18

The “Coming Out” Party

Struggling with a viral infection in her sinus cavity and suffering a slight fever, Marilyn continued to miss shooting days. By the time she would recover sufficiently, Dean Martin, her screen love interest, would come down with a flu and high fevers. Marilyn refused physical contact with her costar, fearing for her own health.

In addition, Marilyn was plagued by nervous tension in preparation for a big event. She had made a long-standing commitment to appear at JFK’s forty-fifth birthday party at Madison Square Garden in New York City. The producer of the show, New York director-composer Richard Adler, as well as Peter Lawford and Bobby Kennedy thought Marilyn Monroe would be the perfect gift for a man who had everything and “everyone” else!

After their intimate weekend in Palm Springs, the closeness between the two had solidified, and the President had already given Marilyn his private phone number. At the party, she was to sing “Happy Birthday” in a grand finale. Knowing of the weaknesses in JFK’s marriage, Marilyn wanted to believe that the President was going to make a public statement about their relationship.

In preparation for “their” coming-out party, Marilyn went all out to upstage Jackie in every way she could. Her gown would have to be spectacular and “historical.” In secrecy, she hired fitter Elizabeth Courtney and her favorite French designer, Jean-Louis, teasing him about the upcoming appearance and alluding to an affair. Wanting to look both elegant and sexy, the actress planned to display her newly reshaped curves as never before.

Within one month her designer had located the sheerest fabric from France. The sheer soufflé would create the illusion of nudity, and the thousands of beads would create a sparkling effect without obscuring Marilyn’s splendid curves. Initially working with muslin, the couturier painstakingly contoured the pattern directly on her body. Planning to dispense with underwear, the designer did his best to create a support system that would hold up Monroe’s breasts, cinch her waist, and lift her behind without telltale undergarment lines. Marilyn described the extravagant gown to the President, and like a man wanting to present his girlfriend to the world, he encouraged her, inspiring her to look her best—better than anybody in the world, including his wife. The constant calls between the two continued, validating her idea that indeed Jack was making a “presentation” for the world to see.

Feeling the fruits of renewed self-esteem and growing confidence in her decision-making through continued analysis, Marilyn reveled in the host of possibilities. “If he didn’t want the relationship public, he wouldn’t want to present me!” she rationalized.

The President seemed unduly anxious himself about the event and ultimately requested that she sing “Happy Birthday” with the breathy voice she used in her pictures. He sent Lionel Newman to coach her.

Just as filming on Something had begun, Monroe begged off a couple of days in order to fulfill the President of the United States’s wish, or so she put it. The front office was initially in complete acceptance of her prior commitment. But as the budget for Something began increasing, due to delays caused by Marilyn’s ill health, and due to ever-increasing problems with the Cleopatra set in Rome, the agreement was rescinded two weeks prior to her appearance. With the board of directors pleading their case for Twentieth, her attorneys aligned with Bobby Kennedy in a bitter battle of wills and control. The battle would continue well after Marilyn traveled to New York.

Bobby believed that his brother was more important than the studio and its chairman of the board and all the directors they could muster. This was indeed a command performance, and nobody had the right to say no to the popular president who had charmed the country to its feet.

The fight raged first between Levathes, when he refused “the President’s” request. Then Bobby took his case to the most powerful financier at Fox, Milton Gould. At first polite, Bobby attempted to persuade him to release Marilyn. But Gould would not hear of it. He explained to the solicitous thirty-five-year-old attorney general that Something’s Got to Give was behind schedule and well over budget, and that the company had severe financial problems that it was trying to curtail and contain. Not taking refusal lightly, Bobby promised retribution on the studio for not complying with the request of the most powerful man in America. A shouting match ensued, with Gould sticking to the fact that the vote was in and Marilyn was forbidden to go, hinting that a lawsuit and/or termination could follow.

Being told by Levathes that the studio problem would be taken care of, Marilyn believed him. When she was alerted that even Bobby and his excessive language had not budged the executives, Marilyn decided that since she not only had committed personally to Jack but had spent more than $15,000 of her own money for the dress, she would be damned if she’d be dissuaded. Even though she was still ailing, she had her doctors rev her up with injections of vitamins from B-complexes to straight B₁₂ and amphetamines. With her contract with Twentieth on its last leg and her apparent future lying with the President, she considered the risk worthwhile. Her chances with Jack seemed even more promising; after all, his kid brother was supporting her appearance. And with the whole Kennedy clan’s approval of the affair, her chances improved daily.

With misgivings, the producer of the show, Richard Adler, appealed to JFK not to use Marilyn in the celebration. His request was to no avail: The president’s girl would appear.

A feud between Jackie and Jack was brewing in another part of the arena. Humiliated that his current mistress was indeed the famous Marilyn Monroe, Jackie pleaded with him to cancel the act. Expecting over twenty thousand in attendance at the Garden, she declared that she did not want to be embarrassed or upstaged by her husband’s lover. Some of their close associates already knew about the affair, but if the romance were to become common gossip it would devastate the mother of his children. She reminded her husband of Joseph Kennedy’s promise to her that she would not have to suffer public humiliation in their marriage in regard to other women. The pronouncements of the Kennedy patriarch had the utmost significance. No matter what one did in private, Joe would preach, appearance was important. Jackie tried everything; and even her threat that she and the children wouldn’t attend failed to dissuade John Kennedy. His decision was final. Marilyn would stay and Jackie would go. So go she did, to Virginia for a weekend of horseback riding, a trip she often took, and she took daughter Caroline, and son John Jr. along with her.

Jackie had gotten the ultimate slap in the face from JFK, but she had plans to speak with her father-in-law. Joseph Kennedy didn’t have enough time to change anyone’s mind by then. But the wheel was set in motion for a major event in the Kennedy administration, an event that Marilyn believed would be the pinnacle of her power.

By noon on May 17, just after Whitey Snyder made up Marilyn’s face, Peter Lawford retrieved her from the Twentieth-Century Fox lot along with her staff, Pat Newcomb, and Paula Strasberg in tow. She was whisked away to be presented before her lover. After she departed, Cukor fumed that she had defied the studio and willfully abandoned “his” movie.

The moment Monroe appeared on stage, illuminating the darkened Garden, the audience roared with delight. Electricity flew through the rafters; Marilyn’s beauty was absolutely captivating. Wrapped in white ermine purchased for the occasion, and after hours of rehearsal, Marilyn threw the wrap into the arms of a friend in order to display the extraordinary gown and the woman inside it. Catcalls, wild whistles, and shrieks reverberated throughout the auditorium, as the adoring crowd reacted to the vision that was Marilyn Monroe. JFK reacted only to her behind, as he remarked to a friend, waiting and watching for ever scintillating gyration.

Marilyn Monroe sang her heart out for the man she had fallen for and was honored beyond compare at being his “lady” for the evening. The rendition of “Happy Birthday” was precisely what the President had ordered, breathy, sexy, and ever so vulnerable. When JFK finally reached the podium in front of the ecstatic audience, he said, “I can now retire from politics after having had ‘Happy Birthday,’ sung to me in such a sweet, wholesome way.” Never had Marilyn felt so adored.

All America loved Marilyn Monroe. But even knowing that did nothing to temper her soaring fever. After the concert, her maid and masseur attempted to put her to bed in her apartment, but she would not hear of it. Wanting to share the President’s exhilaration and his bed, Marilyn made her way to the party hosted by United Artists President, Arthur Krim. Marilyn’s formal date for the evening was her former father-in-law Isadore Miller. Once there, JFK and Bobby huddled around Monroe congratulating her and thanking her for her appearance. Robert and Marilyn danced together several times, while Ethel Kennedy seethed in anger.

The close of the glorious evening was spent in the President’s private duplex in the Carlyle Hotel while the Secret Service kept guard.