Marilyn Monroe drew FBIs interest over leftist pal
** FILE ** In this June 2, unknown year, photo, actress Marilyn ... more>
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LOS ANGELES FBI files on Marilyn Monroe that could not be located months ago have been found and reissued, revealing the names of some of the movie stars acquaintances who drew concern from government officials and her own entourage.
The files previously had been heavily redacted, but more details are now public in a version of the file recently obtained by The Associated Press through the Freedom of Information Act. The updated files reveal that some in Monroes inner circle were concerned about her association with Frederick Vanderbilt Field, who was disinherited from his wealthy family over his leftist views.
The FBIs files on Monroe show the extent the agency was monitoring the actress for ties to communism in the years before her ! death in ! August 1962. A trip to Mexico earlier that year to shop for furniture brought her in contact with Field, who was living in that country with his wife in self-imposed exile. Informants reported to the FBI that a mutual infatuation had developed between Field and Monroe, which caused concern among some in her inner circle, including her therapist, the files state.
This situation caused considerable dismay among Miss Monroes entourage and also among the [American Communist Group in Mexico], the file states. It includes references to an interior decorator who worked with Monroes analyst reporting her connection to Field to the doctor.
Fields autobiography devotes an entire chapter to Monroes Mexico trip, An Indian Summer Interlude. He mentioned that he and his wife accompanied Monroe on shopping trips and meals and he only mentioned politics once in a passage on their dinnertime conversations.
She talked mostly about herself and some of the people who had been or still were important to her, Field wrote in From Right to Left. She told us about her strong feelings for civil rights, for black equality, as well as her admiration for what was being done in China, her anger at red-baiting and McCarthyism and her hatred of [FBI director] J. Edgar Hoover.
Under Hoover's watch, the FBI kept tabs on the political and social lives of many celebrities, including Frank Sinatra, Charlie Chaplin and Monroes ex-husband Arthur Miller. The bureau also has been involved in numerous investigations about crimes against celebrities.
The AP had sought the removal of redactions from Monroes FBI files in 2012 as part of a series of stories on the 50th anniversary of Monroes death. The FBI had reported that it had transferred the files to a National Archives facility in Maryland, but archivists said the documents had not been received. A few months after requesting details on the transfer, the FBI released an updated version of the files that eliminates dozens of redactions.
For years, the files have intrigued investigators, biographers and those who dont believe Monroes death at her Los Angeles area home was a suicide.
A 1982 investigation by the Los Angeles District Attorneys Office found no evidence of foul play after reviewing all available investigative records, but noted that the FBI files were heavily censored.
That characterization intrigued the man who performed Monroes autopsy, Dr. Thomas Noguchi. While the DA investigation concluded he conducted a thorough autopsy, Dr. Noguchi has conceded it is likely that no one will ever know all the details of Monroes death. The FBI files and confidential interviews conducted with the actresss friends that have never been made public might help, he wrote in his 1983 memoir Coroner.
On the basis of my own involvement in the case, beginning with the autopsy, I would call Monroes suicide very probable, Dr. Noguchi wrote. But I also believe that until the complete FBI files are! made pub! lic and the notes and interviews of the suicide panel released, controversy will continue to swirl around her death.
Monroes file begins in 1955 and mostly focuses on her travels and associations, searching for signs of leftist views and possible ties to communism. One entry, which previously had been almost completely redacted, concerned intelligence that Monroe and other entertainers sought visas to visit Russia that year.
The file continues up until the months before her death, and also includes several news stories and references to Norman Mailers biography of the actress, which focused on questions about whether Monroe was killed by the government.
For all the focus on Monroes closeness to suspected communists, the bureau never found any proof she was a member of the party.