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“I know that I belong to the public, and not because I am so talented or beautiful, it’s just that I don’t belong to anyone or anything else.” These words of Marilyn Monroe could be the epigraph to any biography of her. She still belongs to everyone and… no one. Marilyn’s ruthless insight is definitely not to be denied. And she was much smarter than she was given credit for. All her life, she’s had a lifelong passion for knowledge. Selflessly studied Stanislavski’s system, which in America is called Method. Was capable of beautiful gestures and noble deeds. For example, to support Ella Fitzgerald, with whom she was barely acquainted, herself offered the leadership of a rather racist club Mocambo in New York that will be in full parade to come every night at her concerts to attract white solvent audience. And this is Marilyn, who was considered the epitome of noncommittal! And when asked how she felt about homosexual relationships, she stated that she approved and supported any relationship where there was love.
She outplayed Sir Laurence Olivier himself in The Prince and The Showgirl. It cost an unspeakable effort and an endless number of takes. But as a result, the famous Englishman turned out on the screen cardboard, and she is alive. All around play learned roles, and Marilyn shines, sparkles, seduces, falls in love with the movie camera, and at the same time millions of moviegoers.
She had everything by accident, by accident, by accident. Accidentally became a star, accidentally married one of the main intellectuals of the New World, playwright Arthur Miller, accidentally charmed the President of the United States, and at the same time the whole world. And each new role as a glass of champagne on a sweltering, sultry day. Whoever is listed there in the directors, the main thing that the movie is Marilyn. She is the last great diva of big cinema, who never condescended to the home television screen. A session with her is always a mystery, an act of love that doesn’t mix well with boring everyday life, hot dogs and talk about recent sales.
She knew everything about life and money. She liked to be pitied. Loved to cry on the vest to the first person she met. She could brilliantly play Blanche Dubois in “A Streetcar Named Desire” by Tennessee Williams. No, it would not be a virtuoso madwoman like Vivien Leigh. More like a wounded animal to pair with Stanley Kowalski’s young predator, Marlon Brando. How much has Hollywood lost that it never managed to bring them on screen together!
Volumes of books and dozens of investigations have been written about Marilyn’s death. The official version is suicide. There are photos of the bedside table with a pile of different medications. There’s a doctor’s report on the incompatibility of the drugs she’d been taking in recent months. In some documents loom the shadows of the two Kennedy brothers, the alleged perpetrators of her death. And even the coat of arms of her only home darkly prophesied “Cursum perficio” (“My journey ends here”). The first and last of her own homes is at 12305 Fifth Helena Drive, Brentwood, California.
Experts once estimated that the money she earned should have been enough for 50 years of trouble-free living, even if she never stepped foot in a movie studio again. In recent days, she had been enthusiastically setting up her new home, about to remarry her former second husband Di Maggio. Her agents bargained her a new, much more lucrative contract with the studio “XX Century Fox”. She was going to produce and star in a movie about the idol of her youth Jean Harlow, another iconic blonde Hollywood, also died prematurely early. So what happened, then? What went wrong?
About it – a new book by James Patterson and Imogene Edwards-Jones “The Last Days of Marilyn Monroe”, whose release was timed to coincide with the centenary of the great diva.
– In genre, it’s more of a biographical novel, written in a style that is incredibly popular in the United States today,” Imogen explains to me. – A life story, a detailed investigation of what happened to Marilyn in the last three days of her life.
Imogene Edwards-Jones is a British novelist, screenwriter, television presenter, and author of the popular BBC series Hotel Babylon, based on her books. For many years she was seriously engaged in the history of Russia and even wrote two novels – “Taming the Eagles: Exploring the New Russia” (1993) and “The Witches of St. Petersburg” (2018). The latter book deals with the rampant fascination with the occult at the Russian imperial court of Nicholas II. In this line of historical research rather unexpectedly looks the main blonde of Hollywood Marilyn Monroe. Moreover, two names are placed on the cover of the book: James Patterson and Imogene. How did they divide responsibilities between them? And what was Imogene’s involvement in writing the book?
– I wrote the whole book. And James Patterson is something of a franchise. The name is a brand that has a huge audience in the American market. Millions of people love to read Patterson’s books without even realizing that he is not an author in the usual sense of the word. He is usually involved in the editing of the book. But he did not investigate or write The Last Days of Marilyn Monroe. He simply lent his name, but that means a lot for the success of a large multi-thousand-circulation book.
– What was your personal interest then ?
– Hundreds of books have been written about Marilyn Monroe. But almost all of them are written by men. A very masculine view of Marilyn as an object of desire, a sex symbol dominates. Everyone writes what she was incredible, irresistible, unbearable … Everyone is interested in her sex life. But much less about what kind of person she was. That said, Marilyn was very intelligent and perceptive. She was the first woman in the movie industry to have her own movie company in Hollywood. She was very good at math and great at figuring out, modeling her image. In short, I wanted to understand and write the truth about Marilyn. After all, she was not that dumb blonde, which we know from her movies. Not to mention she wasn’t naturally blonde.
– Do you think she was a good actress?
– Yes, very much so. You could say she was a terrific actress who strived to… not play anything in the frame. Hence the myth of her 87 takes. But she always managed to get it perfect. Yes, she was late, pissed off directors, partners and crew, but always won. A great example – the famous movie “In Jazz Only Girls” (English – Some Like It Hot), where she got the role of a classic fool blonde. But it was Marilyn brought to this role the charm of defenselessness and tender sensuality, which is not in the script. In fact, it was the sole triumph of Marilyn.
– What new things have you discovered about her life ?
– Immersing myself in her life, it was like I re-lived many episodes, including all the abusive behavior Marilyn went through. Especially as a child. It is known that at the age of 12 she was raped. But her mother tried to keep it quiet. Scarred for life. Unfortunately, it is impossible to find anything particularly new and exciting to the imagination. Marilyn’s life is very detailed and studied. In the book, it is more about a different optics, through which I try to see the story of my heroine. It’s a woman’s perspective.
– There are many interviews with Marilyn and various diary entries. Did you draw on them in writing the book?
– No, to rely on the revelations of Marilyn Monroe biographer or historian in any case can not. In her interviews, she is constantly changing something, inventing, making up or outright lying. For example, when she first appeared in Hollywood, she told everyone that she was a round orphan, that her parents were dead. Or the story of her nude photo shoots for men’s magazines, which at first were carefully hidden from the general public. Or her mysterious disappearance involving her alleged pregnancy and even the birth of a child. It is known that Marilyn once disappeared from all radars for almost eight months. We know almost nothing about this period in her life. Biographers believe that this was due to the fact that she had to hide the pregnancy, and the newborn was given to an orphanage or foster family. But there is no documentary evidence of this.
– Do you believe Marilyn was murdered?
– The only thing we can say for sure today is that it wasn’t suicide. She certainly did not mean to kill herself. Of course, suspicious is the haste with which the authorities of the state of California investigated and immediately closed the case. After all, we were talking about one of the most famous people in the world. What was the rush? Who was interested in it? Or was it a coincidence of tragic circumstances?
ZIMA’s meeting with writer Imogene Edwards-Jones will take place on June 4 at London’s Courthouse Hotel. The host of the evening is Sergei Nikolaevich. It starts at 19:00. Tickets can be purchased by clicking here . Tickets can be purchased by clicking here .
