about [Marilyn Monroe's] extraordinary life
and legacy ever published." Victor has taken every conceivable
source of Marilyn information-- including Internet rumors and
Hollywood gossip among well-documented tidbits--distilled them
down to alphabetical entries, and cross-referenced. Fans can
check out Marilyn's Look covers or a list of the screenwriters
she worked with, the name of the first restaurant she and Joe
DiMaggio ate at on their honeymoon or the name of Marilyn's poodle.
From Marilyn's disdain for underwear to her working relationship
with John Huston. This encyclopedia contains a rich assortment
of photos: posed studio portraits, pinups, and candid shots.
Quotes and anecdotes throughout the book. Monroe may have been
a trying person to deal with on a day-to-day basis. For the fan
who wants to know everything about Marilyn Monroe.
Marilyn
Monroe: The Biography by Donald
Spoto
Marilyn
Monroe by Barbara Leaming
Barbara Leaming,
a literary star among movie-star biographers, offers
the last thing you'd expect in a book on Marilyn Monroe:
new information from verifiable sources. Sure, lots of
the tragedy is familiar: an abused, confused girl from
an orphanage with a mother in a madhouse rises from sexual
party favor for homely showbiz men to the movie superstar
who pushes them around, until she crashes, a victim of
self-loathing and drug addiction. The thing about a tragedy
is that its heroine isn't a victim--she's responsible for her
fate. Digging up hard facts from sources like UCLA's 20th Century
Fox collection and diary-like first drafts of Arthur Miller's
semiautobiographical work, Leaming makes
sense of Monroe's motives. She solves Monroe's suicide with clues
from the star's psychiatrist's letters in the Anna Freud collection.
Her last overdose may have happened because her shrink went to
dinner with his wife and she felt abandoned. But Monroe wasn't
a candle in the wind. She burned with ambition and knew how to
craft a persona and play power games--with moguls and with the
commie-busters hounding her husband Miller. Leaming analyzes
the Miller-Monroe-Elia Kazan love/hate triangle, sizes up the
Kennedy connection, busts her acting coach Lee Strasberg as "chillingly
mercenary," and shows how her life entangled her art, film by
film.
Marilyn
Monroe by
Paul Donnelley Short, snappy, and
easy to read. Packed with facts, opinions, and all the
key information. There's also a handy reference section
that lists related web sites and all the weightier books
on the subject. For media buffs and students.
Marilyn
Monroe: Photographs 1945-1962 by Truman Capote
This volume of stunning photographs celebrates
the beauty and charisma of Norma Jean Baker, later Marilyn Monroe.
Early pinups, film scenes and publicity stills, and portraits
by famous photographers such as Richard Avedon, Philippe Halsman,
Cecil Beaton, and Bert Stern provide a collection of highlights
from the life and career of Hollywood's most erotic icon, in
cinematic history. Also included is a sensitive and revealing
essay about the star by Truman Capote.
Marilyn
Monroe: The Complete Last Sitting by
Bert Stern
The more than 2,500 shots that make up this tribute
to Monroe were taken by renowned fashion photographer Bert Stern
over the course of a 3-day sitting-the last time Marilyn would
pose in front of a camera. Six weeks later, she was found dead
in her home. The images project a haunting, dreamlike quality.
Marilyn was known to possess an ability to transform herself
into whatever role she was to play. In these pages she is goddess,
siren, child, woman, femme fatale and dream date. Yet there is
an air of desperation about these photos. Stern looks back on
that sitting, offering a revealing, naked portrait of Marilyn -a
vulnerable, confused woman who at the apex of her career, relinquished
control of her life.
Marilyn
Monroe: Cover to Cover by
Clark Kidder
A history of magazine covers reveals the evolution
of Norma Jean early in her modeling career through the glamorous
screen goddess phase, ending with a troubled Marilyn in her last
days.
Marilyn
Monroe and the Camera by
Jane Russell
Marilyn posed for nearly every major photographer
of her day, and this pictorial chronicle of her affair with the
camera, featuring shots from Richard Avedon, Cecil Beaton, Henri
Cartier-Bresson, Alred Eisentaedt, Elliott Erwitt, Philippe Halsman,
Weegee, and thirty other artists, brings together the most beautiful
and unusual images available. From her early days as a "fashion
model" for ads and pinup calendars, through the film stills that
follow her career as a minor actress and then major starlit,
to the now-famous portraits by Avedon, and Cecil Beaton, as well
as the paparazzi shots from the hordes of photographers who trailed
her every move-Marilyn emerges in all her many moods: girlish
and gay, sexy and serious, glamorous and girl-next-door. And,
in a fascinating and revealing interview with French writer George
Belmont, Marilyn sets the record straight about much of her early
life, and about her ambitions, fears, and dreams. Jane Russell,
Marilyn's friend and costar in! Gentlemen Prefer Blondes, enhances
this portrait with an affectionate foreword that describes what
it was like to work with the young actress.
Marilyn:
A Life in Pictures (Life in Pictures) by
Diana Karanikas Harvey
Kari & Associates
PO Box 6166
Olympia, WA 98507 copyright
2004 |