DISGRACELAND - Marilyn Monroe (Part 2): The Three Deaths of an Iconic American Actress

Episode Date: May 21, 2024

The conspiracy theories surrounding Marilyn Monroe’s death in 1962 continue to entertain the imaginations of those obsessed with celebrity and scandal. The stories, many of them fantastical and one of them true, feature cameos by the likes of President John F. Kennedy, his brother Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy, and Rat Pack members Frank Sinatra and Peter Lawford. Somewhere in the pile of countless rumors, innuendos, and crackpot theories is a closer understanding of exactly what happened and why the world lost its most iconic American actress at the young age of 36.This episode contains themes that may be disturbing to some listeners, including sexual assault and suicide. If you’re thinking about suicide, or are worried about a friend or loved one, call the Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 800-273-8255.This episode was originally published on May 21, 2024.To see the full list of contributors, see the show notes at www.disgracelandpod.com.To listen to Disgraceland ad free and get access to a monthly exclusive episode, weekly bonus content and more, become a Disgraceland All Access member at disgracelandpod.com/membership.Sign up for our newsletter and get the inside dirt on events, merch and other awesomeness - GET THE NEWSLETTERFollow Jake and DISGRACELAND:InstagramYouTubeX (formerly Twitter) Facebook Fan GroupTikTok To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoicesSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This is exactly right. Double Elvis. This episode contains content that may be disturbing to some listeners. Please check the show notes for more information. Disgrace Land is a production of Double Elvis. Her background. Her explosion into America's consciousness is a sex simple and megawatt talent. Her personal life and, of course, her death and the mystery surrounding it,

is so complex that two episodes were needed to provide. properly tell this story. If you're just getting hip to this now, I suggest you hit pause and go back to the last episode of Disgraceland, part one of the Maryland Monroe story, where we discuss Maryland's early days on the glamorous but rough Hollywood party girl circuit, her massive stardom, and her split with American hero and Yankee slugger husband Joe DiMaggio. We get into Maryland's complex marriage with Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright Arthur Miller and her disastrous turn in Miller's John Houston directed screenplay, starring opposite her hero, Clark Gable. A man many believe Marilyn drove to an early grave with her behavior on the set of what would

become his last film. That film, The Misfits, was also Marilyn Monroe's last film, and despite its notoriously flawed production, it's a great film. Different than anything Marilyn had done prior, but no less great than her comedic turns and some like it hot, the seven-year itch and gentlemen prefer blondes. All great. And that loop I played for you at the top of the show, that wasn't from a great film. That was a preset loop from my Melotron called Mystery Hour MK1. I played you that loop because I can't afford the rights to Roses Are Red, my love, by Bobby Vinton. And why would I play you that specific slice of Copacabana cheese, could I afford it? Because that was the number one song in America on August 4th, 1962. And that was the day Marilyn Monroe died, a day that would

kick off numerous conspiracy theories about the most famous woman in the world, a woman so famous that the world won't let her die. On this episode, party girls, sluggers, playwrights, misfits and the all-time great Marilyn Monroe. I'm Jake Brennan. Most people die once. Marilyn Monroe died three times. Her allure, her fame, her sexuality, it's so strong even in death

that the legions of skeevy middle-aged male hack journalists and bored past their prime Hollywood publicists, the only way to explain her death, and to make a couple easy bucks, is to explain it through conspiracy theory. and for some fans who can't let go, they of course accept these theories. And given just how iconic Marilyn Monroe has become, it's easy to see how these fantastical theories have metastasized from conjecture to accepted fact.

So, on August 4, 1962, Marilyn Monroe died. Then the rumors started, and she died again. And now, we're going to set the record straight and learn about the way Marilyn Monroe died. actually died, the third way. But first, death number one, the probable suicide. Peter Lawford kept calling Marilyn's place in Brentwood. He reached her earlier that evening on the phone. She was in rare form, even for Marilyn. Peter was trying to get her to come by his place, and they were all there, him, his wife, Patricia Kennedy, sister of Bobby and Jack, some other famous friends. And Marilyn had committed to go earlier, but then when she hadn't shown and when Peter

called to check in on her, she seemed pretty well in the bag. Woozy slurring her words. Peter insisted she'd come by. She was missing a hell of a time and they all wanted to see her. Marilyn declined, seeming to fade further away with every word she spoke and to the other end of the phone. Peter struggled to hear her over the party picking up in the background, but he did hear her final haunting words. Say goodbye to Pat. Say goodbye to Jack and say goodbye to yourself because you're a good guy. But with that, the phone went dead. Peter was worried. He called back nothing.

He called his manager who advised him not to go by Maryland's. If something bad was going down, it was best he not get caught up in it and bring the Kennedy name into the drama. Lofford's manager tracked down Marilyn's lawyer, Milton Rudin, who got Maryland's housekeeper Eunice Murray, who was spending the night at Maryland's on the phone. Eunice insisted everything was all right

without even looking in on Marilyn, who was in her room at that moment, dying from an overdose of nembatol, having taken what would later be learned was a heavy dosage of the powerful sedative. At 3 a.m., Eunice Maria woke in the guest room. It was then, hours after her call for Marilyn's lawyer, that she decided to check in on her.

What she found was immediately distressing. Marilyn's door was locked, which it never was, and the phone's cord was stretched under the door, which was odd, considering that Marilyn's nightly pre-bed ritual, included taking the phone into a faraway room and covering it in pillows so as to not let a late-night ring to stir her hard to find sleep. Eunice then called Marilyn's psychiatrist, Dr. Greenson, who instructed Eunice on what to do next, which was so incredibly obvious it's hard to wonder why Eunice needed to call a doctor for instructions to knock on the goddamn bedroom door.

She did, and Marilyn did not answer. And Dr. Greenson decided then to head over to Marilyn's himself, Again, past three in the morning, rather than call authorities or paramedics. When he arrived at 3.40 a.m., he broke the window outside Marilyn's bedroom to gain entry and found her dead, face down on her bed, with the phone's receiver by her head and an array of half-empty pill bottles on the nightstand next to her. At 425, some 45 minutes after arriving, Dr. Greenson called the police. The coroner called it, based on Marilyn's past history of attempting. attempted suicide based on the amount of nbutal and corohydrate in her body probable suicide the cops bought it america bought it joe demaggio did not buy it he later told his biographer i always knew who killed her but i didn't

want to start a revolution in this country death number two operation mute blonde maryland monroe kept calling the white house she couldn't understand why the president wouldn't take her calls. His brother would over at the Department of Justice. What was the big deal? Had he not seen her in that dress at his birthday party? Had their time in Palm Springs meant nothing? She introduced him to her doctor, for Christ's sakes. Had he no gratitude? He didn't love Jackie. Why was he still carrying on the charade? It was 1962. Times had changed. America would understand. She was Marilyn Monroe, after all. She was no less desirable than Jacqueline Kennedy. They'd all see, Marilyn would bring real glamour to the White House. Jack had enough. White House switchboard

operators were talking to backbench press corps and DC bars. Backbenchers looking to make names for themselves by breaking the code, going public with the salacious rumor that the president was carrying on a torrid affair with none other than Marilyn Monroe. Jack couldn't have that. He told Bobby to sort it out, and Bobby called Marilyn, and that was rich, she thought, just like an entitled rich kid to have his little brother clean of his mess. Frank Sinatra warned Marilyn Monroe about Bobby Kennedy. He wasn't like Jack. He was ruthless.

He'd wink at you with one eye and stared daggers at you with the other at the same time. And he was loyal to keeping the Kennedy name clean above all else, above God, country, even above his beloved wife Ethel and their seven kids at the time. And Marilyn didn't care. She took a page out of Frank's book and told Bobby to go pound sand. and she kept calling Jack, who by now, had Marilyn firmly placed on the Pay No Mind list. Marilyn spun out of control. She wrote letters to Jack.

She threatened to talk to the press herself. She took more pills, drank more champagne, and made it a nightly ritual to harass the most powerful man on the planet, with the only weapon she had left, her phone. Bobby was dispatched to Hollywood. Operation Mute Blonde was in full effect. Peter Laffert arranged for the two to meet at his place while his wife, Bobby's sister, was out of town. Bobby and Marilyn walked on the beach while the Attorney General explained gently that his brother was a busy guy, running the country and all, and how shopping for divorce lawyers wasn't high on his priority list at the moment.

Marilyn was crushed. Her vulnerability was intense, as intense as her beauty, and Bobby couldn't help himself. He buried that Catholic guilt deep, and that night. they slept with each other. Now the switchboard of the Department of Justice began lighting up. And similarly, Bobby married, supposed a devoted Catholic and family man, made like Jack and ignored Marilyn, until he couldn't anymore. Operation Mute Blonde, the sequel. Bobby Kennedy touched down at Santa Monica Airport on August 4, 1962.

He would now have to clean up both his and his brother's mess. and by now the mess was spinning Marilyn out of control. Distraught over being rejected by both Kennedy brothers, who, by her account, quote, passed her around like a football, Marilyn began sleeping with her therapist, the esteemed colleague of Anna Freud, daughter of Sigmund Freud, the father of psychoanalyst,

the very married, very concerned about his reputation in maintaining his professional code of ethics, Dr. Greenson. If it ever came out that he was sleeping with his patient, forget about his marriage. The doctor would have faced jail. time for the crime of sexual exploitation by a therapist. Bobby Kennedy knew this because he had Marilyn's home bugged, and Bobby Kennedy knew an opportunity when he saw one. She's your problem too, Doc. Marilyn has to be silenced. Bobby told Dr. Greenson, and you're going to help us do it. And so,

the plan was hatched. Mute the blonde forever. The black unmarked cruiser slammed into the spot immediately out in front of Marilyn Monroe's home at 1-2-305th-5th Helena Drive in the Brentwood. The attorney general, along with his bodyguard and his brother-in-law, Peter Lafford, exited the car with authority and walked briskly to Marilyn's front door. She was expecting them and excited. She had laid out a spread of Mexican food for the occasion. But for Bobby Kennedy, this wasn't a social call. He got down to business straight away. No more calls, Marilyn. Not to me, not to Jack, not to our wives. You bastard, she cried, becoming immediately hysterical. Lofford chimed in and telling her to cool out.

Fuck off, Peter, fucking Aaron boy, what do you know about it? Lofford was used to being put in his place. Part of the gig when you marry a Kennedy. He fell into line. Bobby did not. He told her it was over. All of it. They'd sink her career with the studio.

She trumped his threat with one of her own. She was going to hold a press conference on Monday and tell the world about her relationship with both Kennedy brothers. Bobby got real serious. You will not. Marilyn screamed back at him. She would do whatever the hell. she wanted to. She was Marilyn Monroe, and she wouldn't be treated like this, like an object,

used and abused, and cast aside. It was the same old story her whole life. Attorney General, president, studio head, director, Pulitzer Prize winning author. They were all the same. She was going on and on and on, and it was no use. And Bobby bounced, his bouncer, and his brother-in-law brought up the behind. And they went back to Peter's place, called Dr. Greenson. It was on. Now, meet us at Maryland's. And they got back in the car and beat a quick path back to Brentwood. This time, the Attorney General was spotted by a neighbor walking from the car into the famous Starlet's home. Marilyn let them in, hoping for a reprieve. She got none. The doctor arrived carrying his black doctor's bag. Marilyn went full hysteria. Him too? They were all in on

it. Every last swinging dick, she screamed. She attacked Bobby. He held her down. The doctor, ready with a syringe, pounced. Lafford panicked, nearly pissed his pants. Bobby held Marilyn firm. Marilyn screamed bloody murder. The doctor's stuck his needle into her armpit delivering a fatal injection of nembutal and chlorohydrate. And Marilyn Monroe will be found dead the next morning, with little explanation. But the shot to the armpit explained some things. Like how when the autopsy reported the crucial detail that there was no pill residue in Maryland's system. The effects of the nembutal and chlorohydrate were visible in her system,

but there was no indication that the drug was delivered in pill form because there was no pill residue in her stomach. So how then did Marilyn Monroe kill herself from taking all those pills from the containers on her bedside table? How did she die? Probable suicide? Operation Mute Blonde, aka. was she murdered by the Attorney General? No, and no. No, it wasn't probable suicide. And no, she was not murdered by Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy. There was a third way.

We'll be right back after this word, word, word. Death number three. The Unis scenario. Marilyn Monroe was a lot of things in 1962. The most famous woman in the world, by most men's account, the most beautiful, the most desired, in a Hollywood Trailblazer, but suicidal, she was not. She had reconnected with Joe DiMaggio and renegotiated her latest contract with Fox, and she had roles in the Jean Harlow story and a black comedy with a soon-to-be ironic title,

what a way to go, to look forward to. Despite recent troubles on the set of something's got to give over Maryland's inconsistent availability, she was not, as has been salaciously reported and accepted as fact, hung up on either Kennedy, at least not in any sort of dangerous or reckless way. She never slept with her therapist, Dr. Greenson, either or with Bobby Kennedy. She did sleep with Jack once. These are facts, backed up by evidence, phone records, travel records, personal journals, and firsthand corroborated accounts

that are confirmed by people close to not only the Kennedys, but also to Maryland. People without anything to gain by telling the truth. These aren't publicists or journalists spitting tales together to sell books or command lucrative speaking and interview fees. The temptation of making a quick buck from the what-ifs surrounding Marilyn Monroe and the Kennedys

is just too much. The star power is just too high-wit. Hell, even renowned Pulitzer Prize winner, Norman Mailer, admitted that he built wild, about Bobby Kennedy's role out of unverified sources in his book about Marilyn's death, simply titled Marilyn, copping later to 60 minutes that he'd gone all in on sensationalism because, quote, I needed money very badly. What Marilyn Monroe was in 1962 was dependent, dependent on prescription drugs to level her out emotionally, and most important to help her sleep,

to slay the insomnia and anxiety, and she was dependent on her physician. Hyman Engelberg and her therapist, Dr. Greenson, to prescribe and administer her the drugs. Of the two doctors, she was more dependent on Dr. Greenson, not just for the pills, but for emotional support. House calls were normal, and Marilyn was a frequent guest of his and his families. Marilyn expected Dr. Greenson to be there for her

as a significant part of her emotional and physical support system. She was in near constant contact with him. to get her right when the anxiety and the insomnia had her out of sorts. Dr. Greenson knew what to say, what strings to tug at to get Marilyn to feel better, and what drugs and how much to prescribe and how to administer them. It was a burden caring for one of the most famous but most complex and emotionally vulnerable women in the world. Tonight, on August 4, 1962, Dr. Greenson had other plans, dinner with friends.

A night away from work, and more specifically, a night away from Maryland. Imagine that. An American man in 1962, not wanting to spend time with Marilyn Monroe on a Saturday night. But Marilyn did not care. She'd slept poorly the night before, hardly at all. It was overtired and extremely anxious, worried it would be another sleepless night, and she couldn't have that. So she called Dr. Greenson to come by and administer one of the sedatives he'd prescribed her.

So around mid-afternoon, Dr. Greenson did just that. Hold up. It needs to be directly said that all the details herein that make up the Unis scenario come from the highly credible Marilyn Monroe, a biography by author Donald Spato. His details are derived from hard facts, irrefutable source materials, official medical documents, national state, and local government records, first-hand accounts from studio heads, business partners, friends, service people like her stand-in and her masseuse, her first husband and her step-sister from her young life. In short, people who stand to gain nothing from denying the conspiracies I outlined

in the conspiracy theory involving Bobby Kennedy, murdering Marilyn Monroe, or in the accepted narrative I outlined that explains Marilyn Monroe's death as a quote-unquote probable suicide. So the question then remains, who did stand to gain from the public believing that Marilyn Monroe killed herself? Well, Dr. Greenson had been weaning Marilyn off number of numbers. in favor of chlorohydrate to sedator. From Maryland's perspective, the chlorohydrate wasn't working. Not Dr. Greenson's problem. Not tonight. He had plans. Dr. Greenson claims that he was called by Eunice Murray sometime after 3 a.m., well after his night out. And then he ran over to

Maryland's, found her locked in her bedroom, unresponsive, broke her bedroom window from the outside to gain entry, found her dead, and then called the cops who arrived on the scene at 4.35 a.m. There was only one actual fact in that entire paragraph that I just read you. Let's hear that again. Dr. Greenson had been weaning Marilyn off Nembuttal in favor of chlorohydrate to sedate her. From Maryland's perspective, the chlorohydrate wasn't working. Not Dr. Greenson's problem. Not tonight.

He had plans. Dr. Greenson claims that he was called by Eunice Murray sometime after 3 a.m., well after his night out. And then he ran over to Maryland's, found her locked in her bedroom, unresponsive, broke her bedroom window from the outside to gain entry, found her dead, and then called the cops who arrived on the scene at 4.35 a.m. There was only one actual fact in that entire paragraph that I just read you. And it is this. The first cop, Sergeant Jack Clemens, did indeed arrive on the scene at 4.35 a.m. And when he did, he found Marilyn Monroe's housekeeper Eunice Murray doing laundry. At 435,

A.m. Why was Eunice Murray doing laundry at 4.35 a.m. at the exact moment, the police were arriving to deal with the matter of her dead boss lying naked in the bedroom. Here's another fact. Sergeant Jack Clemens reported that Eunice Murray told him upon arrival that she found Maryland dead at around midnight. Of course, Sergeant Clemens wanted to know why it took Eunice so long to call the police. It was now past 4.30 in the morning. According to the sergeant, it was at this This time, that Dr. Greenson interjected, mansplaining that Marilyn's publicist had to be notified first and that permission from the studio needed to be granted

before the police could be informed. Okay. Within minutes, Detective Sergeant Robert E. Byron arrived and assumed control of the scene. Eunice Murray in giving her statement to the new detective in charge amended the time she supposedly discovered Marilyn's body to say it was about 3 o'clock in the morning, not midnight. Detective Byron found Eunice Murray to be able to be.

evasive and some years later a record turned up in the Attorney General's office of an ambulance being summoned and arriving at Maryland's home at midnight. California law prohibits ambulances from retrieving dead bodies. It must be done by the coroner's office, so the ambulance split. And with its departure, opportunity arrived. Opportunity for Dr. Greenson, who was very much on the scene by midnight to clean up his mess. God damn it, High gave her a prescription I didn't know about. Hi being Marilyn's other doctor, her physician, Dr. Hyman Engelberg. This was the comment Dr. Greenson reportedly made when he made the scene around midnight to Maryland's attorney Milton Rudin, who was also on the scene. Having been tipped off about Maryland's declining state by Peter Lofford's manager, whom Peter had called frantic earlier in the night believing something was gravely wrong with Marilyn.

God damn it! High gave her a prescription I didn't know about it. What was Dr. Greenson referring to? Dr. Greenson was unaware that Marilyn had in her possession, Nimbutal, that Dr. Hyman, High, Engelberg, had prescribed her. After all, Dr. Greenson and Dr. Engelberg were supposedly in close communication regarding Marilyn's prescriptions due to the fact that Dr. Greenson was trying to wean off Nimbutal with chlorohydrate.

When Dr. Greenson came by late that afternoon to sedate Marilyn at her request with chlorohydrate, he wasn't aware that she already had an embutal in her possession. Marilyn then went for a walk on the beach, and then she visited the Lafferts for a brief moment. When she returned to her home, she was in a state of anxiety again, and once more called Dr. Greenson at his home, who is now readying himself for a much-needed night out, away from Marilyn. And Marilyn wouldn't take no for an answer. He must come by and help her.

Dr. Greenson annoyed, relented, and swung by at some point during the early evening. When he did, he tried to console Marilyn but did not administer any more drugs, likely because she already had too many in her system. It needed some time to elapse before taking another dose. The problem was that when the time finally eroded around for that other dose, Dr. Greenson wouldn't be there to administer it. He would be at dinner. So, he enlisted Eunice Murray, the maid, to administer the chlorohydrate when the time was right via enema. Dr. Greenson went to dinner and Eunice Murray went to work and Marilyn Monroe died because of negligence, not suicide, not murder, negligence.

Marilyn Monroe, like a lot of female actors at the time, was accustomed to enemas as a weight loss trend. So Eunice gave Marilyn the enema of chlorohydrate, not knowing Marilyn had already taken Nembutal prescribed from Dr. Engelberg. Once the drugs interacted, Marilyn almost immediately be able to be able to be. began to fade. It was during this time that Peter Lafford called, heard her voice, and became so alarmed. He called his manager, who called Marilyn's lawyer, who called Eunice Murray, who did not check on Marilyn Monroe. Marilyn was likely dying at that exact moment. How do we know this? The amount of chlorohydrate and Nembutal in Maryland's system was enough to kill her, yes, but not by pill.

So there goes the accepted-as-fact suicide theory. And it wasn't enough to kill her by injection, either. So there goes the conspiratorial murder theory as well. The autopsy showed that drugs were in her system, but there was no pill residue in her stomach, and there would have been had she killed herself with the pills from the many empty pill bottles that were placed on her nightstand. The autopsy also uncovered the fact that there was a discoloration of Marilyn's colon, which would have been the case had she been given in Enema. John Minor, Deputy District Attorney in Los Angeles, is on record saying that both he and Dr. Thomas Noguchi, the deputy coroner who performed the autopsy, were, quote, convinced that an enema was absolutely the route of administering the fatal drug dose. And sometime after the chlorohydrain

enema, the interaction with Nembutal would have caused Marilyn's body to expel its contents during the overdose, and that would have resulted in soiled sheets, which explains why Eunice Murray was doing laundry when the cop showed up at 4.25 in the morning. It also explains other lies from Eunice, like the fact that she stated that Marilyn's bedroom door was locked, thus necessitating breaking the outdoor window to gain entry to find her body. The door wasn't locked because the bedroom door's lock was inoperable. Also, carpeting in the home had just been installed and the pile was so high that the door wouldn't actually shut. Additionally, Eunice correctly stated to the police that she found Marilyn dead around midnight, which is the truth.

She later amended the statement, but the statement didn't amend the fact that it's on record that around midnight an ambulance was called and dispatched to Maryland's and then sent away. Also, there is the testimony of Maryland's lawyer Milton Rudin, who claims he was informed of Maryland's death around midnight as well, and made the scene to see and hear Dr. Greenson on the scene claim that, God damn it, I gave her a prescription I didn't know about. And finally, there's Peter Lawford, who claims to see and he said, that he was called by Milton Evans, a producer in their social circle who had been in touch with Marilyn's lawyer, the other Milton, Milton, Milton, Rudin, and told his worries were reality, that, yes, Peter Lafford, your friend Marilyn was indeed in trouble. In fact, she was now dead. Lafford noted the time on his clock at 1.30 a.m. He hung up and called it a night.

Marilyn Monroe was found dead sometime around midnight. The cops weren't called until around 4.30. plenty of time for Dr. Greenson and Eunice Murray to clean up their mess and get the suicide story right, which they did. Unfortunately, America never did get the story right. It's a disgrace. Tom Jake Brennan is produced in partnership with Double Elvis. Credits for this episode can be found on the show notes page at disgracelandpod.com. If you're listening as a Disgraceland All Access member, thank you for supporting the show. We'll really appreciate it.

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