ABSTRACT
I’m often asked how well I knew Marilyn Monroe. She was a student of mine in Hollywood in the late forties and we soon became friends. But I cannot say that I knew her. Did she know herself, I often wondered? Sometimes I even felt sorry for her. She was caught in the cruel and relentless treadmill of fame and stardom without being quite able to overcome that menace. She had so much more to offer than merely being a sex goddess, such clear recognition of quality. I liked her and I liked her considerable talents, especially her sense of humor. I thought that later in life she might follow in the footsteps of a Mae West. Many of her films show how capable she was of spoofing her own sex appeal. But what impressed me most were the small and very telling human touches that showed up all the time. I had been told by my colleagues at the Turnabout Theater that Marilyn Monroe came every week with her young agent to see all four of our programs. I think that was during the shooting of her film The Seven Year Itch. And soon she called me, not by way of a secretary as several starlets had done, but announcing herself in her wispy voice simply with, “This is Marilyn.”
