AI Summary
5 min readMarilyn Monroe was terrified of the very public that thought her so sexy. Her longtime makeup artist Allan Snyder put it bluntly: “My God, if they only knew how hard it was for her.” This episode of Right Answers Mostly picks up where a previous installment left off, tracing Monroe’s rise from a promising contract player to the biggest star in Hollywood, and the men—and the inner turmoil—that defined that ascent. The throughline is a painful paradox: the more the world adored the image of Marilyn Monroe, the more isolated and anxious the woman behind it became.
The Men: Johnny Hyde, Elia Kazan, and Joe DiMaggio
The episode begins with the death of Johnny Hyde, Monroe’s agent and devoted suitor, in December 1950. Hyde had secured her a six-month deal at Fox, but his death left her devastated and guilt-ridden. She reportedly snuck into his funeral disguised as a servant. “Johnny is the only man who truly loved me in my life,” she would later say. After Hyde, she fell into a brief, easy affair with the married director Elia Kazan, who introduced her to a man who would become far more significant: the playwright Arthur Miller.
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What you'll learn
- 1 (03:00) **Johnny Hyde's Death & Marilyn's Grief** - Johnny Hyde dies of a heart attack; Marilyn is devastated, feeling guilt and abandonment, and sneaks into his funeral.
- 2 (06:28) **Affair with Elia Kazan & A New Contract** - Marilyn begins an easy-breezy affair with director Elia Kazan, who later introduces her to Arthur Miller.
- 3 (09:40) **Marilyn's Desire to Be a Great Actress** - Despite being cast as a stereotypical dumb blonde, Marilyn desperately wants to be a serious actor and spends heavily on coaching.
- 4 (11:10) **The Rise of the "Marilyn Monroe" Image** - The iconic blonde look is perfected, and crew members are stunned by her presence, though she is terrified of the public that finds her so sexy.
- 5 (16:38) **First Lead Role & Meeting Joe DiMaggio** - Marilyn gets her first substantial lead role in *Don't Bother to Knock* and is introduced to famous athlete Joe DiMaggio in early 1952.
- 6 (18:30) **Courtship with Joe DiMaggio** - Their first date is at an Italian restaurant where she shows up two hours late, but Joe is captivated by her.
- 7 (30:17) **The Nude Calendar Scandal** - It is discovered that Marilyn posed nude for a calendar, a massive scandal in the prudish 1952 Hollywood.
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Show Notes
In episode three of our Marilyn Monroe Month, we’re getting into the height of Marilyn’s fame: the iconic movies, the scandals, and her marriages to two of the most famous men in America, Joe DiMaggio and Arthur Miller. While Hollywood wanted Marilyn Monroe the sex symbol, Marilyn wanted something more. We’re talking about her fight with the studio system, her determination to become a serious actress, and how she eventually took on Hollywood itself.
TW: This episodes contains discussions of physical abuse
Created by Claire Donald and Tess Bellomo
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Sources: Marilyn Monroe The Biography , Interview with Jane Russell, Interview with Lauren Bacall ,
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