Marilyn Monroe has been an American sex symbol since the 1950′s.
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Marilyn Monroe was a great comedian. One of my favorite comedy films is “Some like it hot”,
Marilyn Monroe was wonderful and very funny in while starring in this comedy with Tony Randall, George Raft, Thelma Ritter and Joe E. Brown.
Billy Wilder had a fabulous film career as a director. “Some like it hot” was by far his most successful film.
I still remember falling out of my seat because I was laughing so hard at Marilyn Monroe’s antics in this comedy. When I was practicing law, I had a client
whose claim to fame was he lived with Marilyn Monroe when she was filming ”Niagara” . Bob said she was very different than the public’s perception of her as
a “beautiful, dumb, platinium blonde “. He said she was a very serious person who loved Beethoven and Mozart. She brought with her an extensive library of classics. She did not indulge in the Hollywood gossip, etc.He told me how at the height of her popularity, Marilyn put her career as a movie star on hold to go to New York to become a student at an acting school. Marilyn Monroe was not satisfied with her performences as an actresses. She gave up financially rewarding offers to take this leave of absence from her career.
She married Arthur Miller, the prominent playright. When Miller was called before the red baitng House Un-American Activities Committee, his wife appeared next to Arthur Miller as he testified. Marilyn Monroe’s studio had her told not to so appear as it would harm her career. Miller was found in contempt of Congress because he refused to name others who might have been communists when asked by the committee chairman. Miller’s conviction was thrown out by the Appeals Court when it was disclosed that the chairman had promised Miller he would not be ask Miller to name names. Miller had told the chairman that this was the only way he would testify.
After five years of marriage, Marilyn Monroe and Arthur Miller were divorced. She died at 36 in 1962.
In 1964 Sammy Davis,Jr. starred in Golden Boy with Paula Wayne. My wife and I attended the opening night party because my wife was a close friend of Paula Wayne. I was sitting next to Stephen Greene, a photographer. Greene and his wife had been close friends of Marilyn Monroe for several years. After she and Arthur Miller were divorced , a stressed Marilyn Monroe came to stay with the Greene’s. Stephen Greene said the same things about Marilyn Monroe that my client Bob had told me years before. She was the complete opposite of her public image as beautiful dumb blonde. First he said she was not a natural blonde, she was dark haired and studio made her a platinium blonde. Stephen Greene had taken pictures of Marilyn Monroe when she was a dark haired model. Next Greene pointed out that she was raised in different foster homes after her mother was committed to the state hospital for mentally disturbed. She had little opportunity for education. When she started modeling, she enrolled at UCLA. The more she was exposed to learning, the more she yearned for more learning. She told the Greene’s about she and Arthur Miller had long discussions about Tolstoy, Balzac,etc. Steve said she was strong supporter of groups that fought for equal rights for everyone. The most unusual thing he told me was that Marilyn Monroe had terrible stage fright. She would become terrified before the filming began. Because of this, she was late for filmings and difficult for the director’s to boss her. Early in her movie career, the Greene’s interceded on Marilyn’s behalf with director’s. Most these director’s were sold on her being an insensitive, dumb, blonde no matter what the Greene’s said.
What do you think of the “real Marilyn Monroe.”?