The Last Days of Marilyn Monroe

by Donald H. Wolfe

  It wasn’t until the last weeks of Marilyn’s life that she began to realize that a web of deception had been woven around her. In July 1962, she confided to Ralph Roberts that she had found something disturbing about Dr. Greenson’s enveloping influence. Roberts wrote to Susan Strasberg, “She was radically turning on Dr. Greenson and Mrs. Murray, the woman he’d put with her, she felt to spy on her.”

  In her inimitable way of euphemistically revealing the truth, Eunice Murray cites the Camelot legend of the Lady of Shalott in the conclusion of her book, Marilyn: The Last Months. She wrote:

  Marilyn lived a myth not unlike the legendary figure in Tennyson’s poem “The Lady of Shalott”—a maiden of King Arthur’s kingdom. The Lady was imprisoned in a tower, weaving into a tapestry the sights of the road below where people passed on their way to Camelot.

  But the Lady of Shalott was under a spell. She could observe life only indirectly, as reflected in the mirror of her room. If she turned and looked directly on the scene below, she would die.

  But the Lady of Shalott fell in love with the dashing Sir Lancelot as he rode by. She descended into the world—and died on her way to Camelot.

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  Zona Rosa

  She came under the influence of many whom she allowed, in childish trust, to chart the course of her life and who led her to a premature grave.

  —Frank A. Capell

  While Marilyn continued to see her psychiatrist on an almost daily basis, a good deal of her time in the fall of 1961 was taken up in legal battles with 20th Century-Fox and preparation for her next motion picture, Something’s Got to Give. Under her old studio agreement, made in 1955, she was earning only $100,000 a picture. In 1962, that was a bargain-basement price for a top star. Most stars were earning at least $700,000, but Fox was demanding that she fulfill her commitment.

  Something’s Got to Give was originally made as My Favorite Wife in 1940 with Irene Dunne and Cary Grant. It had a dated plot: IRIS IN—Wife becomes shipwrecked on a tropical island with an attractive man. She is eventually declared dead; the bereaved husband remarries, but the wife is miraculously rescued and returns to reclaim her husband. IRIS OUT.

  Marilyn didn’t want to make Something’s Got to Give, but Mickey Rudin counseled that Fox could tie up her career in court for some time if she refused. Greenson, who was also now advising her on Hollywood career moves, suggested that she make the film in order to put her Fox commitments behind her. In December 1961, she reluctantly signed to do the film, which was to be directed by George Cukor.

  The 20th Century-Fox archives clearly indicate that Marilyn never would have started Something’s Got to Give if Greenson hadn’t persuaded her to do it. He claimed that it was important “for her emotional health.” Dr. Greenson was not only responsible for getting Marilyn to do the film, but hundreds of documents in the studio archives show that he was deeply involved in many aspects of the production. Phone transcripts detail numerous late-night discussions between the analyst and key studio officials. Throughout the preproduction phase of the film, Greenson remained in constant contact with the studio lawyers, the producer, and even with Ted Strauss, the story editor. Incredibly, Marilyn’s psychiatrist became her de facto agent. She ended her long association with the MCA agency in November 1961, and Greenson and Rudin stepped in to represent her.

  Something’s Got to Give was originally to be produced by David Brown. Under the Robert Goldstein regime, Brown had nurtured the project from the beginning and worked with screenwriter Nunnally Johnson in preparing the script. But toward the end of November, Brown was shocked to learn that he was being replaced by Robert Goldstein’s friend Henry Weinstein, the thirty-seven-year-old tyro of Tender Is the Night. Baffled that he was being replaced by a man who had questionable experience as a film producer, Brown delved into the reason for his dismissal and found that the orders came from the New York office, and that the change had been engineered by Dr. Ralph Greenson. Part of the deal to get Marilyn to sign included having Weinstein as the producer. The deal came with an amazing guarantee: if Brown was replaced by Weinstein, Dr. Greenson would guarantee Marilyn Monroe’s punctuality and that the production would be completed on time. When questioned about his ability to do this, Greenson was quoted as responding, “Don’t worry, I can get her to do whatever I want.”

  “Cukor was furious that Brown was fired,” recalled Ted Strauss. “He needed the most experienced, most talented producer for that film, and Brown was a good choice. It wasn’t going to make any difference whether or not Henry Weinstein, the producer, knew Marilyn’s psychiatrist.” Cukor raged to Weinstein, “So you think you can get Marilyn to the set on time? Let me tell you something, if you placed Marilyn’s bed on the set with her in it, and the set was fully lighted, she still wouldn’t be on time for the first shot!”

  Shortly after Henry Weinstein became the producer of Something’s Got to Give, his friend Robert Goldstein was replaced by Peter Levathes. Levathes was the appointee of Wall Street lawyers Milton Gould, John Loeb, and Samuel Rosenman. All three were associated with the Kennedys. John Loeb had been named by JFK as the Ambassador to Peru; Judge Samuel Rosenman worked within the Justice Department and as a White House labor consultant; and Gould was a partner of Joe Kennedy’s in Rhoades and Company, a real estate investment firm. Gould, Loeb, and Rosenman were less enchanted with the silver screen than with the golden pay dirt beneath the rolling hills of 20th Century-Fox—the land. The back lot, which bordered Beverly Hills and capped an oil field, was worth far more than all the plaster dreams that studded the old Tom Mix ranch. And while the heavily laden barge of Cleopatra was sinking in the black lagoon of corporate ineptitude, the barracudas of Wall Street were mapping out Century City, where the streets of Paducah and the railway station where Marilyn bought her ticket to Tomahawk were to be bulldozed to make way for the Marriott, the glittering towers of the ABC Entertainment Center, and the Century Plaza.

  Following several meetings with Nunnally Johnson on the script of Something’s Got to Give, Marilyn flew east and spent a week in New York before returning to Los Angeles before Christmas. The desolation she perennially suffered during the Christmas holidays was accentuated by something that occurred during her New York visit. Dr. Greenson reported that she had fallen into a state of depression resembling her condition when he had first visited her at her Beverly Hills Hotel bungalow in January of 1960. Greenson stated that she couldn’t deal with “hurtfulness” from “certain ideal figures in her life.” After her return from New York, Greenson wrote, “She went through a severe depressive and paranoid reaction.” Without detailing what may have caused the reaction, Greenson continued, “She talked about retiring from the movie industry, killing herself, etc. I had to place nurses in her apartment day and night and keep strict control over her medication, since I felt she was potentially suicidal.”

  Though Greenson disapproved of Marilyn’s association with her ex-husband, Joe DiMaggio, he resorted to calling DiMaggio for help in the situation. Her desolation was alleviated when Joe again arrived for what proved to be a last holiday visit. Together they bought a Christmas tree and strung up the lights to make her apartment look festive. Marilyn and DiMaggio spent the afternoon of Christmas at the Greensons’ home. On New Year’s Eve, Dr. Greenson’s daughter, Joan, recalled dropping in at Marilyn’s Doheny apartment for a postmidnight visit, where they drank champagne and roasted chestnuts in the fireplace. “DiMaggio seemed doting, caring, like family,” Joan recalled. “As for Marilyn, it seemed to please her to be doing things for him. It was like visiting an old married couple.” Jeanne Carmen recalled that long after the holidays had ended and DiMaggio had returned to San Francisco, the Christmas tree stood in Marilyn’s living room, the decorations drooping from the dead tree, though Marilyn kept the lights burning.

  By the end of the year, Greenson was advising Marilyn on many significant matters: what friends she should keep, whom she should date, what kind of pictures she should make, and even
where she should live. The doctor had been urging Marilyn to buy a house, and Marilyn asked Mrs. Murray to find her “a Mexican house—as much like Dr. Greenson’s as possible.” Mrs. Murray readily agreed, and before long found a Mexican hacienda-style house on Fifth Helena Drive. There were simulated adobe walls, a tile roof, and wrought-iron grills on the windows. The house, which was surrounded by tall trees at the end of a cul-de-sac, offered her privacy. While the home had only one story and the rooms were small, it had a swimming pool. Marilyn swam infrequently but had always wanted a swimming pool for friends to enjoy. With Dr. Greenson’s encouragement, she quickly purchased the house with the help of her lawyer, Mickey Rudin, who also felt it was an excellent selection.

  The house was purchased in January 1962 for $35,000. Marilyn had to borrow money from Joe DiMaggio to make the down payment.* Reportedly, Marilyn burst into tears when she signed the purchase agreement. She explained later, “I felt badly because I was buying a home all alone.” However, she had a friend she could call at any time of day or night, Dr. Ralph Greenson, who lived only minutes away. The house Mrs. Murray had found for Marilyn was in a convenient location. One of Marilyn’s neighbors was Otto Fenichel’s widow, Hanna Fenichel, who remained a close friend of Ralph and Hildi Greenson. By 1961 Hanna Fenichel had become a prominent West Side psychoanalyst who was also active in the Marxist circle within the Psychoanalytic Institute. From her upstairs window at 12403 Third Helena Drive, she could look down on the cul-de-sac and the courtyard of Marilyn’s home. Hanna Fenichel’s property was less than seventy-five yards from Marilyn’s bedroom window.

  In January, Marilyn was invited to Pat and Peter Lawford’s to attend a going-away party for Bobby Kennedy. In his official capacity as attorney general, Kennedy was traveling to the Far East on government business. And as Pat Newcomb was to state in her interview with Donald Spoto regarding Marilyn and Bobby, “Off the record, she came on to him.” Newcomb went on to say, “I mean, some people have written that Bobby Kennedy would have left his wife—are they crazy? I knew Bobby very well—better than Marilyn did in a lot of ways, and you’d have to know him to know he never would have left Ethel. I mean, seven children—come on! I mean, she came on to him, but I don’t think that would have ever happened.”*

  Marilyn told Jeanne Carmen and Terry Moore that she was making special efforts to prepare herself for Bobby Kennedy’s party at the Lawfords’. Greenson generously gave his time in briefing her on possible items of discussion with the attorney general so that Kennedy would be impressed with her knowledge of current events and political topics.

  Not only did Greenson brief her on possible subjects to discuss, but his son, Danny, helped in prepping her. Danny even supplied her with a list of questions to ask the attorney general, which Marilyn carried to the Lawford party in her purse.

  In his 1984 interview with Anthony Summers, Danny Greenson remembered that several weeks before the party, Marilyn was at the Greensons’ home having dinner and made the remark, “Goddamnit, I’m going to dinner at the Lawfords’ place, and Bobby’s going to be there. Kim Novak will be talking about her new house near Big Sur, and I want to have something serious to talk to him about.”

  According to Danny Greenson, she was looking for political issues that would make talking points. “She ended up writing them down,” recalled the younger Greenson. “They were left-of-center criticisms—way back then I was worried about our support of the Diem regime in Vietnam—and there were questions about the House Un-American Activities Committee and civil rights, and so on…. She wanted to impress him.”

  There were those at the party who observed Marilyn’s success. Gloria Romanoff, one of the guests, recalled Bobby Kennedy and Marilyn dancing that evening. She taught him how to do the twist and “Let’s Twist Again” played over and over on the Lawford record player. She added that Bobby Kennedy called his father long-distance and said “Guess who’s standing next to me? Marilyn Monroe,” and he put Marilyn on the phone to speak to Joe. Joe Kennedy, however, was convalescing from a stroke and could neither speak nor walk.

  Journalist James Bacon, who also attended the party, recalled, “Marilyn would follow Bobby around. She was wearing horn-rimmed glasses, and was carrying a notebook, and whenever Bobby said anything about civil rights or whatever, Marilyn took it down. I thought it was strange at the time, but Marilyn always had a kooky sense of humor.”

  It may have been at this time, early in 1962, that Kennedy’s sister Jean Smith wrote the thank-you note to Marilyn that was found among her personal papers by Inez Melson.

  Dr. Greenson suggested that Marilyn take a holiday before beginning production on Something’s Got to Give, which was scheduled to start in April. It was decided that she would go to Mexico to rest and purchase furnishings for her new home. While she was gone, Norman Jefferies and his brother, Keith, would begin refurbishing the house.

  In early February 1962, Marilyn flew to Florida, ostensibly to visit Joe DiMaggio, who was wintering there with the New York Yankees. She also called on Arthur Miller’s father, Isadore, with whom Marilyn maintained a friendship long after the end of the Miller marriage. Marilyn stayed at the Fountainbleu and visited with Jack Kennedy, who, according to White House records, was in Palm Beach on February 6 and 7.

  Mack McSwane, who has worked at the Fountainbleu since 1955 and is now bell captain, recently stated that Marilyn was a frequent visitor to the hotel when the Kennedys were in town, and corroborated that in February 1962, when President Kennedy was a guest at the Fountainbleu, “Marilyn Monroe stayed just down the hall next to the Kennedy suite on the seventeenth floor. Everybody knew about that!”

  From Florida, Marilyn flew to Mexico City and checked into the Hilton Hotel, where Frank Sinatra had arranged accommodations. But what was supposed to be a quiet holiday before starting her film turned into a state of siege. Armed guards were required to keep the press at bay, and Marilyn was hounded by photographers. During a press conference hastily called to mollify the riotous paparazzi, Marilyn drank too much champagne, and a photo was taken that proved once and for all that Marilyn didn’t wear panties.

  Eunice Murray had arrived before Marilyn, and the day after the press conference, Marilyn met Churchill Murray, John Murray’s brother. According to Norman Jefferies, “Churchill was a communist if there ever was one. He ran a communist propaganda radio station in Mexico City and had a number of political contacts, including diplomats from the Cuban and Soviet embassies.” Churchill drove Marilyn and Eunice Murray to the home of Frederick Vanderbilt Field. Field and his wife, Nieves, a former model and mistress of Diego Rivera, were part of the colorful colony of the Zona Rosa, where the left-wing expatriates lived in virtual exile. More than twenty-five families had fled the United States to avoid the stigma of their communist affiliations. Among those in the Zona Rosa colony were Dalton Trumbo, Herbert Biberman, John Bright, George Pepper, John Howard Lawson, and Albert Maltz.

  Field wrote in his autobiography, From Right to Left, “Marilyn’s companion, Mrs. Eunice Murray, was to arrive in Mexico a week early to line things up. I called on her and arranged to meet Marilyn right after her arrival. Mrs. Murray is an accomplished person in her own right. When she became a widow, she had gone into house decorating and also taken therapy training. She had become Marilyn’s part-time companion, chauffeur, housekeeper and sort of M.M. watcher at the suggestion of Marilyn’s psychiatrist, Dr. Ralph Greenson.”

  While Marilyn didn’t know of the association between Frederick Vanderbilt Field and Greenson, they took to each other at once. Field found Marilyn “beautiful beyond measure—warm, attractive, bright and witty; curious about things, people, and ideas—also incredibly complicated.”

  Field soon discovered that Marilyn had become involved with the Mexican screenwriter, José Bolaños, a member of the La Reforma lothario set. Bolaños was dark, lean, and handsome and looked as if he had stepped out of the “Latin lover” list at Central Casting. He played the role well, bombarding Maril
yn with gifts and flowers and serenading her with mariachi bands. But Field regarded him with suspicion. Bolaños hung around with Luis Buñuel, Dalton Trumbo, and the blacklisted red refugees in the Zona Rosa, but he had also been a buddy of writer-CIA agent E. Howard Hunt, who was a frequent commuter to the Mexico City CIA station. Field advised Marilyn to stay away from Bolaños, who Field stated was a “man of left-wing pretensions—deeply distrusted by the real left.”

  Field spent a number of days in Marilyn’s company, driving her to the Toluca Market—often in the company of Eunice Murray and Churchill Murray. They journeyed to the mountain resort of Taxco, where Marilyn was followed by Bolaños. Arriving in the middle of the night at the inn where Marilyn was staying as a guest, Bolaños hired mariachi musicians to serenade her to sleep.

  Like most visiting Americans, Marilyn was pounced on by the expatriates for news of home. Field and Marilyn had long conversations about many things. According to Field’s own statements, she told him a good deal. They spoke of the excitement of knowing the Kennedys, about civil rights, agrarian reform in China, her anger at McCarthyism, and how the Kennedys hated J. Edgar Hoover. “She said that at a party at the Lawfords’ attended by Bobby Kennedy she had asked him directly whether he and the President were going to fire Hoover. His answer, she said, was that ‘they would like to, but at that time it was politically impossible.’”

  She talked a great deal about her marriage to Arthur Miller, and Field related, “She said she wanted to quit Hollywood and find some guy—a combination of Miller and Joe DiMaggio, as far as I could make out—someone who would be decent to her, but also her intellectual leader and stimulant. She wanted to live in the country and change her life completely. She spoke a lot of her intellectual shortcomings, her inability to keep up with people she admired. She talked of her age, the fact that she would be thirty-six, and of the need to get going.”