Wednesday, November 14, 2018

The Death of Marilyn Monroe by Rayah Ramos



Marilyn Monroe was a beauty symbol for girls in the late 50’s and 60’s, but there was nothing beautiful about her death. Marilyn, a thirty-six-year-old Hollywood star, died from an overdose that was believed to be accidental. There are several conspiracy theories surrounding the tragic death of the actress that we will be investigating that involve her psychiatrist, maid, and even the presidential family. Let’s begin to explore the idea of Marilyn Monroe’s death to be more of a malicious act than originally suspected. The theories we will be exploring are:
1.      The maid and the psychiatrist staged her death
2.      The government was responsible
3.      The Kennedy family had to get rid of her due to her relations with John and Robert Kennedy
Marilyn Monroe was the talk of the late 50’s; everyone knew her as the sex symbol of the time. She was on the front of magazines and on movies, so it was clear that the camera loved her, and for good reason. She had short blond hair that was curled and bounced when she walked. She had the body figure that every girl at that time dreamed of having. Most people saw Marilyn for just her looks, but she was adored for much more than that.
Marilyn Monroe was known to be patriotic (Kettler). Before Marilyn started her career, she went to work in a factory where they made military drones, during the second World War (1). This is where she was noticed by a photographer, and he asked her if she would be willing to model for him (1). She would take pictures that were popular among the soldiers that were stationed in Korea (1). Marilyn even interrupted her honeymoon with her husband, Joe DiMaggio, to visit the troops that were stationed in Korea in February 1954 (1). Despite the freezing temperatures and her developing pneumonia, Marilyn performed ten shows in four days (1). Marilyn described this experience as “the best thing that ever happened to me. I never felt like a star before in my heart.” (1)
Marilyn Monroe had an ongoing fear of becoming insane probably because she had to witness her mother lose her sanity. In a letter to Lee Strasberg, Marilyn confessed “I am still lost- I mean I can’t get myself together... I sound crazy, but I think I am going crazy.” (1) In 1961, Dr. Marianne Kris noticed Marilyn had started to lose weight, sleep less, and took pills regularly (1). Dr. Kris thought it would be beneficial to take her to a locked, padded room in New York’s Payne Whitney Clinic, and Marilyn reacted badly (1). She broke a window and threated to cut herself with a piece of the glass (1). She was transferred to Columbia University Presbyterian Hospital where she received proper treatment (1). 
With Marilyn Monroe’s success came a lot of money and perks. Although she came into all this money, many say she was extremely generous with her money and possessions. For example, she gave her expensive fur coat to her acting teacher, and often offered money to people in need as well (1). When she would go shopping with her friends, she was known to buy things for herself and then mail it to the friends she was shopping with (1). She was especially generous when it came to children. She participated in charities like the milk fund for babies and the March of Dimes for premature babies (1). In 1953, her and Jane Russell performed at a fundraising benefit at the Hollywood Bowl for the underprivileged children at St. Jude’s hospital (1). Her last public appearance was at the Dodger Stadium for a benefit for muscular dystrophy (1). Clearly Marilyn enjoyed giving back to people even though she claimed, “I am good, but not an angel.” (Brainy Quotes)
When thinking of Marilyn Monroe, the first thing that comes to mind is probably beautiful, daring, but most of all scandalous. She was known for her alluring pictures and her whisper-voiced manner of speaking (Marilyn). She was the sex symbol of her time and people adored her for it. She was published on countless magazines showing off her beauty. The biggest scandal Marilyn Monroe was remembered for was her alleged affair with President John F. Kennedy, and his brother, Robert Kennedy (Knott). Marilyn and President Kennedy met at a dinner party being held in his honor (1). Kennedy was so happy to see Marilyn when she arrived, he walked her to her table and wasting no time, asked for her number which she gladly gave to him (1). They soon began meeting up to enjoy sexual rendezvous (1). Most people have seen the famous video of Marilyn Monroe singing to the President saying, “Happy Birthday, Mr. President.” (Maumauleite) Watching this video, you can tell there was something going on between Marilyn and John F. Kennedy.
Because Marilyn’s death was so unexpected, many conspiracy theories surfaced shortly after her death. Before getting into them, it is important to understand the crime scene and the timeline of her death. She started her Saturday morning early because she did not sleep well the night before (Ranker). When her maid, Eunice Murray, arrived at 8:30 AM, Marilyn was already tiling the floor (1). Monroe’s mood quickly changed when she received a stuffed toy in the mail with no note (1). Her maid recalls her as being uneasy and acted as if she was fearful for her life. Little did she know she would soon be lying face down in her bed, pill bottle in hand.
Her crime scene and autopsy are what really got people asking questions following her death. Marilyn was face down on her bed and was naked with the empty sedative pills nearby. There was no liquid near here which is strange because one would think if a person is going to swallow that many pills, they would need a drink. After the police had searched the crime and that point was brought up, a glass of water strangely appeared on her night stand. However, it was later discovered in her autopsy that there was no trace of pills in her stomach, but only in her liver (1). This means that she did not take the pills orally. This fact leads many more people to believe that Marilyn did not do this to herself.
The first conspiracy we will discuss is that the maid, Eunice Murray, and psychiatrist, Dr. Greenson, were the ones who staged Marilyn’s death. The reason people believe this is because of the order of events that occurred that night. According to Murray, Marilyn had said she was going to bed at 8:00 PM (1). When Murray was walking by Marilyn’s room around midnight, she noticed the light was still on and found that odd because she had gone into her room four hours prior. Murray said she knocked on the door and got no response, so she chose to ignore it. Then at around 3:00 AM she saw that Marilyn’s light was still on and this began to concern Eunice Murray, so she called Marilyn’s Psychiatrist, Dr.Greenson (1). When he arrived, he went to look through the outside of her window to see if he was able to see her, and that is when he saw Marilyn laying naked on her bed with her face in her pillow. He claimed to have broken into the window and rushed to her bed to check her pulse. When he found that she was already dead, the two decided to call Marilyn’s doctor. It wasn’t until 4:30 AM that the police were called (1). Sergeant Clemmons, the first officer at the scene, was quoted saying, “Her hands were by her side and her legs were stretched out perfectly straight. It was the most obviously staged death scene I have ever seen. The pill bottles on her bedside table had been arranged in neat order and the body deliberately positioned, it all looked too tidy (1).”
The reason the maid and psychiatrist were suspected was because it is strange how long they waited to call the actual police when they discovered Marilyn. Also, when the psychiatrist claimed to break the window to get into her room, the glass was on the outside of the house. This is suspicious because if he really did break it to get into her room, the glass would have been on the inside of the house not the outside. Some people may believe he broke the glass from the inside of the house to create this detailed story of how they discovered her, but they really were just covering up her murder that they were responsible for. Some more weird things about the housekeeper was that she was seen washing the sheets as the police walked in (1). This in itself is strange because it is obvious to not tamper with a crime scene. She also left for Europe shortly after the death of Monroe which is also sketchy because she was a key witness to the crime (1). People were questioning why she was taking a vacation so soon after the death of her boss/ friend. Murray also kept changing her story and timeline. She would tell the police that important events happened at the different times (1). This lead the police to believe she didn’t really have her story straight, and might have been holding back what really happened that night.
The second conspiracy theory blames Marilyn’s death on the government. Most of America was aware of the relations that Monroe had with both John and Robert Kennedy. This affair might have been the motive for the government to silence Marilyn. Not only that, but Marilyn had a friendship with Fredrick Vanderbilt Field, also known as the great-great grandson to Cornelius Vanderbilt, who was known for how he supported communism and been sent to Mexico for his beliefs (Summers). Marilyn was seen with him only 6 and a half months before her death (1). This lead a FBI director in Mexico to inform J. Edgar Hoover that “Monroe had been associated closely with certain members of the American Communist Group in Exile. (1)” The document with this information and other documents that had concerns about her relationship with the Kennedy’s were filed under “Marilyn Monroe--- Security--- Communist (1).” The people in Marilyn’s life were known to support the communist party. For example, her psychiatrist, her internist, and her ex-husband Arthur Miller (1). This made her a threat to the country because some believed that she had relations with the president and his brother to obtain information about the government. Recently, in 2015, a man named Normand Hodges said on his death bed that he had been a hit man for the American government and they hired him to kill Marilyn Monroe (1). He justified it as “I had evidence that Marilyn Monroe had not only slept with Kennedy, but also with Fidel Castro. My commanding officer told me I had to make her death look like a suicide or overdose... I obeyed and did it for America. She could have transmitted strategic information to the communists, and we couldn’t allow that (1).” This sounds like a huge breakthrough in her case, however we have no way of proving it. The four other people who worked with Hodges are now dead or missing, so there is no one to confirm his story (1).
The last conspiracy theory we are going to discuss is by far the most well-known. This one has to do with the Kennedy’s being involved in Marilyn’s death. Specifically, Robert Kennedy because he was known to be romantically involved with Marilyn around the time of her death. When surveyed, 80% of people agree that the Kennedy’s were responsible for the death on Marilyn Monroe. Since Marilyn had had relationships with not one, but two of the Kennedy brothers, she was exposed to many government secrets, so she had a little red diary that held all the information she had heard while she was involved with the brothers (Buskin and Margolis). Robert eventually decided, like John, he did not want to leave his wife for Marilyn, and this made her furious. She even threatened to expose all the information she knew (1). This brings up the conspiracy that the Kennedy’s needed to silence Marilyn once and for all. Robert called her psychiatrist and told him that Marilyn was going to expose the relationship she had with Dr. Greenson which would ultimately ruin his life, so he agreed to help Robert end her life (1). Marilyn never had any intentions of doing this. On August 4th, 1962 Robert Kennedy and Robert Lawford, his brother-in-law, went to see Marilyn for the last time (1). They argued, and Robert left then later returned with all his body guards (1). In a questioning, Robert recalled “One bodyguard shot Marilyn in the armpit with Nembutal to calm her down, then I [Robert] threw her to the floor (1),” The Nembutal injection did not work as fast or as strong as they wished so they gave her “an enema filled with broken pills containing anywhere from thirteen to nineteen Nembutal pills and seventeen chloral hydrates (1),” While Marilyn was knocked out, the men searched for the red diary, but had no luck and left around 10 PM (1). Eunice Murray found Marilyn face down in the guest cottage. Eunice called the ambulance and attendant James Edwin Hall got there first at around 12 AM (1). Hall recalls, “She was naked. She had no sheet, no blanket. There was no water glass. We ascertained that her breathing was very shallow, her pulse was very weak and rapid, and she was unconscious at the time (1).” Hall began to try to revive her when Greenson arrived saying, “I am her doctor, give her positive pressure (1),” Hall recalls Greenson acting very suspicious. He was pushing on her abdomen and Hall remembers Greenson saying, “I need to make a show of this (1).” Greenson proceeded to drive a syringe through her rib and the rib broke because of the force he used (1). Ultimately, Hall witnessed the murder of Marilyn Monroe by Dr. Ralph Greenson that was completely orchestrated by Robert Kennedy. 
People have come up with all these possible answers, but still do not know what really happened to Marilyn Monroe in August of 1964. Marilyn’s death resulted in these three popular conspiracy theories:
1.       The maid and the psychiatrist staged her death
2.       The government was responsible
3.       The Kennedy family had to get rid of her due to relations with John and Robert Kennedy
Even with all the evidence and different opinions on what happened to the young star, her death remains unsolved.




  Works Cited
·         Buskin, Richard, and Jay Margolis. "EXCLUSIVE - Bobby Kennedy Ordered Marilyn
 Monroe's Murder by Lethal Injection to Prevent Her from Revealing Her Torrid
 Affairs with RFK and JFK: New Book Sensationally Claims to Have Finally Solved
 the Mystery Surrounding Her Death." Mail Online. Associated Newspapers, 16 May
 2014. Web. 27 Nov. 2016.
·         Kettler, Sara. “Marilyn Monroe: Fascinating Facts About the Real Woman Behind the
 Legend.” Biography.com, A&E Networks Television, 3 Aug. 2017,
·         Knott, Rebeka. “Starlet, Marilyn Monroe & JFK – THE SCANDAL!” Starlet,
 MarilynMonroe & JFK – THE SCANDAL! | Groovy History,
 groovyhistory.com/starlet-marilyn-monroe-jfk-the-scandal.
·         “Marilyn Monroe Facts.” Biography, biography.yourdictionary.com/marilyn-monroe.
·         “Marilyn Monroe Quotes.” BrainyQuote, Xplore,
·         Maumauleite, director. Marilyn Monroe Happy Birthday. YouTube, YouTube, 3 Sept.
                   2012, www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vg5HIMnPx7k.
·         Summers, Anthony. "FBI/CIA Murdered Marilyn
 Monroe." Tangible Information:. N.p., 30 July 2007. Web. 14 Nov. 2016.
·         “10 Peculiar Details Behind Marilyn Monroe's Death You Probably Never 
                   -facts/margaritahirapetian.

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