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What is the story about?
Marilyn Monroe spent much of her life being watched, photographed and mythologised. Decades after her death, newly-surfaced reflections from playwright Arthur Miller and Monroe’s final major interview are once again drawing attention to the woman behind one of Hollywood’s most enduring public images.
Born Norma Jeane Baker in Los Angeles in 1926, Monroe spent much of her childhood moving between foster homes and orphanages after her mother, Gladys Baker, was unable to care for her. In her final 1962 interview with
Life magazine editor Richard Meryman, Monroe recalled how cinema became an escape during those years.
"Some of my foster parents used to send me to the movies to get me out of the house," she said. "There I’d sit all day and way into the night … a little kid all alone, and I loved it."
She married her first husband, James Dougherty, at 16. During World War II, Monroe worked in a munitions factory, where she was discovered by a photographer, eventually leading to a modelling career and later a Hollywood breakthrough.
By the 1950s, Monroe had become one of the world’s most recognisable film stars through films such as The Asphalt Jungle, All About Eve, Gentlemen Prefer Blondes, The Seven Year Itch and Some Like It Hot. Yet even at the height of her fame, she often spoke about feeling trapped by the image that had made her famous.
"You know, most people really don’t know me," Monroe told Meryman in what became her final major interview. "That’s the trouble — a sex symbol becomes a thing. I just hate to be a thing."
Reflecting on fame, she added: "It’s like caviar. It’s good to have caviar, but if you had it every damn day?"
Monroe also spoke about the Hollywood studio system and how she felt underestimated early in her career. Recalling Gentlemen Prefer Blondes, she said she was repeatedly reminded that she was “not a star” despite the film’s success. "If I’m going to be a symbol of something, I’d rather have it be sex than some of the other things they’ve got symbols of," she said.
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Her personal life remained under constant public scrutiny. After divorcing Dougherty, Monroe married baseball player Joe DiMaggio in 1954, though the marriage lasted less than a year. In the same interview, she spoke about wanting a stable family life.
Monroe met playwright Arthur Miller in Hollywood in the early 1950s after being introduced by director Elia Kazan. Miller was already celebrated for Death of a Salesman, while Monroe was at the peak of her stardom. To many, they appeared an unlikely couple — the intellectual playwright and the Hollywood star whose public image revolved around glamour and sexuality.
Miller later reflected on that perception during a 1987 BBC interview with Alan Yentob.
"There was an unlikely quality to it, sure, from a cultural point of view," he said. "But the very inappropriateness of our being together was, to me, the sign that it was appropriate."
The two began an affair in 1955 while Miller was still married to his first wife, Mary Slattery, and married the following year after Monroe converted to Judaism.
Decades later, Miller revisited their relationship in conversations recorded over several years with his friend and biographer Christopher Bigsby. The recordings, recently published in The Arthur Miller Tapes: A Life in His Own Words , reveal Miller describing Monroe as “delightful to be with,” “a very smart woman” and someone with “a terrific sense of humour, irony and generosity.”
But he also spoke about her emotional struggles and dependence on reassurance.
“Death was always on her shoulder — always,” Miller said. He recalled an incident in which doctors were called after Monroe had taken an overdose, adding that he believed she was in “a very delicate psychological position.”
“She wanted a father, a lover, friend, agent,” Miller said. “Above all someone who would never criticise her for anything, or else she would lose confidence in herself.”
Their marriage became increasingly strained during the late 1950s. While Monroe was filming The Prince and the Showgirl in England, she reportedly clashed with Laurence Olivier, and tensions between the couple deepened.
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The relationship deteriorated further during the making of The Misfits in 1960, the film Miller wrote for Monroe. Production was repeatedly delayed amid Monroe’s health issues and the growing distance between the couple.
He described the production as physically and emotionally exhausting for Monroe. During filming, she received treatment for health complications, and production was briefly halted to allow her to recover.
The Misfits was Monroe’s final completed film. Miller and Monroe divorced in 1961 on grounds of incompatibility.
On August 5, 1962, Monroe was found dead in her Los Angeles home at the age of 36. Her death was officially ruled a probable suicide caused by acute barbiturate poisoning.
In his recollection of their final meeting, Meryman described Monroe reading her interview manuscript aloud before he left. As he departed, she called after him: “Hey, thanks.”
He later recalled her as appearing “strangely forlorn.”
More than six decades after her death, Monroe remains one of the most examined figures in modern popular culture. The resurfaced Miller recordings and her final interview revisit the contradictions that defined much of her life — immense fame alongside profound loneliness, public glamour alongside private vulnerability.
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Born Norma Jeane Baker in Los Angeles in 1926, Monroe spent much of her childhood moving between foster homes and orphanages after her mother, Gladys Baker, was unable to care for her. In her final 1962 interview with
"Some of my foster parents used to send me to the movies to get me out of the house," she said. "There I’d sit all day and way into the night … a little kid all alone, and I loved it."
She married her first husband, James Dougherty, at 16. During World War II, Monroe worked in a munitions factory, where she was discovered by a photographer, eventually leading to a modelling career and later a Hollywood breakthrough.
By the 1950s, Monroe had become one of the world’s most recognisable film stars through films such as The Asphalt Jungle, All About Eve, Gentlemen Prefer Blondes, The Seven Year Itch and Some Like It Hot. Yet even at the height of her fame, she often spoke about feeling trapped by the image that had made her famous.
"You know, most people really don’t know me," Monroe told Meryman in what became her final major interview. "That’s the trouble — a sex symbol becomes a thing. I just hate to be a thing."
Reflecting on fame, she added: "It’s like caviar. It’s good to have caviar, but if you had it every damn day?"
Monroe also spoke about the Hollywood studio system and how she felt underestimated early in her career. Recalling Gentlemen Prefer Blondes, she said she was repeatedly reminded that she was “not a star” despite the film’s success. "If I’m going to be a symbol of something, I’d rather have it be sex than some of the other things they’ve got symbols of," she said.
ALSO READ | Matthew Perry’s estate to auction 'Friends' scripts and personal items — all you need to know
Her personal life remained under constant public scrutiny. After divorcing Dougherty, Monroe married baseball player Joe DiMaggio in 1954, though the marriage lasted less than a year. In the same interview, she spoke about wanting a stable family life.
Monroe met playwright Arthur Miller in Hollywood in the early 1950s after being introduced by director Elia Kazan. Miller was already celebrated for Death of a Salesman, while Monroe was at the peak of her stardom. To many, they appeared an unlikely couple — the intellectual playwright and the Hollywood star whose public image revolved around glamour and sexuality.
Miller later reflected on that perception during a 1987 BBC interview with Alan Yentob.
"There was an unlikely quality to it, sure, from a cultural point of view," he said. "But the very inappropriateness of our being together was, to me, the sign that it was appropriate."
The two began an affair in 1955 while Miller was still married to his first wife, Mary Slattery, and married the following year after Monroe converted to Judaism.
Decades later, Miller revisited their relationship in conversations recorded over several years with his friend and biographer Christopher Bigsby. The recordings, recently published in The Arthur Miller Tapes: A Life in His Own Words , reveal Miller describing Monroe as “delightful to be with,” “a very smart woman” and someone with “a terrific sense of humour, irony and generosity.”
But he also spoke about her emotional struggles and dependence on reassurance.
“Death was always on her shoulder — always,” Miller said. He recalled an incident in which doctors were called after Monroe had taken an overdose, adding that he believed she was in “a very delicate psychological position.”
“She wanted a father, a lover, friend, agent,” Miller said. “Above all someone who would never criticise her for anything, or else she would lose confidence in herself.”
Their marriage became increasingly strained during the late 1950s. While Monroe was filming The Prince and the Showgirl in England, she reportedly clashed with Laurence Olivier, and tensions between the couple deepened.
ALSO READ | The rise of the everyman: Rajkummar Rao, Vijay Varma and mid-budget storytelling
The relationship deteriorated further during the making of The Misfits in 1960, the film Miller wrote for Monroe. Production was repeatedly delayed amid Monroe’s health issues and the growing distance between the couple.
He described the production as physically and emotionally exhausting for Monroe. During filming, she received treatment for health complications, and production was briefly halted to allow her to recover.
The Misfits was Monroe’s final completed film. Miller and Monroe divorced in 1961 on grounds of incompatibility.
On August 5, 1962, Monroe was found dead in her Los Angeles home at the age of 36. Her death was officially ruled a probable suicide caused by acute barbiturate poisoning.
In his recollection of their final meeting, Meryman described Monroe reading her interview manuscript aloud before he left. As he departed, she called after him: “Hey, thanks.”
He later recalled her as appearing “strangely forlorn.”
More than six decades after her death, Monroe remains one of the most examined figures in modern popular culture. The resurfaced Miller recordings and her final interview revisit the contradictions that defined much of her life — immense fame alongside profound loneliness, public glamour alongside private vulnerability.
ALSO READ | From cabaret to chill: How Asha Bhosle predicted the way India listens today
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