Marilyn Revealed by Ted Schwarz

From the Publisher

"The first comprehensive look at the life of Marilyn Monroe to appear in years, this biography that benefits from interviews with many of the actress's friends and acquaintances who have remained silent until now, as well as access to the FBI files of such figures as Clark Gable, Sam Giancana, Frank Sinatra and Monroe herself. Ted Schwarz demystifies the woman whose own autobiography, mythologized her childhood as one of serial abandonment and sexual abuse. Schwarz's research reveals that Monroe's childhood in the person of Norma Jean Mortenson was in fact fairly conventional and confirms that she was a virgin until her first marriage at the age of sixteen to sailor Jim Dougherty." "Still, Schwarz reveals a woman who was pathologically insecure in her relationships with men marrying three times and often finding no line of distinction as she moved from one affair to another. As Schwarz notes almost matter-of-factly, for example, Marilyn celebrated her engagement to baseball great Joe DiMaggio by going to bed with film director Elia Kazan. Upon returning from her honeymoon with DiMaggio, she immediately announced to friends her intention to marry playwright Arthur Miller - much to the surprise of Miller and his wife. Her only "constant lover," Schwarz contends, was the camera, whether she was posing for a glamour still or acting in one of her twenty nine films." Finally, Schwarz puts together the pieces of Marilyn's final days, spent in the company of Peter Lawford and his brother-in-law Robert F. Kennedy, who were the guardians of her affair with President John F. Kennedy. He debunks conspiracy theories surrounding the circumstances of her death and acknowledges a wide spreadPrincess Diana-like sentiment that 'her life was cut short before she could fully blossom."

Publishers Weekly

Penning a Marilyn Monroe biography in 2009 is no easy task, following shelves full of books shamelessly exposing, mythologizing and complicating the iconic actress's memory. Schwarz (The Hillside Strangler) presents the first comprehensive biography in recent years, but comes up with little fans won't already know. Drawing from FBI files and interviews with Norma Jean Mortenson's friends and acquaintances, Schwarz seeks to debunk the Marilyn myths while chronicling her dysfunctional, partially fabricated family history (questioning how long she spent in an orphanage), her pathological insecurity, her infamous love affairs and marriages (most notably with Joe DiMaggio) and her controversial final days. Though Schwarz admits when he's unsure about the facts (as with Marilyn's teenage marriage), his limited use of attribution calls his own credibility into question. Ultimately, Schwarz's long-winded bio often reads like an over-confident honor student's interminable dissertation.
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