Wednesday, September 03, 2008

Norma Jean Nostalgia



Vanity Fair has acquired incredible access to the letters, mementos, clothes and various other personal items of Marilyn Monroe's that were recently discovered in two filing cabinets originally sold at auction.

After clicking through most of the scans, I think the most touching are her letters to her step-children and father-in-law, with whom she kept in close contact with even after her divorce from Arthur Miller. Her letters to Miller's father are all addressed, "Dear Dad."

This one is written to her step-son, Bobby, in the voice of Hugo, his basset hound. [click photo for larger view]



Or this cheeky little note regarding some off-color remarks Tony Curtis had made:



You can browse through the entire archive here.

I've always been a huge Marilyn Monroe fan, my reasons ranging from the conspiracy theories that surround her death to her astounding beauty. I do think had she survived she would have gone on to be respected as a serious actress. And her life-long dream of becoming a mother, never-realized, is absolutely heart-breaking. But, obviously, more than anything she's a reflection of the decade that defined her success and made her an icon.

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

Gosh, she is everything. Beautiful, real, lonely, glamorous, witty, tormented... eternal, really.

Jessica Ferri said...

i know; i really feel as though this archive just builds on the myth. thanks for reading!

X.A.B.A said...

she is an icon... beauty, a total embodiment of sexual allure love Monroe...thanx for the note on my blog u shud read and i wud love to hear your comments....love

Paul Pincus said...

this was so beautiful. gosh, now i'm sad.

i loved her in everything but she was genius in the prince and the showgirl.

Jessica Ferri said...

have you guys seen / read "after the fall" by arthur miller? it's basically a chronicle of monroe and miller's relationship. pretty devastating.