What was the ending of Marilyn Monroe’s legend? Marilyn
Monroe was a sex icon of the 50’s. Marilyn meet her end in her California home
on August 5th, 1964(1). She was found in her bed surrounded by
sleeping pills early in the morning by her maid, Eunice
Murray ([1]"Eunice
Murray Talks About the Day Marilyn Monroe Died”). Since her death many conspiracy theories have
surrounded the event. Did her involvement with the Kennedy family get her
killed? Was Marilyn’s doctors prescribing her the wrong medicine? Was she involved with the mafia and that
caused her death? The theories are vast and range from highly believable to a
reaching speculation. A careful examination of the evidence, both old and new,
should shine some light on the truth, with the most likely answer being a
mishap with her prescriptions
The characteristic of Marilyn Monroe
Many
people know Marilyn Monroe as the blond bombshell sex icon that she portrayed,
but a closer look at her life and inner motivations shows just how deep a
person she was. One of the more well-known facts about Marilyn Monroe is that
she was depressed. This depression was most likely caused by her childhood
and the abuse she endured. (Monroe, Hecht, 1-60) Marilyn’s childhood was spent
in foster homes, orphanages and with Grace Goddard. Marilyn was originally
removed from her mother’s care because of her mother’s mental illness. Marilyn
Monroe’s mother struggled with manic depression and was institutionalized for
most of her life. (30) Marilyn has come out to say that she was sexually
abused and even raped by the time she was eleven, while in her foster home.
Most of Monroe’s happiest childhood memories were going to the movies and
staying with Grace Goddard. In an Interview Grace Goddard said that, while
Marilyn was a happy child, she was very shy and lonely. (“Grace Goddard train
trip 1944”,1) These trends carried on for her entire life. Marilyn’s depression
was believed to be the cause of her untimely death for many years; however,
research on her death now will reveal that few actually believe that her
depression leads her to commit suicide or that she committed suicide at all.
This internal trait was not all that defined Monroe.
Another well-known trait of Marilyn Monroe was that she was very amorous. This external trait starts to really show when looking at -her involvement with the Kennedys, her three marriages, her subsequent three divorces and the social and professional image Marilyn maintained. Since the time of her death Marilyn Monroe’s affair with the Kennedy brothers has gone from gossip to well accepted fact. (Monroe, Hecht) Though both bobby Kennedy and JFK continued to deny the affair the sensationalization of Marilyn Monroe’s death made it all but impossible to cover up. Yet Marilyn’s exploits do not end there. Monroe was married A total of three times, each ending in divorce. Marilyn Monroe’s first marriage to James Dougherty ended because of her rise to fame and the provocative image that was chosen to be her brand. ( “Marilyn Monroe-James Dogherty interviewed”,1) Marilyn’s marriage to screen writer Arthur Miller ended because he was scared of losing himself in Marilyn Monroe’s amorousness. (“Arthur Miller interviewed about Marilyn Monroe in 1987”,1) The third and final marriage of Marilyn Monroe, to Joe DiMaggio, ending almost the direct result of her Korean tour, where she again portrayed the part of a sex icon to give entertainment and encouragement to American troops overseas. (“Joe DiMaggio on Marilyn Monroe -I haven’t seen much of Marilyn”,1) A more public example of Marilyn’s amorousness would be her famous interview, in which she was asked about what she wore to bed. (“Marilyn and N°5 - Inside CHANEL”,1)Marilyn’s immediate response was chanel number five, alluding to the fact she slept nude. All of this during a time when woman still dressed very conservatively, especially considering today’s standards. Beyond all of this proof of her amourosity was the movie choices and persona Marilyn Monroe herself chose. (Monroe, Hacht,131) Marilyn flirted with the camera and loved the attention it brought her. Her movie roles all contributed the Marilyn’s reputation as a sex icon and a bombshell blonde.
One of the less commonly known external traits of Marilyn Monroe was her candidness. When lessening to Marilyn’s interviews you never hear her say no comment or refuse to answer a question. One example would be an interview she gave after her nudes were discovered, in which she said that when 20th century fox asked her if she had posed nude she simply replied yes and refused to lie because that was the truth. (“He Asked Me to Pose Nude”,1) Another example of Monroe’s candidness was her book that she helped write simply titled My Story, which is a must read for anyone doing research on Marilyn Monroe. In this book, she details her life from childhood through her career in startling detail.
One of the least known and acknowledged internal traits of Marilyn Monroe was that she was actually quite smart. (“Arthur Miller interviewed about Marilyn Monroe in 1987”,1) Monroe is known for being a bit of an airhead. If you examine her writing and look at the career choices she made then you will see very plainly that, given the fact that she did not have the means to continue high school or pursue a college education, Marilyn Monroe was a bright woman. She did not keep a diary or journal but she would write things done as the inspiration hit her. She wrote notes to herself, short essays, poems and even some things on self-help and improvement. (Monroe, et al.)
Overall Marilyn Monroe was smart, candid, amorous and depressed. While she was known for her depression she was also a very smart, candid and amorous woman who refused to let herself be defined as any one thing. All of these traits helped to make her the personality that she was. The things she did in life and the unexpected manner of her death still have us fascinated with her almost 55 years after she was buried. This amazing woman helped shape the world as it is today and examining her traits help us to understand her motivations better.
Conspiracy theories
Who
was really responsible for the death of Marilyn Monroe? When you really look at
the evidence from her writing, the night of her death, the investigation and
Monroe’s affiliations things that at first seen completely unconnected start to
add up to a sum of intrigue and murder.
One
name that seems to pop up when looking at this case is Kennedy. Marilyn
Monroe’s affair with President Kennedy is now public knowledge, not everyone
knows of her affair with, his brother Bobby Kennedy, the secretary of state at the time of Marilyn
Monroe's death. Many theories about how the kennedy could kill Monroe and why
they might have motivation to kill her. One such rumor is that she was pregnant
with Bobby Kennedy's baby from their long going affair, but other than a
doctor's visit, a common occurrence in Monroe's life, there is very little
evidence to support this pregnancy theory.(cryipt33)
Over the years the Kennedys involvement has become the most popular
theories about Marilyn Monroe’s death, if one does enough research to know that
her death wasn't a suicide. The evidence of this is of course the affair but
not in the way you might think. The motivation to kill Monroe, in most of the
theories, would steam from the fact that during her time in the white house and
around the Kennedys in general she might have found out sensitive information
about or maybe even from the Kennedys themselves. In fact the federal bureau of
investigation (FBI) had Marilyn's house bugged with listening devices for
several months before her death, because they suspected that she was writing
down governmental secrets.(cyipt 33,165) Another contributing factor to this
theory is the night of her death itself. Of course we don’t know for sure what
exactly happened that night but because of the mania surrounding this case
there is enough evidence gathered over the years we have a pretty good idea.
What we do know is that Bobby Kennedy was said to be arguing with Marilyn
Monroe in her home the night of her death, but was seen out by the housekeeper,
Eunice Murray, long before she said goodnight to Marilyn. ("Eunice Murray
Talks About The Day Marilyn Monroe Died.”) The last piece of evidence
supporting this theory is the investigation made by the police. There was a lot
of things that didn’t add up in the reports of the investigation. For example
the coroner's reports, there was several corriners that examined the body
because this was such a high profile case, but as they all examined the same
body they should all logically look similar very similar correct? Wrong. Out of
the three reports none of them matched at all, the variances come from
everything from Monroe's measurements to what exactly was the time of her
death. Also there are things missing from the seen of Marilyn's death Such as a
red diary that Marilyn Monroe was said to keep at her home at all times. The
last thing that struck me as odd when looking at the case was that the lead
detective, a man whose service record covers most of his life, was dismissed,
fired, from the force when he got vellus about Marilyn Monroe case
.
The
second conspiracy theory is that Marilyn Monroe's doctors were the cause of her
untimely death. The most damning piece of evidence for this theory is the night
of Monroe’s death itself. According to Marilyn’s maid, Eunice Murray, Marilyn
was in high spirits that night and made several phone calls during the
night.(1) Then sometime around 2:00 Murray saw the telephone wire under
Marilyn's door and began to get worried. This is where things start getting a
bit more confusing. Once Murray decided to investigate she found the door
locked and Marilyn was not answering, when she was unable to get into the room
the first one Murray called was a local doctor that lived a few blocks over
from Marilyn's home. He then came over and proceed to break the window of
Monroe’s bedroom and climb into her room. While in Monroe’s room they
supposedly saw her lying naked in bed surrounded by sleeping pills, both
prescribed and not, still holding her phone and they ascertained that she was
either dead or close to death. At this time her regular doctor was called on to
the scene. One of the doctors on site gave her four shots of an unnamed drug
that was supposedly meant to restart Marilyn Monroe's heart.(Adela Gregory, 23)
The reason the doctors gave for the amount of shots given was that they had
missed her heart, yet each time they missed the drug was injected anyway.
Approximately four hours after all of this took place the three finally called
the police. When the police finally got to the scene of her death Marilyn
Monroe’s room was wiped clean and she was surrounded by barbiturates just as
described earlier. when asked what happened
by the first reporting officer Murray and the doctors were very confused
and the answers they gave were vague at best. The reason the doctors and Eunice
Murray gave for the four hour time gap was shock.( "Eunice Murray Talks
About The Day Marilyn Monroe Died.”,1) As mentioned in the previous paragraph
the investigation left much to be desired, but they did manage to get pictures
of the room and when they were released to the public it was discovered that
there was no water glass in Monroe's room neither was there any source of
water. According to the reports there were over 50 different drugs in her
system. Putting together the number and the lack of water to aid her in
swallowing, the evidence for some kind of foul play starts to pile up and it
seems like her doctors had opportunity, but did they have any motivation. Yes,
if fact they did Marilyn had just been
rehighered by the film company fox for a higher amount than she originally
asked for, a thing unheard of for the time. Fox having been the establishment
that had originally helped hire Eunice Murray and Marilyn Monroe’s private
doctor. (Adela Gregory, 104) Another thing that doesn’t add up when it comes to
her doctor, Hyman
Engelberg, is that after the funeral of Marilyn Monroe he seems to disappear
from high society and while he has done a few interviews hear and there he has
never answered what he thought really happened to Marilyn Monroe.
The
third conspiracy theory is that Marilyn Monroe was involved with the mafia and
that caused her death. A poll I did show that when you take away the easy
answer of Marilyn Monroe committing suicide people tend to fall back on what
they believe to know about the word and a lot of people 46 percent of people
found it more logical to blame the mafia than our former presidential family or
a medical professional. Yet while there is extremely little evidence of any
mafia involvement in Monroe's death, there is evidence she was involved in the
mafia. Marilyn Monroe's connection to frank Sinatra has always been common
knowledge even in the time before her death. (174)Sinatra even proposed
publically to Marilyn several times. The amount of ties Marilyn Monroe had to
the mafia vary from Marlon Brando to Sam Giancana to a drug dealing doctor to
the stars code named doctor feel good by the secret service.(208)
Conclusion
So
how did the legend of Marilyn Monroe end? When she died on August 5th,
1964 ([2]"Eunice
Murray Talks About the Day Marilyn Monroe Died”) the most popular theory was
that she killed herself, more than 50 years after her death we know that that
was very unlikely. Now there are many different theories with varying evidence.
The most prevalent are that her involvement with the Kennedys got her killed,
her doctors prescribed her the wrong medicine and that killed her or that she
got involved with the mafia and that’s what got her killed. Out of the Many
conspiracy theories that had popped up after the 50’s sex icon Marilyn Monroe’s
death, the most likely is that her doctors were to blame for her death. This is
due to the staggering amount of evidence from the night of her death.
Work Citied
Monroe,
Marilyn, and Ben Hecht. My Story. Taylor Trade Publishing, 2012.
Marilyn
Monroe Video Archives. “Marilyn Monroe-Grace Goddard train trip 1944.” Online
video clip. youtube. YOUTUBE, May. 6, 2011. Web. Oct. 3,2017
Marilyn
Monroe Video Archives. “Marilyn Monroe-James Dogherty interviewed.” Online
video clip. youtube. YOUTUBE, May. 29, 2012. Web. Oct. 16, 2017
Marilyn
Monroe Video Archives. “Arthur Miller interviewed about Marilyn Monroe in
1987.”
Online video clip. youtube. YOUTUBE, Nov. 8, 2012. Web. Oct. 16,2017
Marilyn
Monroe Video Archives. “Joe DiMaggio on Marilyn Monroe -I haven’t seen much of
Marilyn.” Online video clip. youtube. YOUTUBE, May. 6, 2011. Web. 16,
2017
CHANNEL.
“Marilyn and N°5 - Inside CHANEL.” Online video clip. youtube. YOUTUBE, Nov.
16, 2012. Web. Oct. 23, 2017
Marilyn
Monroe Video Archives. “"He Asked Me to Pose Nude" - As Told By
Marilyn Monroe
(Rare Interview).” Online video clip. youtube. YOUTUBE, May. 20, 2016. Web.
Oct. 16,
2017
Monroe,
Marilyn, et al. Fragments: Poems, Intimate Notes, Letters. Farrar, Straus and
Giroux, 2010.
"Eunice Murray Talks About The Day
Marilyn Monroe Died." Eunice Murray Talks About the Day Marilyn Monroe
Died. YouTube, 17 Jan. 2012. Web. 30 Nov. 2015. Primary.
"Eunice Murray Talks About The Day
Marilyn Monroe Died." Eunice Murray Talks About the Day Marilyn Monroe
Died. YouTube, 17 Jan. 2012. Web. 30 Nov. 2015. Primary.
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