August 4, 1962: Marilyn Monroe Dies

August 4, 1962: Marilyn Monroe dies at her home in Los Angeles. The actress was only 36 years old.

She was born on June 1, 1926, on the exact same day as another Hollywood legend, Andy Griffith. She was born with the name Norma Jeane Mortenson, in Los Angeles, the result of an affair her married mother had with a co-worker. She had a half-brother that she never met, and a half-sister that she met in 1944, and kept in touch with thereafter.

Norma Jeane's mother was mentally ill, and sent her to live with foster parents, giving the child's name as Norma Jeane Baker, using the surname of her 1st husband. She rarely stayed with one couple for long. But, like so many others, she turned to the movies as escapism. As she later explained:

I didn't like the world around me, because it was kind of grim... Some of my foster families used to send me to the movies to get me out of the house, and there I'd sit all day and way into the night. Up in front, there with the screen so big, a little kid all alone, and I loved it... When I heard that this was acting, I said that's what I want to be. 

In 1942, when she was 16, her current foster father was transferred by his company to West Virginia. California child protection laws prevented her foster parents from taking her out of State, so it was back to the orphanage. Since she was willing to do anything to avoid this, the couple gave their permission for her to marry a neighbor's son, James Dougherty, a 21-year-old factory worker. She dropped out of high school and became a housewife.

World War II was on. Dougherty enlisted in the U.S. Merchant Marine, and Norma Jeane got a job in a munitions plant. David Conover, a photographer sent by the government to get morale-boosting pictures of female factory workers, said she should be a model. He got her a job as one. She straightened her curly auburn hair, dyed it blonde, and changed her name to Jean Norman. Although the more familiar name came later, this was basically when "Marilyn Monroe" was born.

Norma Jeane Dougherty, 1944. Photo by David Conover.

Dougherty was against it, but, by this time, she was 18 and making more money than he was, so she divorced him. Dougherty became a police officer, and developed the LAPD's famed Special Weapons and Tactics team -- the 1st "SWAT" team. He lived until 2005, insisting to the end that, "If Marilyn had stayed married to me, she would still be alive, and be a happy grandma." She would have been 79 in 2005, so it's hardly impossible. But she later described her feelings of living with Dougherty as "dying of boredom."

By June 1946, she had appeared on 33 magazine covers, although most of those magazines have long since gone out of business, and their names would not likely be recognized by most people today. She got a screen test at 20th Century-Fox, and studio head Darryl F. Zanuck was not impressed -- but, like a baseball team general manager trading for a player rather than let a rival get him, he signed her because he'd heard RKO Pictures was also interested.

Another Fox executive, Ben Lyon, suggested a new stage name, because he didn't like "Jean Norman," and they agreed that "Norma Jeane Baker" wasn't going to work. He said she reminded her of Broadway star Marilyn Miller. And "Monroe" was her mother's maiden name. So, "Marilyn Monroe." The alliteration helped.

For a year, she appeared in no films, taking acting, singing and dancing lessons, and observing the filmmaking process. On December 7, 1947 -- the day baseball legend Johnny Bench was born -- the 1st film in which she actually appeared was released, Dangerous Years. She briefly played a waitress named Eve.

Fox sent her to the Actors' Laboratory Theatre. She said, "That was my first taste of what real acting in a real drama could be, and I was hooked." She also started an affair with Fox executive Joseph M. Schenck. He was a friend of Harry Cohn, head of Columbia Pictures. Cohn didn't have many friends: When asked why he didn't name his son after himself, he said he didn't want the son to be known as "Son of a Bitch Junior." She wasn't at Columbia long, but that is where her hair was dyed the eventually-iconic platinum blonde.

She still modeled, and did some nude photos in 1949. Eventually, without her knowledge until it was too late, Hugh Hefner bought them, and used them for the 1st issue of Playboy magazine, dated December 1953, by which time Marilyn was one of the biggest stars in Hollywood. He put a photo of her (wearing a ball gown) on the front cover.

She was onscreen for only a few minutes each in All About Eve and The Asphalt Jungle, both released in 1950, when she was 24, but got raves for those appearances. She made 3 light comedies, and, at the height of the Korean War, won a poll of servicemen by the U.S. armed forces newspaper Stars and Stripes as "Miss Cheesecake of 1951."

She stuck to dramas in 1952, except for Monkey Business, playing Cary Grant's secretary, a stereotypical "dumb blonde." Her romantic relationships came and went quickly: Director Elia Kazan, director Nicholas Ray, actor Yul Brynner, actor Peter Lawford. But, also that year, she began what became her longest relationship yet: She met recently retired baseball star Joe DiMaggio.

Already, what would become her patterns had developed: She showed up late, did not remember her lines, and asked for several re-takes, leading directors to brand her as "difficult to work with." They pushed back, bullying her. Her anxiety grew, her self-esteem was shot, and she had trouble sleeping. This last part proved critical: She began taking sleeping pills.

Her real breakout role came in 1953, opposite Jane Russell in a film version of the 1949 Broadway musical Gentlemen Prefer Blondes. Two women with big busts, so the picture was not one. In a pink dress, she sang "Diamonds Are a Girl's Best Friend," which Carol Channing had turned into a hit after singing it in the Broadway production. Marilyn did most of her own singing, but Marni Nixon -- who would later overdub songs by Natalie Wood and Audrey Hepburn, among others -- sang the line, "these rocks don't lose their shape," whose combination of sound and high note Marilyn just couldn't reach.

Later in 1953, she starred with Lauren Bacall and the blonde bombshell of the 1940s, Betty Grable, in How to Marry a Millionaire. She also made her 1st TV appearance, on The Jack Benny Program. Because of contract issues, she couldn't be paid for the appearance. So Benny, whose onscreen character was notoriously cheap, but was very generous in real life, bought her a 1954 Cadillac convertible.

Two beauties of 1954: One blonde, one brunette.

On January 14, 1954, she and DiMaggio got married, each's fame boosting the other. They honeymooned in Japan. While there, Marilyn was contacted by the USO, asking if she could fly over to Korea to entertain the troops that were still stationed there in the aftermath of the Korean War. Joe had no problem with it, so she went. She did 4 days' worth of shows, and, when she returned, she said, "Oh, Joe, you never heard such cheering." Remembering his not-so-long-ago days with the New York Yankees, he wistfully said, "Yes, I have."

After a settling a dispute with Fox, she was signed to star in another film adaptation of a Broadway show, this one not a musical: The Seven Year Itch. For her career, it was a smash. But for her personal life, it was a disaster.

At 1:00 AM on September 15, 1954, a scene was filmed outside the Trans-Lux 52nd Street Theatre, at 586 Lexington Avenue. Director Billy Wilder filmed her standing over a Subway grate, and a passing train caused the skirt of her white dress to billow up. Wilder demanded take after take, which Marilyn didn't mind. But Joe, who was there, did mind, because he thought she was being objectified, and he steamed over the fact that she was all too happy to go along with it. In the final film, the scene is shot from above, and her legs can barely be seen. But on the movie poster, a lot more is shown.

Still, she knew that her fame didn't solve anything. She knew that "Marilyn Monroe" was her greatest role. There exists at least one baseball that bears the autographs of both of them, signed, "Joe DiMaggio" and, "Norma Jeane DiMaggio." But Joe always called her "Marilyn."

Joe was old-fashioned. He wanted her to stay home and be a good little Italian wife. She was not Italian, and refused to conform to his demands. They argued a lot. Supposedly, he even hit her. She had enough, and divorced him on October 4, 1954.

Joe did try to win her back, to no avail. In November, while at a Los Angeles bar with Frank Sinatra, he was tipped off that she was shacking up with a studio executive in Hollywood. The 2 most famous Italian-Americans of all time went to what they thought was the right address, and pounded on the door. They had the house next door, and the woman living there didn't care who they were: She called the police.

It became known as "The Wrong Door Raid," and it strained the relationship between the Yankee Clipper and the Chairman of the Board. The relationship was completely broken when Joe later found out that Frank was making serious moves on Marilyn -- although this was, apparently, one legendary couple that never closed the deal -- and they remained bitter enemies for the rest of their lives.

Marilyn may not have fooled around with Sinatra. Or with Elvis Presley, whom she met on a movie set in 1960, talked with for 3 minutes, and that was it. (It wouldn't have worked: She was 34 and preferred older men, and he was 25 and preferred younger women.) But she did briefly date Marlon Brando, before meeting Arthur Miller, the playwright who'd written Death of a Salesman and The Crucible. They were married on June 29, 1956, and she converted to Judaism for the marriage, just as Elizabeth Taylor later would when she married singer Eddie Fisher.

Just as every studio wanted their own Brando and, eventually, their own Elvis, Marilyn had become so big of a star that every studio wanted their own Marilyn. Jayne Mansfield came the closest. Mamie Van Doren didn't come all that close. Sheree North only matched Marilyn in feuding with the studios.

Marilyn had endometriosis. This prevented her from having children. From 1956 to 1958, a miscarriage was followed by an ectopic pregnancy, followed by another miscarriage. She was 4 months pregnant during the filming of Some Like It Hot, which made her so curvy and bouncy that co-star Jack Lemmon described as "like Jell-O on springs!" (I seriously doubt that this line was in the script: The movie took place in 1929, and it took a few more years for Jell-O to catch on as a popular dessert.) In spite of multiple tensions with the film -- Tony Curtis said she had bad breath, making kissing difficult -- it was a big success, and Sugar Kane remains her best-known role. But she lost the baby.

In 1960, in order to fulfill her contract with Fox, she agreed to film Let's Make Love with French actor Yves Montand. Apparently, they took the title literally, and had an affair. Marilyn became pregnant again, and, since this was kept quiet during her lifetime -- photos of her, clearly showing, were only released decades later -- no one is sure if Miller or Montand was the father. She seemed not to care, as she was thrilled at the idea of becoming a mother. Again, she made it to 4 months, but it was not to be.

July 1960

Truman Capote wanted her to play Holly Golightly in the film version of his novel Breakfast at Tiffany's, but Paramount Pictures wanted Audrey Hepburn, and got her. Instead, her next film was The Misfits, starring alongside Clark Gable, Eli Wallach and Montgomery Clift. Miller wrote the screenplay to give her a juicy dramatic role, but she didn't like the way her character was written. Her drug use was getting worse, and their marriage was doomed. This would be Gable's last role: He died of a heart attack mere days after filming, at age 59.

It was to be Marilyn's last completed role as well. She soon had her gallbladder removed, and was hospitalized for depression. She insisted that she was well, but no one would get her out. Finally, word of her virtual imprisonment got to DiMaggio, and he came and got her out. They started dating again, and she even accompanied him to the Yankees' 1962 Spring Training camp in St. Petersburg, Florida. Rumors of a remarriage made the rounds.

On May 19, 1962, Marilyn appeared at Madison Square Garden for a Democratic Party fundraiser, and sang "Happy Birthday" to President John F. Kennedy -- though his actual birthday was 10 days later. After the show, a photograph was taken with the two of them and JFK's brother, Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy. Rumors of her having an affair with JFK have circulated ever since. Rumors of her also having an affair with RFK are ridiculous, and are usually only spread by people with an axe to grind against the Kennedys.

"My eyes are up here, Jack."

She made this trip to New York during a break from filming Something's Got to Give, but she got sick. The studio dropped hints to the media that she was faking it. The film was running behind, and Fox was already having similar problems with Cleopatra. While Marilyn and that film's star, Elizabeth Taylor, didn't know each other well, Liz sent Marilyn a letter of support, and Marilyn sent Liz a very grateful return letter. But on June 7, Fox fired Marilyn from the film, and it was finally released in 1964 as Move Over, Darling, with Doris Day.

Berniece Baker Miracle, Marilyn's half-sister, had spoken to her on the phone on August 4, 1962, and said that Marilyn had been telling her of her plans for the future. Berniece died in 2014, at age 94, still believing that Marilyn's death was not a suicide.

But at 3:00 the next morning, Marilyn's housekeeper, Eunice Murray, woke up and sensed something was wrong. She found Marilyn's bedroom door locked, but the light on inside. She called Marilyn's psychiatrist, Ralph Greenson, and he broke through a bedroom window and climbed in. He determined that Marilyn was dead.

Popular songs written about historical events often get details wrong. But Elton John, 15 years old and "just a kid" at the time, was right: The New York Mirror, a tabloid my grandmother once told me was "garbage," put the words, "Found nude in bed" on its front page.

According to the autopsy performed by Dr. Thomas Noguchi, later to be known as "the coroner to the stars," Marilyn died between 8:30 and 10:30 PM, of an overdose of chloral hydrate and pentobarbital, both barbiturates, "downers." Given that there was no sign of foul play, he ruled it an intentional suicide.

Others, including her sister, have had their doubts. Some conservatives wanted to blame the Kennedys for "putting a hit on her" for threatening to reveal details of her affair with the President, but the evidence for this is laughable. DiMaggio believed it, though, and hated the Kennedys for the rest of his life.

Joe and Berniece organized the funeral, and kept the Hollywood people away, especially Sinatra. For 20 years, Joe left flowers at her gravesite 3 times a week, but stopped when he found out they were being stolen as souvenirs. And he was incredibly touchy about the subject: He wouldn't sign any photograph in which Marilyn was included.

Having previously been married to another blonde actress, Dorothy Arnold, it seems he had a type: After Marilyn, he dated Lee Meriwether, Marlene Dietrich, Gloria DeHaven and Morgan Fairchild. But he never remarried, and, according to his lawyer, Morris Engelberg, his last words as he died in 1999 were, "I'll finally get to see Marilyn."

Marilyn was buried at Pierce Brothers Westwood Village Memorial Park, in West L.A.. Others buried there include, but are by no means limited to:

* Actors: Her co-stars Jack Lemmon and Dean Martin; Eddie Albert, John Cassavetes, James Coburn, Bob Crane, Kirk Douglas, Peter Falk, Farrah Fawcett, Jack Klugman, Burt Lancaster, Janet Leigh, Karl Malden, Walter Matthau, Carroll O'Connor, Donna Reed, Wayne Rogers, Goerge C. Scott, Robert Stack, Natalie Wood, actor-game show figure Richard Dawson, and Marilyn's fellow 1950s pinup model Bettie Page. Also, her former bosses Billy Wilder and Darryl F. Zanuck.

* Comedians: Fanny Brice, Tim Conway and Rodney Dangerfield. Given the company, it looks like Rodney got some respect.

* Musical figures: Les Brown, Sammy Cahn, Ray Conniff, Alexander Courage, Peggy Lee, Roy Orbison, Buddy Rich, Minnie Riperton, Mel Tormé, Margaret Whiting, Beach Boys guitarist Carl Wilson, and Frank Zappa. (UPDATE: Carl's brother, Brian Wilson, died in 2025, and was also buried there. So was their mother, Audree. Brother Dennis, the drummer, was buried at sea.)

* Writers: Ray Bradbury, Truman Capote, Jackie Collins and Sidney Sheldon.

Marilyn Monroe remains one of the biggest American icons, loved by generations who never saw her alive, giving her a fame that far outstrips her noticeable talent as an actress. Billy Joel mentioned her in his 1989 song "We Didn't Start the Fire," rhyming her name with that of Joe DiMaggio. So did Madonna, the following year, in her song "Vogue." Both songs hit Number 1. Madonna had previously copied Marilyn's performance of "Diamond's Are a Girl's Best Friend" for her video for "Material Girl."

On a 1982 episode of M*A*S*H, set in 1953, Hawkeye starts a rumor that Marilyn is going to entertain the camp, but the rumor snowballs, and he has to find a way out of it. On a 1988 episode of Full House, Uncle Jesse impersonates Elvis at a club where a Marilyn impersonator also performs. On a 2006 episode of NCIS, Abby dressed as Marilyn for Halloween. More recently, on 2 episodes of the superhero show DC's Legends of Tomorrow, Charlie impersonates Marilyn, despite Charlie's portrayer, Maisie Richardson-Sellers, being black.

The 1985 film Insignificance, the four main characters are "The Actress" (Theresa Russell, filming the subway grate scene), "The Ballplayer" (Gary Busey), "The Senator" (based on Joseph McCarthy, played by Marilyn's Some Like It Hot co-star Tony Curtis), and "The Professor" (based on Albert Einstein, played by Michael Emil).

Aside from the sewer-grate scene, the film is completely fictional: There is no evidence that Marilyn, Joe or McCarthy ever met Einstein; none that Marilyn or Joe ever met McCarthy, although one of Joe's former managers on the Yankees was also named Joseph McCarthy; and none that McCarthy and Einstein ever met. Einstein died less than a year after the events of the film; McCarthy, 2 years after that. By the end of Summer 1962, DiMaggio was the only survivor.

Marilyn was played by Michelle Williams in My Week with Marilyn. In 1996, the dichotomy between her private and public selves was shown in Norma Jean & Marilyn, with Ashley Judd playing the former and Mira Sorvino the latter. On September 28, 2022, Netflix will release Blonde, an NC-17-rated film, based on the book by Joyce Carol Oates, starring Cuban actress Ana de Armas (definitely not a natural blonde, but then, neither was Marilyn).

Most notably, there is "Candle in the Wind," a 1973 song about Marilyn and her legacy. In words written by Bernie Taupin, Elton sang, "Your candle burned out long before your legend ever did." This is true: Marilyn has never left us.

In a 2012 episode of the YouTube series Epic Rap Battles of History, Kimmy Gatewood played Marilyn Monroe, against Angela Trimbur playing Cleopatra, the last Pharoah of Egypt.

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August 4, 1962 was a Friday. Baseball legend Roger Clemens and Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot were born.

These baseball games were played that day:

* The New York Yankees lost to the Chicago White Sox, 2-1 at Comiskey Park in Chicago. Mickey Mantle was injured and did not play. Yogi Berra also did not play. Roger Maris went 1-for-4. Frank Baumann outpitched Bill Stafford.

* The New York Mets swept a doubleheader from the defending National League Champion, the Cincinnati Reds, at the Polo Grounds, 9-1 and 3-2. This was probably the highlight of the season for the bedraggled expansion team.

In the opener, Charlie Neal, Marvelous Marv Throneberry and Clarence "Choo-Choo" Coleman hit home runs, to support Roger Craig. Frank Thomas (not the later White Sox slugger) won the game with a home run in the bottom of the 14th inning, off Moe Drabowsky, to make a winning pitcher out of Bob L. Miller. Frank Robinson went 1-for-2 in the 1st game, and only appeared as a pinch-runner in the 2nd game.

* The Washington Senators beat the Boston Red Sox, 5-3 at Fenway Park in Boston. Johnny Schaive hit 2 home runs. Carl Yastrzemski went 0-for-4.

* The Baltimore Orioles beat the Los Angeles Angels, 3-1 at Memorial Stadium in Baltimore. Brooks Robinson went 1-for-3.

* The Kansas City Athletics beat the Cleveland Indians, 8-3 at Cleveland Municipal Stadium.

* The Minnesota Twins beat the Detroit Tigers, 4-3 at Tiger Stadium in Detroit. Harmon Killebrew hit a 2-run homer. Al Kaline went 0-for-3 with 2 walks.

* The Milwaukee Braves swept a doubleheader from the Philadelphia Phillies at Milwaukee County Stadium, 6-2 and 7-3. Hank Aaron went 2-for-8 with an RBI, and his brother Tommie Aaron homered in the 2nd game.

* The St. Louis Cardinals beat the Houston Colt .45s, 2-0 at Busch Stadium (formerly Sportsman's Park) in St. Louis. Ray Washburn pitched a 4-hit shutout. Stan Musial did not play.

* The Los Angeles Dodgers beat the Chicago Cubs, 5-3 at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles. Maury Wills stole 2 bases. Ernie Banks went 1-for-5.

* And the San Francisco Giants beat the Pittsburgh Pirates, 6-5 at Candlestick Park in San Francisco. Willie Mays went 2-for-3 with a walk and an RBI. Roberto Clemente only appeared as a pinch-runner.