Dearly Departed - Tony Curtis

At least now, Marilyn's memory can rest in peace and Mr. Curtis can't continue to make up more ridiculous lies about her and their "relationship".  

Marilyn could not stand him and I trust her judgement :)

Courtesy of CNN - Screen legend Tony Curtis died Wednesday, his family said. He was 85.

"My father leaves behind a legacy of great performances in movies and in his paintings and assemblages," actress Jamie Lee Curtis said in a statement Thursday. "He leaves behind children and their families who loved him and respected him and a wife and in-laws who were devoted to him. He also leaves behind fans all over the world. He will be greatly missed."

Curtis starred in more than 150 motion pictures and was nominated for an Oscar for his performance in 1958's "The Defiant Ones" with Sidney Poitier.

Curtis also is known for his roles in the 1959 movie "Some Like it Hot" with Marilyn Monroe and Jack Lemmon and "Spartacus" in 1960 with Kirk Douglas. He also played the lead role in "The Boston Strangler," released in 1968.

Curtis recalled last year how he landed the plum role in "Some Like it Hot", his most memorable part.

"I got in it because (director) Billy Wilder ... said at that time, 'I want the handsomest kid in town,' and they picked me," Curtis told CNN iReporter Chris Morrow. "Well, that was a great compliment."

Curtis also recalled what it was like starring with Monroe, whom he said he dated for about four months in 1949 or 1950.

"We had a wonderful time together," he said. "We were both very young and hoping to get in the movies."

Born in New York City in 1925 as Bernard Schwartz, Curtis grew up poor in the Bronx as his family struggled through the Great Depression. He took the name Tony Curtis in the late 1940s, when he started his film career.

He was married six times, most notably to film star Janet Leigh.

With his long eyelashes, lustrous shock of wavy black hair and New York accent, Curtis cut a colorful swath through the Hollywood of the 1950s and '60s, marrying three times in two decades and appearing in more than 60 films and TV programs.

He starred opposite Leigh, his first wife, in 1953's "Houdini," playing the title role of magician Harry Houdini. Other major roles soon followed, including "Trapeze" in 1956 and "The Sweet Smell of Success" in 1957.

"Tony even made it seem natural for a Norseman to have a New York accent in The Vikings (1958)," said his official biography. "But it was in 1958 when Curtis and Sidney Poitier starred in Stanley Kramer's social drama The Defiant Ones (1959) which earned both men Academy Award nominations and was among the most acclaimed and profitable films of the year."

Another huge hit came in 1959, playing opposite Cary Grant in "Operation Petticoat."

Curtis once said that his biggest regret was not winning an Oscar, but other awards found their way to him.

He received a lifetime achievement award from the Italian Oscars in May 1996, his website says, and in March 1995 was honored with the Chevalier de L'Ordre des Arts et des Lettres for his work in films and his original art works. Curtis also was honored by the USA Film Festival and the Palm Springs International Film Festival.

The actor worked with some of film's biggest directors, including Blake Edwards, Stanley Kubrick, Elia Kazan, Vincente Minnelli and Nicolas Roeg.

Curtis served in the Navy during World War II and, upon his release, used the GI educational program to study drama, his biography said.

"He first gained attention in a Greenwich Village stage production of 'Golden Boy,' and was quickly offered a contract by Universal Pictures." the bio says.

"His screen debut had him dancing with Yvonne de Carlo in 'Criss Cross.' His few seconds on screen were enough to generate thousands of fan letters to the handsome young man. Universal had the fastest rising star in Hollywood and one of the most enduring prolific actors of modern times."

Curtis led a turbulent life off-screen, divorcing five times. Of the six children he had with three wives, a son died in 1994 from a reported heroin overdose.

Curtis admitted he battled drugs and alcohol abuse during the 1970s and 1980s and sought treatment at the famous Betty Ford Center in 1984.

In later years, Curtis began painting and was known particularly for his portraits.

But it was for his long and varied movie career and his larger-than-life personality that Curtis will be remembered.

"It's a sad day for the entertainment world," family attorney Eli Blumenfield said. "Tony was one of few remaining Hollywood icons. He led a good life, fathered six wonderful children and he was always proud of them. He will be sorely missed."

Dearly Departed - James Bacon

James Bacon has passed away.  Over the years, he has turned his casual interactions with Marilyn into a career.  He appeared in countless documentaries and Larry King specials claiming to have been Marilyn's lover and the one who picked her new name in Hollywood. 

Hollywood columnist James Bacon dies

Reporter rubbed elbows with Marilyn Monroe, John Wayne

By Gregg Kilday

James Bacon, a friend and chronicler of the stars who worked for both the Associated Press and the Los Angeles Herald Examiner during the course of his long career, died Saturday (Sept 19) in his sleep of congestive heart failure at his home in Northridge, Calif. He was 96.

During his 75-year career as a newspaperman, columnist and author, Bacon was a confidant of Marilyn Monroe, hung out with John Wayne, knocked back drinks with Frank Sinatra and the Rat Pack, traded cigars with Winston Churchill and met eight U.S. presidents.

He spent 23 years with the A.P., followed by 18 years at the Herald Examiner. Most recently, he wrote a weekly column, recalling memories from Hollywood's glory days, for Beverly Hills 213, where his last column appeared on June 6.

He also authored three best-selling books, "Hollywood Is a Four Letter Town," "Made in Hollywood" and Jackie Gleason's autobiography "How Sweet It Is," which he co-authored.

Bacon belonged to an era when hard-drinking columnists mixed freely with Hollywood royalty.

In "Four-Letter Town," he claimed an affair with Monroe.

Pretending to be the coroner, he made his way through a police barricade to get Lana Turner's first-hand account of the fatal stabbing of her lover Johnny Stompanato by her daughter Cheryl Crane.

He accompanied Elizabeth Taylor's physician to her home to break the news of the death of her third husband, Mike Todd, in a plane crash.

He broke the story of Wayne's cancer, and he was the first to debunk Clifford Irving's hoax, "The Autobiography of Howard Hughes."

"Jim always made you feel like...he was a pal looking to hang out," Clint Eastwood once said of Bacon.

He was born James Richard Hughes Bacon on May 12, 1914 in Buffalo, New York. In pursuing his career, he was inspired by his father Thomas Bacon, a journalist who worked for William Randolph Hearst and Joseph Pulitzer.

After attending the University of Notre Dame and graduating from Syracuse University, Bacon got his first newspaper job as a summer intern at the South Bend (Indiana) News-Times before moving on to the Clinton County (Pa.) Times and the Syracuse (N.Y.) Herald Journal.

He joined the A.P. in Albany, N.Y. as a general assignment reporter covering New York state politics in 1942. Soon after, he joined the U.S. Navy as an ensign, serving in Panama and breaking Japanese codes during World War II.

He rejoined the A.P. in its Chicago bureau in 1946 and moved to the A.P.'s L.A. bureau in 1948.

Bacon's first marriage to Thelma Love ended in divorce. A daughter from that marriage, Carol Stermer, and a granddaughter Larkin Brooks are deceased.

He is survived by his wife of 44 years, the former Doris Klein; their children James B. Bacon of Granada Hills, Calif., Thomas C. Bacon of Manhattan Beach, Calif., and Margaret Bacon Smith of L.A.; two children from his first marriage, Roger Bacon and Kathleen Brooks, both of Ventura, Calif.; 15 grandchildren; seven great grandchildren; and a sister, Patricia Wilt of Lock Haven, Pa.

Funeral services will be private.

-courtesy of The Hollywood Reporter

New Book - Marilyn in Words, Pictures and Music

This book has been out for several months now but I just got my copy from the publisher.  I was pleasantly surprised by how enjoyable it is.
First, I was expecting a much smaller book when I heard it came with a CD of her music.  Instead it is quite large and there were several rarer photos which I liked.
It is a different kind of Marilyn book.  It is also a book about Hollywood so it might appeal to a larger group.  The authors talk about Hollywood in general and the stars that were famous during various times in Marilyn's life. Of course, it isn't perfect and there are some rather glaring text mistakes.  However, I think the concept behind the book and the great photos make up for that.  It does come with a CD of 20 Marilyn songs.
I expected the book to focus more on her music because of this but it didn't.  It is a unique book that I would recommend even though it features THE MOST OVER-USED MARILYN PHOTO on the cover.

The author had contacted me last year for permission to use a photo of my Marilyn calendars he saw on my website HERE.  They appear on page 107 as a FULL PAGE!!!!
I was very excited to see this.  I was also thrilled to see that MarilynMonroe.ca was listed in the resources section as one of the best websites :)

You can order this book below through Amazon...

Dearly Departed - Kevin McCarthy

Actor Kevin McCarthy passed away on September 13, 2010.  He played Marilyn's husband in The Misfits.  Here is an autograph I was given by a friend.

You can listen to an interview with Kevin in one of my podcasts. The show with his interview can be downloaded here...


Episode #46 My Marilyn Podcast

About Kevin

Kevin McCarthy, a stage and screen actor best known for his role in 1957 sci-fi film Invasion of the Body Snatchers, has died. He was 96.
McCarthy died Saturday in Hyannis, Mass., according to Cape Cod Hospital spokesman Dave Riley.
In Invasion of the Body Snatchers, he played a terror-stricken doctor trying in vain to warn citizens of his small town of the invasion of pod people. He runs into traffic and shouts "You're next" and "They're not human" to people passing in their cars.
The role was so beloved by sci-fi fans, he was often asked to spoof it. He also has a cameo in the opening minutes of the 1978 remake of Body Snatchers and in Slipstream, an Anthony Hopkins film that has several references to the sci-fi classic.
The Seattle-born actor was nominated for an Academy Award for best supporting actor for his role in the 1951 film Death of a Salesman.
A veteran character actor, McCarthy had more than 200 roles on television and in film, and also acted on stage in New York and London.
McCarthy's sister was the author Mary McCarthy, who died in 1989. They and their two brothers lost their parents to the 1918 influenza epidemic and were raised by relatives.
McCarthy attended the University of Minnesota and began his acting career in 1938 with Abe Lincoln in Illinois on Broadway.
An early member of the Actors Studio, he was chosen by Elia Kazan to play Biff, the son of Willy Loman, in a London production of Death of a Salesman. He later won the same role on film.
He had a series of other film roles, including A Gathering of Eagles, Hotel, The Howling and Twilight Zone — The Movie.

In The Misfits, directed by John Huston, he played the estranged husband of Marilyn Monroe.

His television career included roles in The Survivors with Lana Turner, Flamingo Road, The Joseph Cotten Show and Breaking Point.
He also appeared in more than two dozen episodes of the CBS Radio Mystery Theater.
McCarthy is survived by his wife, Kate Crane, and their two children, as well as three children from a first marriage.

-Courtesy of CBC News

The Lost Look Photos

I saw this book on amazon, it is called Marilyn: August 1953 - The Lost Look Photos.  It is scheduled to be released in October, and it looks fantastic. There are definitely photos that I have never seen before. I think photos of Marilyn around this period are some of her best. Plus I love seeing her in CANADA! Can't wait for this to be released.

ABOUT THE BOOK
In 1953, John Vachon, then a photographer for LOOK magazine, snapped dozens of candid shots of Marilyn Monroe in the Canadian Rockies — only two were ever published. This beautiful hardcover collects those unseen photographs for the first time, capturing the sex symbol in intimate, unguarded moments: lounging poolside, riding a ski lift, and snuggling Joe DiMaggio. Includes facsimiles of handwritten letters by Vachon and insightful original essays. 100 duotone photos.

You can pre-order below:

Joe DiMaggio's Personal Notes

I was looking through the 2006 auction catalog I have for "The Joe DiMaggio Collection at Public Auction".  This is where I acquired the Korea Honeymoon Tickets.

I came across a personal notebook of Joe's.  Since he was such a private person in life it is extraordinary to get an insight like this into his feelings for Marilyn.  This was written after their divorce but it shows that Joe still hoped to make a go of it.  Here he tries to remind himself what he needs to do to win her back.

 "No jealousy.  Remember this is not your wife.  She is a fine girl and remember how unhappy you made her.  Happiness is what you strive for- for HER.  Don't talk about her business or her friends.  Be friendly towards her friends.  Don't forget how lonesome and unhappy you are - especially without her."

This really is extraordinary stuff. I had a different perspective on Joe after seeing all the personal items he had kept.  The fact that he still displayed photos of Marilyn in his home at the time of his death was incredible to learn.

Final Article from May 1956 Saturday Evening Post Series

I have finally got around to transcribing a new article in the VINTAGE MAGAZINE section of the website. It is the third and final article in a series by Pete Martin that appeared in the May 19, 1956 edition of the Saturday Evening Post.

If you have any vintage Marilyn articles that you want to share with other fans and you can spend some time transcribing them, please let me know!

5 Marilyn Monroe Tattoos Added

Thanks to Adam, Ally, Jaysa, Shauna and Jessica for sending in their tattoos.  I have added them to the tattoo section here.