Keith Badman - The Final Years of Marilyn Monroe The Shocking True Story

Contents

D uring the course of my research, I travelled thousand of miles, sat in a hundred different libraries, resided in numerous dissimilar hotel rooms and, naturally, spent countless hours typing on my laptop. Do I regret it? Absolutely not; it was an utter joy. Along the way, I was ably assisted by many different people. In no specific order, they were...

(In the States) Douglas Kirkland, Miranda Bracket, Clive David, Vince Palamara, Mitch Ison, John William Tuohy, Philip J. Weiss, Rob Hudson, Mark Hitchens, Su Kim Chung, Nick Scire, Joyce Duffy, Judy Simms, Donald R. Burleson and (in the UK) Juan Carty. I am indebted to you all.

Plus Ray and Helen Boyer, Peter Ciraolo, Carrie Salafia, Jeff Dalton, John McEwen, Erik Taros, Stephen Plotkin, the guy at the New York Public Library who loves Rita Hayworth, Lauren Daley (of the newspaper South Coast Today ), and the many others who assisted me with my research and made me so very, very welcome during my stay in the USA. Special thanks must also go to the great Bob Boyer (of Sunset Records) who was a superb host/guide/assistant/friend, you name it, during the visit. Thank you all big time.

Gratitude also goes out to the wonderful individuals at the following libraries, archives, auction houses and sites: The Colindale Newspaper Library (in particular Jane Walsh and Victor Bristoll), the truly marvellous medical department at the British Library, the Westminster Reference Library, the BBC Written Archives Centre, the British Film Institute, Slough Public Library, The Kennedy Library in Hyannis Port, The JFK Library in Boston, The Nevada State Library, The Newspaper Archives, 20th Century Fox, NBC Television, the Internet Movie Database, the UCLA Film and Television Archive Collection in California, eBay, The Carnegie Hall Archives, Scott at the truly superb www.MarilynMonroe Collection.com, Monroe collector Syd Stanwell, Greg Schreiner at his excellent www.themarilynmonroesite, Heritage, Sothebys, Christies, Philips and Margaret Barrett at Bonhams.

The same goes to the following who were there either to help or lend support in my project: my webmistress, Anne-Marie Trace (at www.keithbadman.com), Alan G. Parker (for help in putting the wheels of this book in motion), Mark Saunders (for his invaluable insight into air travel and political history), Richard Higgins and John Nolan (at ITN Source), Fred Rivers (in Hyannis Port), Mike Dalton, Wayne Allen (at Odeon Entertainment), Macundray Shukna, Dave Carter, Terry Rawlings, Fiona Early, Maxine Forrest, Lucinda MacGregor, Greg Schmidt, Spencer Leigh, Spencer Peet, Mick OToole, Ross Landau, Brian Luck, Stephen Rouse, Mick OShea and Tasha, Danny Wall, Michael Murtagh, Laurence Moore, Richard W. Irwin (at Reel Radio.com), Pete and Fenella Walkling, Tony and Sunny Dogra, and so many, many others, including the late, great Tom Keylock. I cannot list you all but you sure know who you are.

I am also indebted to the following.

Newspapers, magazines and columns: The New York Daily News , The New York Post , The New York Herald Tribune , The New York Times , Life , The Los Angeles Times , The Washington Post , The Washington Times-Herald , The Philadelphia Daily News , The Times , Daily Mirror , The Globe , The Oneonta Star , Hollywood Today , The Los Angeles Herald Examiner , Variety , Hedda Hoppers Hollywood , Independent Press-Telegram , The Post-Tribune , Winnipeg Free Press , The Evening News , Corpus Christi Caller Times , Fresno Bee , The Gleaner , Gazette-Mail , Ogden Standard Examiner , Lowell Sunday Sun , Journal-American , Ames Daily Tribune , Good Housekeeping , Vogue , Confidential , Womans Day , Ladies Home Journal , Observer , Middlesboro Daily News , Redbook , Films and Filming , National Geographic , Oui , LOsservatore Romano , Gentle and Vanity Fair (October 2008 issue).

Reporters who covered Marilyn back in her day: Walter Winchell, Dorothy Kilgallen, Louella O. Parsons, Sheilah Graham, Hedda Hopper, Maurice Zolotow, Aline Mosby, Ezra Goodman, Mike Connolly, Fenton Bresler, George Carpozi Jr, Donald Zec, William Woodfield, Joe Hyams, Florabel Muir, Allan Levy, Erskine Johnson, James Bacon, Martin Buckley, Ben Hecht, Dorothy Manners, James Gray-Gold, Earl Wilson, Bob Thomas, Scott Carson, Marie Torre, Patricia Clary.

The authors of the following books: The Mysterious Death Of Marilyn Monroe (James A. Hudson), My Sister Marilyn (Berniece Baker Miracle and Mona Rae Miracle), Marilyn: The Last Months (Eunice Murray and Rose Shade), My Story (Marilyn Monroe and Ben Hecht), Mr S.: My Life With Frank Sinatra (George Jacobs), Goddess (Anthony Summers), Marilyn Monroe: The Biography (Donald Spoto), Marilyn Monroe (Barbara Leaming), Assassination Of Marilyn Monroe (Donald H. Wolfe), Marilyn: The Ultimate Look at the Legend (James Haspiel), Marilyns Addresses (Michelle Finn), Marilyn: The Tragic Venus (Edwin P. Hoyt), Marilyn: An Untold Story (Norman Rosten), Norma Jean: The Life of Marilyn Monroe (Fred Lawrence Guiles), The Last Sitting (Bert Stern), The DD Group: An Online Investigation Into the Death of Marilyn Monroe (David Marshall), Marilyn (Norman Mailer), Cursum Perficio: Marilyn Monroes Brentwood Hacienda (Gary Vitacco-Robles), The Strange Death of Marilyn Monroe (Frank A. Capell), Marilyn Monroe: A Composite View (Edward Wagenknecht), Marilyn and Me (Susan Strasberg), Marilyn: The Last Take (Peter Harry Brown and Patte Barham), Cal-Neva Revealed (Philip J. Weiss), The Show Business Nobody Knows (Earl Wilson), Show Business Laid Bare (Earl Wilson), Bitch! (Lady May Lawford), Chief: My Life in the LAPD (Daryl F. Gates), Answered Prayers (Truman Capote), Memories Are Made of This (Deanna Martin), The Dark Side of Camelot (Seymour H. Hersh), Marilyn Monroe Confidential (Lena Pepitone), The Men Who Murdered Marilyn (Matthew Smith), The Marilyn Conspiracy (Milo Speriglio), The Marilyn Scandal (Sandra Shevey), Crypt 33: The Saga of Marilyn Monroe The Final Word (Adela Gregory and Milo Speriglio), The Many Lives of Marilyn Monroe (Sarah Bartlett Churchwell), Coroner (Thomas T. Noguchi), The Unabridged Marilyn (Randall Riese and Neal Hitchens), Violations of the Child: Marilyn Monroe (by her psychiatrist friend), The Fifty Year Decline and Fall of Hollywood (Ezra Goodman), Peter Lawford: The Man Who Kept the Secrets (James Spada), The Peter Lawford Story (Patricia Seaton Lawford), Grace And Power: The Private World of the Kennedy White House (Sally Smith), Timebends: A Life (Arthur Miller), Confessions of a Hollywood Columnist (Sheilah Graham), Nothing But Regrets (Arnold Schulman), My Life With Cleopatra (Walter Wanger & Joe Hyams), the itineraries, diaries and personal notes of both John and Bobby Kennedy and the files of the CIA, FBI and the Los Angeles Police Department.

The producers of the following film and television programmes/reports: Marilyn Monroe: The Final Days (20th Century-Fox), Somethings Got To Give (20th Century-Fox), Marilyn Monroe: Mortal Goddess (20th Century-Fox), Say Goodbye to the President (BBC), The Body of Marilyn Monroe (BBC), 48 Hours Mystery (CBS), CBS 60 Minutes, Larry King Live (CNN), Eyewitness News (ABC), Inside Edition (ABC), Marilyn: The Last Interview (HBO), Legend of Marilyn Monroe (Wolper Productions), Marilyn in Manhattan (Parco International), Who Killed Marilyn Monroe? (Channel 5), Dead Men Talking (Biography Channel), The Marilyn Files (KVC Entertainment), Marilyn: The Last Word (Paramount), Marilyn Monroe: Beyond the Legend (Wombat Productions), Marilyn: The Last Sessions (Les Films/Patrick Jeudy), Sinatra: Good Guy, Bad Guy (Meridian), Conspiracy Theories (Discovery Channel).

This book would not have been possible without two very important individuals. The first is Jeremy Robson of JR Books, who saw instantly what I had in mind and knew instinctively why it was so very different to the rest. The other is my diligent agent, Robert Kirby at United Agents. He was instrumental in shaping the project towards the version you have now. I thank you both.