by John M. Curtis
(310) 204-8700

Copyright August 7, 2005
All Rights Reserved.

orty-three years after the death of 36-year-old actress Marilyn Monroe Aug. 5, 1962, new tape-recorded transcripts reveal startling insights into the iconic sex symbol, whose untimely death from a barbiturates marked the end of Hollywood's glamour era. Sworn to secrecy, 86-year-old former Los Angeles County District Atty. John W. Miner revealed unpublished tapes recorded for Monroe's psychiatrist Ralph R. Greenson. Commemorating Monroe's death at Westwood Memorial Park in Los Angeles, Miner is more convinced than ever that Monroe did not commit suicide as suggested by Dr. Thomas Noguchi, the former head of the Los Angeles County Coroner. Though the coroner found “factual discrepancies” and “unanswered questions,” the DA found no grounds to open a criminal investigation. That decision spawned unending theories pointing toward various conspiracy scenarios.

      When Greenson was rumored a possible suspect, he decided to share his confidential tapes, recorded by Monroe only days before her death. Greenson allowed Miner to make meticulous notes from the recordings but not duplicate the tapes. Miner's transcripts shed light on Monroe's state-of-mind only by inference. Reviewing the transcripts, it's not difficult to see Monroe's expansive, grandiose thinking, where she boasts to Greenson—though in a naïve, innocent way—about how she intends to revolutionize psychoanalysis. Monroe knew that Greenson was among the world's top psychoanalysts, highly respected in the most prestigious academic circles, both nationally and internationally. “After you listen to my tapes and use them to treat me,” Monroe voiced in the recordings, “you could publish a paper in a scientific journal,” attesting, at the very least, to her grandiosity.

      By the time of Monroe's death, Greenson has published hundreds of papers and was working on perhaps the most highly regarded textbook on psychoanalysis since Freud. Monroe's recordings offered few insights into psychoanalysis but exposed the extent of her inflated ego. “Maybe you could patent the idea and license it to you colleagues . . . “ said Marilyn, telling her world famous shrink that she had enlightened him. Miner, now 86, infers from his transcripts that she was not suicidal, something most attorneys know little about. Telling Greenson “what I am going to give you is my idea that will revolutionize psychoanalysis” indicates someone close to delusional, probably suffering from the manic flight-of-ideas seen in what's called today “bipolar disorder,” back then “manic depressive illness.” Bipolar disorders frequently engage in risky, self-destructive behaviors.

      Monroe's friends at the time of her death all indicate that she was abusing drugs and alcohol. Judging by Miner's transcripts, Monroe was obsessed with her fading youth, concerned about her deterioration. “My breasts are beginning to sag a bit . . . My waist isn't bad. My ass is what it should be, the best there is,” Monroe observed about herself, trying to stave off nagging doubts plaguing the aging starlet. Miner indicated, “there's no possible way this woman could have killed herself,” citing her future plans to learn Shakespeare from her acting coach Lee Strassberg.. He ignores her well-chronicled substance abuse and reckless behavior. Shedding some light, Monroe's old friend, 91-year-old columnist James Bacon, was with her five days before her death. “She was drinking champagne and straight vodka and occasionally popping a pill,” said Bacon, attesting to her self-destructive behavior.

      Suicidal behavior comes in many forms, sometimes violent and deliberate and other times passive and inadvertent. Biopolar disorders frequently can't control their impulsivity toward risky and self-destructive behavior. “I said, ‘Marilyn, the combination of pills and alcohol will kill you,' And she said, ‘It hasn't killed me yet.' Then she took another drink and popped another pill. I know at night she took barbiturates.” “She wasn't the least bit depressed,” said Bacon, not getting that bipolar disorders are more at risk for suicide, whether planned or accidental, when they're manic. Miner's transcripts reveal vividly that Monroe suffered from the kind of mania resulting in grandiosity and self-destructive behavior. Stretching the imagination to figure out an alternative scenario, namely, that she was the victim of foul play, totally ignores her obvious cause of death.

      Without changing the coroner's conclusion, Miner's transcripts expose Monroe's intellectual depth, beyond the ditzy blonde portrayed in the movies. She offered keen insights into her former marriages to New York Yankee Hall-of-Fame centerfielder Joe DiMaggio and Pulitzer Prize winning playwright Arthur Miller. Though she talked briefly about her relationships to iconic singer Frank Sinatra or her legendary co-star in the “Misfits” Clark Gable, she gave profound insights about the late President John F. Kennedy. While singing to JFK “Happy Birthday, Mr. President,” June 1, 1962 fueled wild speculation about a possible affair, Monroe offered her premonition. “This man is going to change our country . . .” said Marilyn, casting Kennedy into the same heroic mold as Franklin Delano Roosevelt. Had her bipolar disorder been less a mystery back then, she might still be alive.

About the Disorder

John M. Curtis writes politically neutral commentary analyzing spin in national and global news. He's editor of OnlineColumnist.com and author of Dodging The Bullet and Operation Charisma.

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