On August 5th 1962 the world was shaken by the announcement that Hollywood icon and universal sex symbol Marilyn Monroe was dead. Apparently she had taken an overdose of barbiturates and was discovered by her housekeeper, Eunice Murray, late the previous night. Details surrounding her death were strangely scant as the media saw fit to celebrate her life rather than mourn her passing. Marilyn had a history of mental health problems, she had had a rough ride recently and to dish the dirt was not befitting of a celebrity of her status. What the media didn't bank on was how much the world actually loved Marilyn. The public wanted details. Besides which something didn't ring true. Marilyn may have been through a bad period but the past few months had seen her life arc take an upward turn. She was once again seeing the love of her life, Joe DiMaggio, and they were planning to be married on August 8th Twentieth Century Fox had reinstated her contract and she had been offered an unprecedented $250,000 to complete her role in Something's Got To Give. Marilyn appeared to be happier than she had been in years.
Slowly the circumstances surrounding her death began to leak into public domain. It simply didn't compute. Firstly if she had taken such enormous quantities of pills - there were at least eight empty containers at here bedside - why then was there not trace of pill residue found in her stomach? Why was there bruising on her body? Why had the body been moved? Why did it take so long before the police were informed. And why when they got there was Eunice Murray already laundering Marilyn's bed sheets? Why were her diaries, letters and telephone tapes all missing? Even her Fox contacts were missing, for God's sake. And, most importantly, why did Robert Kennedy call on her that very evening and reportedly have an argument?
Marilyn's death has been the bane of conspiracy theorists the world over. There are plenty of nut-job theories but even the majority of them share one simple and very important thread - John and Robert Kennedy; both of whom were alleged to have had affairs with Marilyn. They were renowned socialites and enjoyed the company of Hollywood's biggest and baddest stars. Indeed, doomed rat-packer Peter Lawford was an in-law. They partied with the likes of Frank Sinatra and Bing Crosby and took every advantage of their showbiz connections to enhance their profiles, appearing in photo-spreads in the company of Tinseltown's finest. It was good PR and the Kennedy dynasty needed all the good publicity they could garner. What's more, it was working. JFK was and still is the most popular US President of all time. Having the most beautiful woman in the world at your dinner table or singing Happy Birthday to you in public was surely the icing on the cake. But somewhere along the line things started getting messy. The rumour mill was closing in. Marilyn was suspected of being more than an acquaintance, more than a close friend. Something had to give. Then rumours emerged that Marilyn was calling a press conference and claimed she was going to 'blow the lid off of Washington.' It was time to cut her loose.
In 1985 the US TV programme 20/20 pulled the broadcast of a British-made award-winning documentary, Say Goodbye To The President, and Geraldo Rivera was sacked for protesting against its censorship. The film virtually confirmed that Marilyn Monroe did indeed have affairs with both JFK and RFK. This was twenty-three years after her death, twenty-two years after JFK's assassination and 17 years after the assassination of Robert Kennedy. Need we say more?
By: Diane Holloway, Ph.D.
By: David Morrell
By: Jay Margolis
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