Latest Marilyn Monroe Bio Finds Family Secrets, Identity of Father

You would think after dozens of books and a handful of movies about this quintessential sex symbol, Marilyn Monroe, that there was nothing new to reveal. But author J. Randy Taraborrelli has interviewed countless relatives and friends, and his research brings us closer to the truth than any previous book.

It has been said that when the legend becomes fact, print the legend (Thank you, The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance.) However, apparently no one told the author of this book that. He refuses to rehash old stories and rumors and pass them off as research. He is almost a historian in his journalistic approach to documenting her life.

I have hardly gotten a third of the way through this volume and already he has dismissed some versions of her life story and added important new information. His many interviews are carefully referenced wherever he comes across more than one version of a story. He also prints photographs from family albums and archives, never seen before in any prior book.

One such photo is the one that Norma Jeane's (alleged) father, who never admitted paternity to any of his other children. (He had remarried and did not want to hurt his then-wife or children.) While he does bear some resemblance to Clark Gable, personally I think he bears more resemblance to the old silent cowboy star Hoot Gibson.

A family photograph of Marilyn out celebrating at a restaurant with all the other women in her life is another find. She is accompanied not only by her mother, but her her half-sister, guardian and her sister, and 'Aunt' Ana.

The main focus of this biography is the untold story of Norma Jeane's relationship with her mother. This focus uncovers much new material about Gladys' mental illness as well as that of the grandmother. Not only was Marilyn's mother eventually committed to a mental institution, but so was her grandmother Della. Della lived just 19 days after being admitted, while Gladys lived 22 years after her daughter's death in 1962.

One of the revelations of this book is how Norma Jeane wound up in a foster home from the age of two weeks. It turns out that the grandmother, Della, lived across the street from the Wayne and Ida Bolender, who were raising several foster children. Della suggested to Gladys that she turn over the infant so she could go back to work. It was rather like extended day care, with Gladys paying the Bolenders 25 dollars a week for her care.

I look forward to discussing more of the contents of this book at a later date. I am sure to enjoy getting to the bottom (or close to it) of the legend that was Marilyn.

The Secret Life of Marilyn Monroe, by J. Randy Taraborrelli, Rose Books, Inc. and Grand Central Publishing, 2009, 541 pages including appendices. ISBN 978-0-446-58082-3.