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Jumat, 16 Maret 2012

Marilyn Monroe's Romantic Links to Frank Sinatra and JFK

Marilyn has been linked romantically with both Sinatra and JFK.

Marilyn Monroe's Romantic Links to Frank Sinatra and JFK

Sometime after her split with Arthur Miller, Marilyn began dating Frank Sinatra and became an unofficial member of Sinatra's "Rat Pack," that group of show-business cronies with whom the legendary singer maintained close personal and professional ties.
Core members of the Rat Pack included Dean Martin, Sammy Davis, Jr., Peter Lawford, and Joey Bishop.
Marilyn had known Sinatra for many years, and some biographers speculate that the two may have enjoyed a relationship years earlier, though no hard evidence exists to support this.
Their friendship was probably renewed during the shooting of The Misfits, when Marilyn was flown to Los Angeles after her breakdown. Supposedly, Sinatra called to inquire about her health and wish her well.
Earlier, he had invited the cast of The Misfits to watch him perform at the Cal-Neva Lodge. Sinatra was in the process of purchasing the lodge, which was located near Lake Tahoe, directly on the border of California and Nevada.
Marilyn would visit the lodge several times over the remaining two years of her life. (The singer would later sell the business, when his link with organized crime was leaked to the press and the public.)
Sinatra gave Marilyn a small white poodle to replace the dog she lost in the divorce with Miller. Marilyn, who always had a spirited sense of humor, called the dog "Maf," which was short for Mafia.
Marilyn had known actor Peter Lawford
since her starlet days, when he had escorted her to a few Hollywood functions.
Her association with both Sinatra and Lawford undoubtedly brought her into contact with John Kennedy, perhaps as early as July of 1960, when the young senator clinched the Democratic nomination for president. At the time, Lawford was married to Pat Kennedy, JFK's younger sister.
According to some accounts, Marilyn was one of those in attendance at the L.A. Coliseum when John Kennedy made his acceptance speech, and she appeared at the celebration bash at Romanoffs restaurant afterward. There she was introduced to the next President of the United States.
However, a few biographers maintain that she had met Kennedy as far back as 1951, when the two had attended a couple of parties in Los Angeles thrown by agent Charles Feldman; such claims are not substantiated by hard evidence or credible eyewitness accounts.
Lawford's third wife, Deborah Gould, has stated that Kennedy first met Marilyn during the 1960 presidential campaign but that the meeting occurred a few months prior to Kennedy's July nomination.
Whatever the case, it is generally accepted that Marilyn Monroe and John Kennedy were engaged in a love affair throughout 1961, if not earlier. A November 1960 column by Art Buchwald supports these theories.
Titled "Let's Be Firm on Monroe Doctrine," the item read, "Who will be the next ambassador to Monroe? This is one of the many problems President-elect Kennedy will have to work on in January. Obviously you can't leave Monroe adrift. There are too many greedy people eyeing her, and now that Ambassador Miller has left she could flounder around without any direction."
In the next section, you'll learn about Marilyn's final days and untimely death.

Jumat, 09 Maret 2012

The Cult of Marilyn Monroe Celebrity

I have had Marilyn Monroe on the brain recently due to two rather under-publicized tidbits:

  1. Michelle Williams (1980 – ) will be playing Marilyn in an upcoming movie My Week With Marilyn, about the tense filming of The Prince and the Showgirl (1957) with Laurence Olivier; and
  2. WWD recently informed me that Authentic Brands Group, LLC has bought the “intellectual property” of Marilyn Monroe — that is, the rights to use her name and image for advertising any product they see fit.
Now I understand that celebrities have been an integral part of marketing products they may or may not actually use themselves for decades, if not hundreds of years. But the Marilyn obsession, like Cleopatra, has been particularly enduring. Droves of women, beautiful in their own rights, have latched onto literal comparisons between themselves and Marilyn. Madonna (1958 – ) was particularly Marilyn-like in her late ’80s, early ’90s incarnations of herself:
Madonna vs Marilyn Monroe in white dress
And she created a video homage to Ms. Monroe by recreating her own version of “Diamonds Are A Girl’s Best Friend” from Gentlemen Prefer Blondes (1953):

Lindsay Lohan (1986 – ) and photographer Bert Stern (1929 – ) likewise recreated the famous “Last Sitting” photo shoot Stern himself took of Marilyn just weeks before Marilyn’s premature death, practically shot-for-shot for 2008 New York Magazine (see all photos here):
Lindsay Lohan for New York Magazine, 2008
Compare to the original:
Marilyn Monroe shot by Bert Stern in Last Sitting, 1962
I find the following photo from the Lohan shoot especially interesting, in that she is looking at herself in the process of being made to resemble a dead woman idolized for her body and face, who turned to alcohol and pills to cope with the pressure of being the woman “every woman wants to be and every man wants.” This might be especially poignant for Lohan, as another young pop culture figure whose substance abuse was probably fueled and certainly facilitated by her celebrity. Lohan so identifies with Marilyn that her clothing line 6126 (best known for its leggings) references Marilyn’s birth date.
Paris Hilton for 2008 premiere

Sabtu, 03 Maret 2012

JFK and Marilyn Monroe: The Story Behind the Image

It was one of the most famous performances in American history -- Marilyn Monroe's version of "Happy Birthday" to President John F. Kennedy at a democratic fundraiser on May 19, 1962.
But it was a moment after Monroe sang at Madison Square Garden in honor of the president's 45th birthday that is attracting attention.
A black and white image, which is now up for sale, is the only known photograph of Kennedy and Monroe together, perhaps because of the rumors of an affair that have swirled for 50 years.
In the photo Monroe, wearing the same dress she performed in, is speaking to President Kennedy, whose head is tilted slightly and looking down while listening to her. His brother, Robert Kennedy, is standing next to the pair looking on.
Singer Harry Belafonte is in the background and historian Arthur Schlesinger Jr., who served as an advisor in the Kennedy White House, is standing off to the side smiling.
The photo was snapped at a private party at the Manhattan home of Arthur and Mathilde Krim, according to filmmaker Keya Morgan who owns the print. He said the existence of the image was kept a secret for decades.

JFK and Marilyn Monroe: The Story Behind the Image
ABC News
A black and white image, which is now up for... View Full Caption
"The Secret Service had specific instructions not to photograph President Kennedy and Marilyn together because it would have been a national scandal," Morgan said.
The only photographer that was allowed into the party was Cecil Stoughton, the White House photographer and the person who snapped the photo.
Stoughton took several photos at the party, but once President Kennedy saw the camera, he turned his head towards the wall, Morgan said.
Later the Secret Service asked Stoughton to give them all of his photos of Kennedy and Monroe.

Secret Service Asks For All of the Photographs

"He handed over all those negatives and photos. There [were] multiple ones," Morgan said. "And the only one that survived, ever, was that one that was in the dryer, you know, where they were drying the negative, and he kept it a secret for decades, decades and decades."
Morgan said he believes Stoughton kept the image a secret for all those years out of politeness for Jackie Kennedy, the president's wife.
"He was very close with Jackie and he said he did not want to do anything to really hurt her and upset her," Morgan said.
The filmmaker bought the photo and dozens of other lesser known images from Stoughton for approximately $50,000 for a documentary about Monroe sometime in the early 2000s.
The image of the Kennedy brothers and Monroe is only one of 10 prints that exists from the negative. Morgan is now selling it for $23,000. He will also sell one of Monroe's rings and her watch, which was made from three types of gold, for $275,000.
"You know, Marilyn died within months. President Kennedy died the next year and Bobby a few years from that. So what a haunting photograph, and it's the only one of any of them together," Morgan said.