Location: Los Angeles, California
Favorite Marilyn film: “Don’t Bother To Knock”
What do you and Marilyn have in common?
The Basics: Her birthday was one month before mine, and her death was one day after my brother’s birthday. We were both born in Los Angeles, CA. We both started modeling at an early age, and were instantly drawn to the camera lense. We both suffer[ed] from dysmenorrhea. We both grew into adolescence with white-blonde hair. Neither of us are mothers. Both of us have eyes that seem to change colors. Champagne is my favorite alcoholic beverage; it was hers as well.
Inner Similarities: We both place[d] great importance on the quality and learning of our acting skills. We both have [had] intentions to begin our own production companies. The respect of peers is of great importance, as well, but not as important as our own view of ourselves and our talents (if she only knew how greatly she is loved now). We both have [had] a noticeably quick wit. We have both been our biggest critics, at times judging ourselves to a point of depression and isolation. Conversely, we both bring joy into those around us, especially children. We both enjoy[ed] the beach, ocean, pools, wherever there is water to splash in. She and I both have [had] a great affinity for soft fabrics, like silk and fleece. We both love raw carrots. Marilyn enjoyed reading and learning as much as I do, and kept many books around her in her homes (same here!). She loved to laugh, and attended the Dean Martin Roasts and Rat Pack shows often; I am a comedian, and I became one after spending most of my spare time at comedy shows and clubs. We both love[d] to tell stories.
Joe DiMaggio, Arthur Miller or JFK: I wish she could have lived so she and Joe could re-marry (they were planning to!) and actually enjoy their marriage! He really loved her moreso, I believe, than any of her other husbands or lovers. JFK was notorious to those who were closer to him for sleeping around with the day’s most famous sex symbols – Marilyn was just one of them, and she seemed to be the only one who let herself believe it was more than just that.
While Joe was jealous and over-protective, he was still coming from a place of love; Arthur Miller was very open about cheating on Marilyn, and she was torn up inside watching him stare at other women right in front of her. He seemed to me to feel more pity toward her than love. He also influenced her to smoke cigarettes… I do not feel that he was a positive force in her life. Joe is the ONLY one who was always there when she truly needed someone – well, with the exception of that awful night. He was the only person who came to her aid to remove her from a psychiatric hospital when she was wrongly committed by her psychiatrist in New York. Joe is also the only of all of her lovers or husbands to attend her funeral. He kept his promise to her and sent flowers to her grave every week until he died on March 8, 1999.
Joe proved his love to Marilyn through his lifetime of devotion to her. He is by far the closest to a True Love that she ever had.
What has Marilyn taught you? She has taught me to embrace love and life while I can, and that it can all be wiped away at any moment. She has taught me to stand up for myself, like she did when she became one of the first women in Hollywood to negotiate her own contracts with the major studios. Marilyn taught me to help those I can, the way she helped Ella Fitzgerald become the legend she is today. She taught me that women ARE powerful creatures, and that we can exercise our power in a delicate and subtle way – we don’t have to be loud and forceful to be persuasive! She taught me to dress with class and individuality. She taught me by example not to lose myself in a character or role, but to remain true to who I am. She taught me to ask questions of experts, authorities and artists – but she also taught me when enough was enough, and to stop asking. She taught me to appreciate my true friends, and to reach out to them even when I feel that I can’t.
‘To me, Marilyn is… a human being who left us with her memory, her story, for us to learn what we can, for us to strive within our own lives for our own passions and dreams… She is a legendary beacon to all those who wish for others, so that we may follow in her footsteps and assist our fellow men and women, that we might accept our own equality with every race and creed and learn to help one another and not fight constantly… She inspires us to laugh, to feel glamorous, to love and be loved… She teaches us to appreciate the little things, even if it’s just the brush of silk against our skin, or the warmth of someone’s hand on yours… Marilyn is a constant reminder in every household to strive to be the best you can at what you dream of doing. Marilyn simply IS LOVE – love of yourself, love of others, love of life. Tell someone they are beautiful – because truly, they are.‘
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