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Marilyn Monroe

Page 81

by Donald Spoto


  512

  nothing, absolutely: Life, June 1987, p. 70.

  512

  It might have been: Murray, p. 101.

  512

  At 4:00: Daily log for May 1 kept by Cherie V. Redmond, from the Redmond/Melson papers delivered to DS in June 1992.

  514

  Evelyn Moriarty’s meeting with Eunice Murray was told to DS by Evelyn on Feb. 17, 1992.

  515

  Hildi was afraid: Ralph Greenson to Marianne Kris, Aug. 20, 1992: Greenson Papers, Special Collections, UCLA.

  515

  When I left: Ralph Greenson, Folder 4, Box 2: Greenson Papers, Special Collections, UCLA. This material was the rough draft form of what became a portion of chapter twelve of his book Drugs in the Psychotherapeutic Situation, pp. 204–205. MM is not specifically mentioned as the patient, but the only five-week summer vacation he took from 1959 to his death in 1979 was in 1962. With no other woman patient was he so involved, and the language of this passage is virtually a copy of his descriptions of MM in his August 20 letter to Marianne Kris. Even if the patient were not MM, the words and tone of this passage is frighteningly self-referential, not to say frankly sexual. One need not be trained in the fine points of Freudian language to be astonished at Greenson’s lack of discretion.

  515

  By this time: Pat Newcomb to DS, Aug. 3, 1992.

  517

  I had no idea: Milton Gould to DS, Nov. 10, 1992.

  517

  The Weinstein-Ebbins dialogue was reconstructed for DS by Milton Ebbins, Aug. 6, 1992.

  518

  The whole thing: Henry Weinstein to DS, Dec. 10, 1992.

  519

  Peter Levathes firmly denied (to DS, Oct. 8, 1992) the absurd allegation set down by some writers to the effect that he received a telephone call from Robert Kennedy, ordering the release of MM from work so she could come to New York on May 17.

  519

  became more and more: recounted to DS by Ralph Roberts on March 2, 1992.

  520

  We kept working: William Asher to DS, Sept. 25, 1992.

  520

  skin and beads: Quoted in Arthur M. Schlesinger, Jr., Robert Kennedy and His Times (Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1978), p. 590.

  521

  I’d like you: Quoted in Wagenknecht, p. 54.

  521

  Marilyn came: Mathilde Krim, on The Class of the Twentieth Century, A & E Cable Television Network, 1991. Narrated by Richard Dreyfus.

  521

  reveled in that: George Masters to DS, Aug. 8, 1992.

  521

  Regarding the presidential gala: for years there has circulated the rumor that after the reception at the Krim residence, MM joined Kennedy for a tryst in his bedroom at the Carlyle Hotel. “This is absolutely impossible,” recalled Ralph Roberts. After Milton Ebbins and two other guests left the Krim residence on East Sixty-ninth Street with Marilyn, they delivered her to her apartment at about two o’clock, and there Roberts awaited to give her pre-arranged massage. “When I departed, it was almost four and she was asleep” (RR to DS, March 2, 1992).

  Chapter Twenty-one: May–July 1962

  524ff

  MM was attended at home for her ear infection and resulting insomnia by Dr. Milton Uhley, then on call for Engelberg. He billed her for three visits to her home: the evening of May 27, after midnight on May 28–29, and from one to four the morning of June 3.

  526

  What happened: Henry Weinstein, in the Schipper documentary Marilyn: Something’s Got to Give, 1990.

  527

  a dangerous arsenal: Murray, p. 107.

  527ff

  Henceforth, all details of MM’s telephone calls are derived from the complete records of General Telephone and Electronics for the two numbers installed at her residence, 476-1890 and and 472-4830. These were provided to DS through the mediation of producer-director Ted Landreth, who obtained them from Neil Spaatz, Senior Detective with the Los Angeles Police Department and later head of security for Playboy Enterprises.

  528ff

  Details of the telephone calls and meetings involving Weinstein, Feldman, Levathes, Rudin, Greenson and Gang were all set down in nine pages of studio memoranda by Phil Feldman titled “Marilyn Monroe Situation” and dated June 6 through 11, 1962. DS obtained them in early 1992 from a private source. Henceforth these documents are designated “Feldman.”

  529

  Everyone was aware: Walter Bernstein to DS, March 5, 1992.

  529–530

  The accounts of Greenson’s conduct with the actor-writer and another patient were provided by those who for obvious reasons have requested anonymity.

  530

  Correspondence between Greenson and John Frosch of the Journal of the American Psychoanalytic Association in 1957 is located in Box 14, Folder titled “1957 Correspondence,” Greenson Papers, Special Collections, UCLA.

  530

  She was disheveled: The citations from Michael Gurdin, M.D., are derived from the DS interview with him, Sept. 21, 1992.

  531

  with them: Feldman, June 6, 1962 memorandum.

  531

  the medical member: Ibid., June 7, 1962.

  531

  I am convinced: Ibid.

  532

  I went to see: Quoted in the Los Angeles Times on Aug. 11, 1962.

  534ff

  Feldman, memorandum for June 8, 1962, pp. 1–3.

  534

  was made necessary: Quoted in the Hollywood Citizen-News, June 9, 1962, p. 2.

  535

  We’ve let the inmates: Quoted in the Los Angeles Herald-Examiner, June 12, 1962, p. 2.

  535

  Cleopatra was way: Henry Weinstein, in Schipper’s documentary Marilyn: Something’s Got to Give, 1990.

  535

  They just didn’t: David Brown to DS, Nov. 11, 1992.

  536

  Mr. Martin: Feldman, memorandum for June 11, 1962.

  536

  Mr. Rudin said: Ibid., p. 3.

  537

  since April 16: Complaint no. 797856, Twentieth Century–Fox Film Corporation, Plaintiff, vs. Marilyn Monroe, Marilyn Monroe Productions, Inc., Defendants.

  537

  When [Levathes]: Johnson and Leventhal, p. 209.

  538

  she had never: Quoted in Gerald Clarke, Capote: A Biography (New York: Simon & Schuster, 1988), p. 269.

  538

  There’s a future: Quoted in McCann, p. 173.

  538

  She was very natural: Bert Stern to DS, May 10, 1992.

  538

  she said: George Masters to DS, Aug. 8, 1992.

  538

  I’m thirty-six: In Photoplay, September 1962, p. 87.

  539

  To think of: Allan Snyder to DS, May 2, 1992.

  539

  Regarding the so-called “liver and vitamin injections,” the first Mrs. Hyman Engelberg told DS that she never heard of them: “Dr. Greenson used Hy to sedate [Marilyn].” Esther Maltz to DS, Oct. 23, 1992.

  540

  She asked to postpone: Richard Meryman, “A Last Long Talk with a Lonely Girl,” Life, vol. 53, no. 7 (Aug. 17, 1962): 33.

  540

  but she implied: Pat Newcomb to DS, Aug. 3, 1992.

  540

  I have access: Esther Maltz (formerly Mrs. Hyman Engelberg) to DS, July 28, 1992.

  540

  so that I had nothing: Ralph Greenson to Marianne Kris, Aug. 20, 1962: RG Papers, Special Collections, UCLA.

  541

  The calls placed by MM to the Department of Justice are recorded on her GTE bill (documented above under the note on p. 527). Edwin Guthman, previously cited in this matter, provided for DS an account of how the calls were or were not put through to the attorney general, and how Angie Novello fielded them.

  541

  That Angie Novello talked with MM more often than RFK did, see Schlesinger, p. 591.

  542

  Regarding DiMaggio’s visits to MM, s
ee “Joe’s Plan to Be Near Marilyn,” San Francisco Chronicle, Aug. 14, 1962.

  542

  For the history of MM’s gynecological problems and procedures, see above, on Leon Krohn’s notes.

  542

  Regarding DiMaggio’s termination with Monette, see Maury Allen, p. 197, and the Los Angeles Herald-Examiner, Aug. 14, 1962.

  543ff

  MM’s remarks are excerpted from Meryman, art. cit. This was available the week before, on July 27; according to Eunice Murray (p. 116), MM read and liked it.

  544

  What are you: Quoted by Murray, p. 115.

  545

  On plans for The Jean Harlow Story, see Skolsky, pp. 235–236.

  547

  As so often: Peter G. Levathes to DS, Feb. 21, 1992.

  548

  She didn’t want: Ralph Roberts to DS, March 2, 1992.

  549

  There was absolutely: Alex D’Arcy to DS, July 1, 1992.

  549

  I was in Lake Tahoe: Betsy Duncan Hammes to DS, July 22, 1992.

  549

  He loved her: Quoted in Maury Allen, p. 197. Rupert Allan’s interview with DS, July 19, 1991. Privy to the secret wedding plans were, among others, Valmore Monette, Rupert Allan and (documented in Chapter 22, below) Bill Alexander. But MM and DiMaggio intended to keep the wedding secret until after the ceremony, to avoid the kind of publicity that had surrounded them in 1954.

  549

  She was fighting: Susan Strasberg to DS, June 4, 1992.

  550

  Regarding MM’s new will: Milton Rudin to DS, Oct. 31, 1992.

  552

  She was so happy: Quoted in the Los Angeles Times, Aug. 12, 1962.

  Chapter Twenty-two: August 1–4, 1962

  554

  because Marilyn has asked: Negulesco, p. 226.

  554

  a hurricane of glamour: Ibid., p. 227.

  554

  in great spirits: Evelyn Moriarty to DS, Feb. 26, 1992.

  555

  Notes on interviews with Leon Krohn were shared with DS by producer Ted Landreth, who interviewed Krohn for a BBC-TV documentary. MM’s telephone records confirm her call to Krohn (Los Angeles telephone number 662-9111) at Cedars of Lebanon Hospital that day.

  556

  being held by: Cherie V. Redmond to MM, July 30, 1962.

  556

  made her presence known: Ralph Roberts to DS, March 2, 1992.

  556ff

  The dismissal of Eunice Murray was well known to Newcomb, Roberts, Allan and perhaps to Joe as well. See also Guiles, Legend, p. 433.

  557

  Marilyn just: Pat Newcomb to DS, Aug. 3, 1992.

  558

  Greenson’s connection: Ralph Roberts to DS, March 2, 1992.

  559

  “Special Problems in Psychotherapy with the Rich and Famous,” Box 2, Folder 19 (dated Aug. 18, 1978): RG Papers, Special Collections, UCLA.

  560

  I have a Spanish: Bill Alexander to DS, Aug. 27, 1992.

  561

  It was a difficult: John Bates to DS, Nov. 20, 1992. Also contributing to the accounts of that weekend were Nancy (Mrs. John) Bates and John Bates, Jr. A separate interview was conducted that same date with Ronald Snyder, the retired foreman of the Bates ranch, who was also with the Kennedys at the ranch that entire weekend.

  562

  I saddled: Roland Snyder to DS, Nov. 20, 1992.

  562

  I was fourteen: John Bates, Jr., to DS, Nov. 20, 1992.

  563

  Regarding RFK’s presence at Mass, see The Gilroy Dispatch, Aug. 6, 1962.

  563ff

  Greenson and Engelberg submitted bills for August 3. Norman Rosten summarized his conversation with MM in Rosten, pp. 120–121, Allen, p. 203 and Shaw and Rosten, pp. 189–190. The telephone calls to Ray Tolman and to Rosten appear on MM’s GTE telephone bill for that date. The calls to Courtney and Louis are noted by Murray, p. 122. Jule Styne discussed his telephone call to MM with DS on Nov. 25, 1992. Other material from Pat Newcomb to DS, Aug. 3, 1992, and it is also documented in Wilson, The Show Business Nobody Knows, p. 299.

  564

  Engelberg told the district attorney of this prescription in the December 1982 report, the official title of which is: “Report to the District Attorney on The Death of Marilyn Monroe by Ronald H. Carroll, Assistant District Attorney; Alan B. Tomich, Investigator.” This final report was preceded by a series of investigative interviews conducted on August 16 and 20, September 3, 7 and 27, October 1, 12 and 18, and compiled as the Los Angeles County District Attorney Bureau of Investigation, Investigator’s Report, File #82-G-2236. The interviews were conducted by Carroll and/or by Investigator Alan B. Tomich. Henceforth, the full report is designated as “DA 1982,” and the interviews as “InvRep.” The citation here is from DA 1982, p. 25.

  564

  The Engelberg divorce is Los Angeles County civil case #D-617021; additional information was provided by the former Esther Engelberg (later Mrs. Albert Maltz) to DS, Oct. 23, 1992.

  564

  Regarding the prescriptions by Greenson et al.: see Ralph Greenson to Maurice Zolotow, reported in the Chicago Tribune, Sept. 14, 1973, sec. 2, p. 4; the Hollywood Citizen-News, Aug. 7, 1962; and DA 1982, p. 25.

  564

  Regarding the two physicians’ prescriptions for MM, Engelberg made a formal statement to investigators from the district attorney’s office on Sept. 27, 1982, in which he stated that he approved only one Nembutal a day for her, and Greenson claimed to the Suicide Prevention Team on Aug. 17, 1962 that a primary goal of his therapy with MM was to break her drug dependency.

  565

  She was very excited: Jule Styne to DS, Dec. 14, 1992.

  565

  Regarding MM’s deal with Esquire, see the Los Angeles Herald-Examiner, Aug. 14, 1962.

  565

  My husband and I: Paula Strasberg, quoted in the New York Daily News, Aug. 6, 1962.

  565

  There was too much: Murray, p. 122.

  565

  Why don’t you come: Regarding MM’s invitation to Pat Newcomb and their dialogue: Newcomb to DS, Aug. 3, 1992; also Newcomb quoted in the New York Journal-American, Aug. 15, 1962.

  566

  seemingly without: Quoted in Murray, p. 125.

  566

  Marilyn seemed angry: Pat Newcomb to DS, Aug. 3, 1992.

  566

  Greenson billed MM’s Estate for a visit to Fifth Helena on August 4.

  567

  He spent most: Milton Rudin to DS, Oct. 31, 1992.

  567ff

  Regarding the telephone calls to MM from Joe DiMaggio, Jr., he described these to the police on August 9, who included them in their 1962 report on MM’s death: “Interview With Persons Known to Marilyn Monroe, Police Follow-Up Report,” August 10, 1962; interviews conducted by Detective Sergeant Robert E. Byron.

  567

  Regarding Eunice’s shopping, see Murray, p. 128.

  567

  I was there: William Asher to DS, Sept. 25, 1992. Milton Ebbins confirmed to DS that Asher was at Lawford’s that afternoon and had related MM’s presence to Ebbins shortly thereafter.

  568

  Although Greenson admitted in his letter to Kris that he arrived at four-thirty, he wrote that this was at MM’s request and gives no indication of the preceding events of the day, much less of his earlier visit.

  568

  Regarding Greenson’s visit to MM, see his statement to the police, Aug. 5, 1962; Zolotow, art. cit.; and Murray, p. 129.

  568

  In 1975 and 1982, Peter Lawford told police investigators that he placed his first call to MM at five o’clock that afternoon.

  568

  Oh, Marilyn: Quoted in Robert Welkos and Ted Rohrlich, “Marilyn Monroe Mystery Persists,” Los Angeles Times, Sept. 29, 1985, part 2, p. 1.

  569

  The call from Isadore Miller and Murray’s response are reported in The Daily Express (London), Aug. 8, 1
962.

  569

  But it was Greenson: Ralph Roberts to DS, March 2, 1992.

  569

  Regarding Greenson’s calls to Engelberg: Esther Maltz to DS, Oct. 23, 1992.

  570

  I asked the housekeeper: Greenson to Marianne Kris. Aug. 20, 1962.

  570

  this was the first: Eunice Murray to Investigator Al Tomich, Sept. 27, 1982: Los Angeles County District Attorney, Bureau of Investigation, Report File No. 82-G-2236; Murray, p. 2.

  570ff

  Regarding the younger Joe DiMaggio’s last call to MM, see note to p. 567, above. See also his statement to the Los Angeles Times, Aug. 8, 1962, that MM was alert and in good spirits.

 

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