Elizabeth Winder - Marilyn in Manhattan: Her Year of Joy

The author and publisher have provided this e-book to you for your personal use only. You may not make this e-book publicly available in any way. Copyright infringement is against the law. If you believe the copy of this e-book you are reading infringes on the authors copyright, please notify the publisher at: us.macmillanusa.com/piracy.

for Mary Angelo

(in order of appearance)

MILTON GREENE Fashion photographer; Marilyns best friend and business partner from 1954 to 1956

AMY FRANCO GREENE Marilyns close friend; married to Milton Greene

SHELLEY WINTERS Hollywood friend of Marilyns; a member of the Actors Studio and Marilyns classmate in 1955

DARRYL ZANUCK Executive producer and studio chief of Twentieth Century Fox

JANE RUSSELL Marilyns friend and costar in Gentlemen Prefer Blondes

JOE DIMAGGIO Major League Baseball player; Marilyns husband for nine months in 1954

CHARLIE FELDMAN Marilyns agent in 1954

BILLY WILDER Directed Marilyn in The Seven Year Itch

JAY KANTER Marilyns agent from 1955 to 1956

FRANK DELANEY Marilyns lawyer in 1955 and 1956

MICHAEL CHEKHOV Marilyns Stanislavski-trained drama coach in 1953 and 1954

SAMMY DAVIS JR. Actor, singer, entertainer, and friend of Marilyns

ELSA MAXWELL Gossip columnist, professional hostess, and friend of Marilyns

KITTY OWENS The Greenes cook; befriended Marilyn in late 1954

GEORGE NARDIELLO Fashion designer; met Marilyn in late 1954

NORMAN NORELL Fashion designer; met Marilyn in late 1954

ELI WALLACH Member of the Actors Studio; befriended Marilyn in 1955 and remained a close friend until her death

BEN GAZZARA Member of the Actors Studio and Marilyns classmate in 1955

DEAN MARTIN Actor, singer, entertainer, and friend of Marilyns

JERRY LEWIS Actor, singer, entertainer, and friend of Marilyns

MILTON BERLE Actor, television personality; Marilyns friend and former lover

CARSON MCCULLERS American writer; befriended Marilyn in 1955

TRUMAN CAPOTE New York author; befriended Marilyn in 1955

CONSTANCE COLLIER English actress and theater coach; Marilyns first drama coach in New York

CHERYL CRAWFORD Influential theater producer and director; befriended Marilyn in 1955

LEE STRASBERG Creative director of the Actors Studio and Marilyns mentor

LEO LYONS New York journalist; befriended Marilyn in 1955

EARL WILSON New York journalist and a friend of Marilyns

ROBERT STEIN Journalist; spent time with Marilyn in March 1955

ED FEINGERSH Photographer; spent time with Marilyn in March 1955

EDWARD R. MURROW Prizewinning journalist and television personality; interviewed Marilyn in March 1955

ELLEN BURSTYN Member of the Actors Studio; Marilyns classmate in 1955

DELOS SMITH Member of the Actors Studio; Marilyns classmate in 1955

MARLON BRANDO Member of the Actors Studio; Marilyns friend and classmate in 1955

JACK GARFEIN Member of the Actors Studio; Marilyns classmate in 1955

CARROLL BAKER Member of the Actors Studio; Marilyns classmate in 1955

MAUREEN STAPLETON Member of the Actors Studio; Marilyns classmate in 1955

LOUIS GOSSETT JR. Member of the Actors Studio; Marilyns classmate in 1955

KIM STANLEY Member of the Actors Studio; Marilyns classmate in 1955

JACK LORD Member of the Actors Studio; Marilyns classmate in 1955

MARGARET HOHENBERG Marilyns psychoanalyst in 1955

PAULA STRASBERG Former stage actress; married to Lee Strasberg; Marilyns surrogate mother and confidante

SUSAN STRASBERG American actress; daughter of Lee Strasberg and a friend of Marilyns

JOHNNY STRASBERG Lee and Paula Strasbergs son

SAM SHAW New York photographer and a friend of Marilyns; they met in 1954 while filming The Seven Year Itch

NORMAN ROSTEN New York poet; friend of Arthur Millers; befriended Marilyn in 1955

HEDDA ROSTEN Normans wife; befriended Marilyn in 1955

MAURICE ZOLOTOW Journalist; interviewed Marilyn in spring and summer 1955

JIMMY HASPIEL Teenage fan who befriended Marilyn in 1955

THE MONROE SIX Six teenage fans who befriended Marilyn in 1955

ARTHUR MILLER American playwright; Marilyns lover in 1955 and her husband from 1956 to 1961

ELIA KAZAN Stage and film director; Marilyns friend and former lover

JOHN GILMORE Actors Studio member; Marilyns classmate in 1955

JOSHUA LOGAN American stage and film director; directed Marilyn in the film adaptation of Bus Stop

JAYNE MANSFIELD American actress and Marilyns supposed blonde rival

TERENCE RATTIGAN British dramatist, writer of The Sleeping Prince ; met Marilyn in January 1956

LAURENCE OLIVIER British actor; Marilyns director and costar in The Prince and the Showgirl

CECIL BEATON British fashion and portrait photographer; photographed Marilyn in February 1956

DON MURRAY American actor; Marilyns costar in Bus Stop

In a dream you saw a way to survive and you were full of joy.

JENNY HOLZER

In late November 1954, a woman who identified herself as Zelda Zonk drove quietly to the LAX airport and boarded the evenings last plane to New York. Accompanied by a young photographer named Milton Greene, the woman wore no makeup, a mans oxford shirt, and Jax cigarette pants under a full-length black mink. She wore a black wig cut in a blunt pageboy and, though it was nearly midnight, black Wayfarers. She lit cigarettes and bit her nails like any other jittery twenty-eight-year-old about to jettison marriage, home, and career in the course of one midnight flight. Soothed by the revving engine, she slipped off the wig, revealing a tangle of fluffy blonde curls.

She was Marilyn Monroe.

As the plane took off, Marilyn watched LAs glitter diminish beneath her and thought about all she had abandoned: Joe DiMaggio and their broken fairy-tale marriage; her contract with Twentieth Century Fox; her agent, Charlie Feldman; her acting coach, Natasha Lytess; her Hollywood apartment and its closets crammed with gabardine skirts and merry widows from Juel Park. As the city shrank to a bright speck, Marilyn began to relax. Milton poured her a drink, and they discussed their exciting new projectan independent film company to be named Marilyn Monroe Productions.

By the time they landed at Idlewild Airport, flush with scotch and excitement, Zelda Zonks true identity had been leaked. Fans and photographers swarmed and screamed, though the temperature had dropped below freezing. Miltons wife, Amy Greene, was waiting. She wrapped Marilyn in a blanket and rushed her into the trunk of a black Cadillac. Lying on her side in the frozen dark, Marilyn listened to the screams fade as Amy began the two-hour drive past miles of forested rocky bluffs to her country house in Connecticut.

The sun rose as Marilyn sank into the violet sheets and plummy pillows of the Greenes guest bedroom. She drifted to sleep, dreaming of her future. Shes safe now. Shes with friends. Shes in New York.

* * *

Marilyns year in New York was a magical time of artistic discipline and self-discovery. It was about looking inward, taking her power back, and determining the course of her own career. It meant being a student again and learning the Method at the Actors Studio. It was also where she educated herself and developed her tastes in literature, music, and art. She formed friendships with writers and intellectuals such as Carson McCullers and Truman Capote. And it was where she began her relationship with Arthur Miller.