In today’s era of semi-nude pop stars and paparazzi pictures of celebrity wardrobe “malfunctions”, it is strange to think that something as innocent as a picture of a nude woman (with lower parts hidden) would cause anything more than a halfraised eyebrow. However, in the 1950s, when nudity was meant for the bathroom only (if at all), a risqué calendar caused an absolute scandal and almost crushed the career of up-and-coming actress Marilyn Monroe before it had really begun.
Born in Los Angeles in 1926, Norma Jeane Baker was the daughter of Gladys Baker, an unwed mother who was volatile and suffered huge emotional problems. At just a few weeks old Norma Jeane was sent to live with a foster family, before an unsuccessful attempt at living with her mother ended with Gladys being taken to a mental hospital. Norma Jeane was then raised in a series of foster homes and an orphanage.
In an attempt to escape the foster system, Norma Jeane chose to wed a young man called James Dougherty when she was just sixteen, though she found marriage stifling and took solace in a new-found modelling career at the age of nineteen. Norma Jeane’s husband was away at war during this time and he insisted that, although he would tolerate her career while away, the moment the war was over he expected her to give everything up and become a full-time wife and raise a houseful of children.
Norma Jeane rejected this idea immediately. She had by this point become a successful model and enjoyed seeing her face on many magazine covers. Film studios were also knocking on her door and in 1946, after sending her husband a “Dear John” letter, she travelled to Nevada in order to obtain a divorce. Free at last, she then signed with Twentieth Century Fox, changed her name to Marilyn Monroe and launched full-steam into an acting and modelling career. Her photos ranged from the girl-next-door to classic glamour or “cheesecake” shots, and while her acting career was full of bit parts and walk-ons, her star quality nevertheless began to increase.
However, organizing her finances was never a strong point for Marilyn, and by early 1949 she had fallen behind not only with her rent, but also with the payments on the car she relied on to get to and from auditions. Threatened with repossession of the vehicle, Marilyn picked up the telephone and called Tom Kelley, a photographer who had asked her to pose nude for him several months before.
She had declined to take her clothes off at that time, but now, worried that she was about to lose her possessions, she changed her mind and arrived at his studio on 27 May 1949 in order to pose. There, in the company of Kelley’s partner Natalie Grasko, Marilyn removed her clothes, reclined on a red velvet blanket, and was paid $50 for her efforts. When asked years later what it felt like, Marilyn replied, “Very simple . . . And drafty!”
Initially Marilyn had felt okay about posing nude, since she did certainly need the money and was somewhat (naively) convinced that no one would actually see the photos. If they did, she told herself, they would not know it was her anyway, since she had signed her name as “Mona Monroe” on the release form. However, as time wore on and her acting career started to gain more attention, she became increasingly concerned that the photos would somehow emerge and destroy all that she had worked so hard to achieve.
Rumours started to circulate that Kelley was in the midst of selling the photos to a calendar company, and Marilyn finally broke down and admitted what she had done to her good friend, Bill Pursel, who shared his story with me for the book, Marilyn Monroe: Private and Undisclosed:
She told me she had done something she was ashamed of, and she wanted to tell me about it before I found out elsewhere. She said she wanted to apologize and started to cry, before finally telling me she had posed nude and had done it because her rent was way past due. She then asked if I would look at the pictures and when I said yes she produced them. My first reaction was that these photos were not pornographic at all and they were actually very good. She said the photographer had promised not to sell them but I told her that he probably would, since selling photographs was what he did for a living. I told her that I thought the pictures were in good taste and she asked if I was ashamed of her, to which I said no, but that neither she nor I could undo something that was already done and I was in no position to object to them anyway.
Several years passed and, to the relief of Marilyn, the photos were nowhere to be seen. She continued her career and enjoyed a small but important part in the Marx Brothers film, Love Happy, which took her on a major tour around the United States. Fans clamoured to see her and fan letters began to clog up the mailroom at Twentieth Century Fox. Unfortunately, this national attention guaranteed that the nude photographs would be in great demand, and sure enough, in 1952 they showed up on calendars entitled “Golden Dreams” and “A New Wrinkle”.
Still, nobody at the studio seemed to notice the existence of the calendars, and life continued as normal for Marilyn, until one day in 1952 when she was approached on the street by a man clutching one of the calendars. “This ought to be worth quite a bit of money to you. Suppose I showed it around town?” asked the stranger. Marilyn refused to be blackmailed and replied: “Mister, I’d just adore for you to show it around Hollywood – would you like me to also autograph it for you?”
Although obviously more than a little worried that the calendar could cause a sensation, outwardly Marilyn played it cool and chose not to do anything until finally Twentieth Century Fox got wind of the situation and called her into the office. Asking straight out if Marilyn was the nude girl being gawped at around the country, they were shocked when she nodded her head and admitted everything. The executives were furious and a frenzy ensued with them first demanding that she lie about it, then changing their minds and deciding she should say nothing at all.
Unfortunately for them, Marilyn saw no reason to deny the stories and, after much discussion, a statement was prepared which allowed her to put forward her version of events – that she was broke and needed money for her rent. She played the sympathy card and won, with the public not only forgiving the nude scandal, but also loving her even more for her honesty and candour.
Marilyn was immediately relieved, and once it became apparent that the photos would not negatively affect her career, she actually became quite proud of them. In fact, so pleased was she that the actress actually autographed a great many of the calendars and gave them away as gifts for her friends, as well as to future husband, baseball star Joe DiMaggio.
Marilyn Monroe had survived the nude scandal and her career continued to blossom. However, it was only a matter of years before she would be caught up in another scandal, this time brought on by Joe DiMaggio himself . . .