When Marilyn Came to Forest Hills

First posted here on February 12, 2019 In an article for Forest Hills Connection, Ann Kessler looks back at Marilyn’s week-long stay in the Washington DC suburb while husband Arthur Miller was on trial for contempt of Congress in May 1957. “Monroe wanted to support her husband by coming to DC, but didn’t want to stay...

Jerry Wald: Home of Marilyn’s ‘Clash’ Producer for Sale in Beverly Hills

First posted here on February 27, 2015 The former home of legendary Hollywood producer Jerry Wald is up for sale, reports the Los Angeles Times. Located in Beverly Hills, the Pennsylvania Dutch Colonial Revival-style house was designed by noted architect Gerard R. Colcord and built in 1939. Known as ‘the Barnett House’ after its original owners, it...

Marilyn, Ben Hecht and ‘My Story’

First posted here on March 1, 2019 Born in 1893 to Belarusian Jewish immigrants, Ben Hecht became a noted Chicago reporter and novelist before scoring his first Broadway hit with The Front Page (1928.) He later became one of Hollywood’s greatest (and most prolific) screenwriters. This month, two new biographies of Hecht will be published. The first, Adina...

Marilyn Picked to Promote Max Factor

First posted here on January 5, 2015 Marilyn will be the ‘new face’ of Max Factor cosmetics in 2015, Vogue reports. ‘As an original client of Max Factor’s in the 40s,’ the article states, ‘the beauty company lays claim to transforming Monroe from a brunette Norma Jeane to the platinum beauty icon we all remember.’...

Marilyn’s Lost Archive: In the Spotlight

In my fourth post about The Lost Archive of Marilyn Monroe sale held at Julien’s Auctions on December 6, 2014, I take a closer look at Marilyn’s remarkable career. (You can read my previous posts here.) "A vintage black and white RKO studio publicity photograph of Ginger Rogers inscribed, 'To Norma Jean Baker Sincerely Ginger...

Verdict Reached in Marilyn’s ‘Letter of Despair’ Trial

First posted here on November 27, 2014 The ‘Letter of Despair‘ trial – concerning a draft note (later typed) from a distraught Marilyn to Lee Strasberg during filming of Some Like it Hot in 1958 – reached its verdict on November 19, with a ruling against the plaintiff, Anna Strasberg, reports the Pasadena Star-News. The letter, which was...

Marilyn Cited in Harry Winston Court Case

First posted here on July 13, 2014 Marilyn’s famous spoken line from ‘Diamonds Are a Girl’s Best Friend’ – Talk to me, Harry Winston, tell me all about it – was cited in a recent court judgement regarding the famous American jeweler’s brand name, reports IDEX Online. “Harry Winston Inc. has won a long-running trademark dispute involving the...

Rumoured Kennedy Sex Tape Withdrawn From Sale

First posted here on March 2, 2014 Over the years, many ‘sex tapes‘ have been touted as featuring Marilyn. None, however, have been authenticated – with some being proved as fraudulent, and others hastily withdrawn. The latest – and perhaps most implausible yet – is an alleged 8mm film of a supposed ‘oval office orgy’,...

‘Cleopatra’ and the Firing of a Star

First posted here on September 4, 2013 One of my favourite film-related reads this year has been My Life With Cleopatra: The Making of a Hollywood Classic, a reissue of producer Walter Wanger‘s diaries of the turbulent shoot. Among its many interesting aspects is his depiction of the power struggle at Twentieth Century-Fox, between the...

Rare Negatives of Milton’s Marilyn Set for Auction

First posted here on July 15, 2013 Approximately 3,700 images of Marilyn, taken by Milton Greene, plus around 70,000 of his other photos, will be auctioned by Profiles in History on July 27th, 2013, as Ula Ilnytzky reports for the Associated Press. "'It’s a big, big deal. It’s like selling the recipe for Coca-Cola,’ said...