Read The Last Days of Marilyn Monroe Online
Authors: Donald H. Wolfe
Wood, Ward, 58
Woodfield, William (Billy), 10, 14, 15â16, 58, 79, 276, 414, 442, 462
Worton, William, 223
Wurtzel, Sol, 202
Wyman, Jane, 217, 259
Â
Years of LightningâDay of Drums
, 66
Yorty, Sam, 49, 91, 100, 102, 455
Â
Zanuck, Darryl F., 118, 185, 193â194, 266, 369, 455
fight for 20th Century-Fox by, 430, 432â433, 437â438
MM and, 188â189, 221, 223, 231, 233, 234, 237, 241, 245, 253, 425â426
“Zelda Zonk,” 247, 254, 305
Ziegler, Harry, 371
Zimbalist, Efrem, 171
Zolotow, Maurice, 251, 271
Zona Rosa, 394
This book is the culmination of years of research, not only by me but by many authors, biographers, and investigative journalists. I owe all my predecessors a deep debt of gratitude. Fred Guiles, who wrote the Baedeker of all Monroe biographies, was more than helpful in guiding me through the labyrinthine path of Norma Jeane's story. Milo Speriglio also kindly gave of his time and energies in helping me understand the complexities of the cover-up.
I'm especially thankful to Robert Slatzer and his wife, Debbie, for opening up the Slatzer archives to me. A man of rare wit and dedication, Bob Slatzer was uncommonly generous with his time and energies.
Although Anthony Summers was deeply involved in his own project, he took the time to search through his files and run up giant phone bills in lengthy discussions. I'm most grateful to him for guiding me through the forest of disinformationâcheers!
I thank genealogist Roy Turner for sending me his treasure trove of Norma Jeane Baker files, for extensive hours of conversation and guidance, and for his patience.
Peter Brown, who was supportive from the beginning, also shared transcripts of his interviews and files from the Fox archivesâthank you, Peter.
Greg Shriner, Roman Hrynjszak, Patrick Miller, and the unique members of “Marilyn Remembered,” were very helpful in making contacts with those who knew Marilyn. Their assistance was invaluable.
I want to thank Ted Landreth, the producer of BBC's
Say Goodbye to the President
for his time and generosity.
I owe Kathy Buster very special thanks for her extensive editorial assistance and her frequent attempts to rescue me from the fetid swamp of hyperbolical purple prose.
To Michael Harris, esq., distinguished member of the bar, I owe a deep debt of gratitude for good advice and good friendship.
Lucille Ham and Liz Derby, who burned the midnight oil at their word processors, deserve a million words of praise. I must not forget David Henschel, blessed with the gift of total recall, who was of invaluable assistance. Marilyn's friend forever, Jimmy Haspiel, was endlessly helpful.
I'm grateful to the author James Spada for his assistance and advice. To Gus Russo go many thanks for sharing his wealth of information.
To the staff at the UCLA Special Collections Department; the Psychoanalytic Institute of Los Angeles, New York, and Boston; the FOI office of the FBI; the National Archives at College Park; the Special Collections Department of the University of Texas; the Library of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences; and the Kennedy Libraryâthank you all for your guidance and assistance.
The gold-medal winner of the paper chase is my agent, Alan Nevins of the Renaissance Agency. Alan believed in the book from day one and had the patience and determination to overcome all the obstacles along the path to publication. My special thanks to Alan, Joel Gotler, Irv Schwartz, Brian Upp, and all the remarkable people at Renaissance.
A special word of thanks to Alan Samson of Little, Brown and Company (UK) and Tony Cartano of Albin Michel, who were so helpful and supportive from the first word to the last. And I'm indeed grateful to Michael Murphy of William Morrow and Company. His excellent judgment guided the book through the harrows of the publishing process.
I especially want to thank my wife, Ann, who was not only supportive from beginning to end but had so much to do with bringing about an understanding of Norma Jeane and solving so many of the Marilyn mysteries. Ann was always thereâwhirling the tumblers of truth.
I must express a special sense of gratitude to a remarkable man who became a true friend in the course of my researchâJack Clemmons. A man of integrity, Jack was a rare breed in pragmatic times. What a far better world it would be if there were just ten more people in it like him. He's gone to the place where all men are honest, and it's the world's loss. I thank Jack Clemmons for being Jack Clemmons.
DONALD H. WOLFE
worked in Hollywood as a screenwriter and film editor for twenty-five years. His fascination with Marilyn Monroe began when he met her in 1958 during the filming of
Some Like It Hot
at the Samuel Studios. Wolfe lives in Georgia.
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Cover design by Mumtaz Mustafa
Cover Photograph © by Cecil Beaton/Camera Press/Rudux
Grateful acknowledgment is made for permission to quote from the following:
After the Fall
by Arthur Miller. Copyright 1964 by Arthur Miller. Reprinted by permission of Viking Penguin, a division of Penguin Putnam, Inc.
Goddess: The Secret Lives of Marilyn Monroe
by Anthony Summers (U.S. reprint). Copyright 1984 by Anthony Summers. Reprinted by permission of Sterling Lord Literistic, Inc.
The Life and Curious Death of Marilyn Monroe
by Robert F. Slatzer. Copyright 1974, 1975 by Robert F. Slatzer. Reprinted by permission of Robert F. Slatzer.
Marilyn: An Untold Story
by Norman Rosten. Copyright 1967, 1972, 1973 by Norman Rosten. First published by New American Library. Reprinted by permission of Harold Ober Associates, Inc., and Patricia Rosten Filan.
Marilyn: The Last Take
by Patte B. Barham and Peter Harry Brown. Copyright © 1992 by Patte B. Barham and Peter Harry Brown. Used by permission of Dutton, a division of Penguin Putnam Inc.
My Sister Marilyn: A Memoir of Marilyn Mornoe
by Berniece Baker Miracle and Mona Rae Miracle. Copyright 1994 by Berniece Baker Miracle. Reprinted by permission of Algonquin Books, Chapel Hill, a division of Workman Publishing.
My Story
edited by Milton H. Greene. Copyright 1998 by the Archives of Milton H. Greene, LLC. Reprinted by permission of The Archives of Milton H. Greene, LLC.
www.archivesmhg.com
.
The Prince, the Showgirl, and Me
by Colin Clark. Copyright 1995 by Colin Clark. Reprinted by permission of St. Martin's Press, Inc.
The Secret Happiness of Marilyn Monroe
by James Dougherty. Copyright by James Dougherty. Reprinted by permission of James Dougherty.
Timebends
by Arthur Miller. Copyright 1987 by Arthur Miller. Reprinted by permission of Grove/Atlantic, Inc.
“Unfortunate Coincidence” by Dorothy Parker. Copyright 1926. Renewed 1954 by Dorothy Parker, from
The Portable Dorothy Parker
by Dorothy Parker. Used by permission of Viking Penguin, a division of Penguin Putnam, Inc.
You See I Haven't Forgotten
by Yves Montand with Herne Hamon and Patrick Rotman. Copyright 1992 by Yves Montand, Herne Hamon, and Patrick Rotman. Reprinted by permission of Alfred A. Knopf, Inc.
Song lyrics reprinted:
“Every Day I Have the Blues” by Peter Chatman. Copyright 1952. Renewed by Arc Music Corporation. All rights reserved. Used by permission. International copyright secured.
“I'll Get By (As Long As I Have You)” by Fred E. Ahlert and Roy Turk. Copyright 1928. Renewed 1956 by Fred Ahlert Music Corporation, Pencil Mark Music, and Cromwell Music, Inc.
“Runnin' Wild” by Leo Wood, A. Harrington, and Joe Grey Gibbs. Copyright 1922. Renewed by EMI Feist Catalog, Inc., and TRO Cromwall Music, Inc., for USA. Used by permission of Warner Bros. Publications, U.S., Inc.
THE LAST DAYS OF MARILYN MONROE
. Copyright © 1998 by Donald H. Wolfe. All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the nonexclusive, nontransferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, downloaded, decompiled, reverse-engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins e-books.
A hardcover edition of this book was published in 1998 by William Morrow and Company, Inc
FIRST WILLIAM MORROW PAPERBACK EDITION PUBLISHED
2012.
The Library of Congress has cataloged the hardcover edition as follows:
Wolfe, Donald H. (Donald Hartwig), 1931-
The last days of Marilyn Monroe / by Donald H. Wolfe.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978-0-688-16288-7
1. Monroe, Marilyn, 1926-1962âDeath and burial. 2. Motion picture actors and actressesâUnited StatesâBiography. I. Title.
PN2287.M69W63 1998
791.43'028'092-dc21
[B]
98-36510
CIP
ISBN 978-0-06-220649-7
EPub Edition © AUGUST 2012 ISBN: 9780062237033
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*
This comment by Dr. Engelberg to Sergeant Clemmons has gone unreported for over thirty years. It was discovered in the transcript of a talk given by Jack Clemmons on March 22, 1991, to the Los Angeles organization Marilyn Remembered. He has recently reconfirmed the statement. It has a significance relating to the autopsy. Regarding the digestive tract, Dr. Noguchi states, “The colon shows marked congestion and discoloration.” This heretofore unexplained notation has given substance to erroneous speculation that the mode of death was via a suppository or enema infusion of barbiturates. But according to Monroe's New York internist, Dr. Richard Cottrell, she had episodes of colitis brought about by emotional stress, and in 1961 she was diagnosed as having an ulcerated colon.
*
In his book
Marilyn Monroe: The Biography
, Donald Spoto accused Slatzer of being merely a fan who once met Marilyn during the filming of
Niagara
. However, evidence and statements made by numerous individuals who knew Slatzer and Marilyn during the decades of their friendship clearly establish their enduring relationship.
*
While only the Nembutal bottle was found and inventoried, Dr. Engelberg had inexplicably erred in stating the number of capsules he had prescribed. The records of the pharmacy indicate that the Nembutal prescription was for twenty-five capsulesânot fifty as Engelberg had stated.
*
Amount recovered from total stomach contents.
*
The question arises as to why there was no indication of the puncture mark in the autopsy. There are several possible explanations: 1) It wasn't discovered. 2) It was discovered, but not included in the report because of the problems it presented. 3) The “careful examination for needle marks” occurred
after
the body was opened up and Noguchi was surprised to find that the stomach and small intestine gave no indication of an oral ingestion of the overdose. As Alan Abbott recently stated, “By that time the âY' incision in the chest cavity would have obliterated the telling puncture of the heart needle.”
â
Hall had originally maintained that the Code 3 call to the Monroe residence was between 2 and 4
A.M.
Sunday; however, substantial evidence indicates that Monroe died at approximately 10:45 Saturday night. It was late Saturday night that the neighbors saw the ambulance at the residence. The time discrepancy is perhaps explained by Hall's disclosure that he worked a twenty-four-hour shift (a practice now outlawed by the state of California). His shift began at four o'clock Saturday afternoon. Between ambulance calls Hall tried to sleep on a cot provided by Schaefer at the W. L. A. office. On an average twenty-four-hour shift there were often as many as fifteen emergency calls. Hall admitted that it was easy to become time-disoriented on such a schedule. When asked how he had established the time frame of his call to the Monroe residence, he stated that he may have established the time in retrospect, after reading the account in the newspapers on Monday morning.