It is 60 years since her death and the figure of Marilyn Monroe is still shrouded in mystery. Turned into a myth that continues to cause fascination among different generations, also among the youngest, we all remember her beauty, sensuality and fragility in equal parts. Her image is part of popular culture and is inescapable wherever we want to look. We all know Marilyn, but very few knew Norma Jean, the woman behind the glamor of a star that faded on August 4, 1962. Marilyn was then 36 years old and her status in the industry, as well as her personal life, made it an 'exquisite corpse' for any photographer in the city. Only one dared to cross that line: Leigh Wiener managed to sneak into the Los Angeles morgue and took up to five photographic rolls of the lifeless body of the emblematic actress. This is the story of how Wiener took her biggest secret to her grave.
Marilyn Monroe's death: suicide or murder
"It was not the first time that she used a couple of bottles of whiskey to enter a restricted access area," confessed the photographer's son in the chapter that Scandalous dedicated to the actress's case. In this Fox News documentary series, the way in which Wiener managed to gain access to the place where Marilyn's mortal remains rested is narrated. She bribed the staff who worked in the morgue with alcohol and there she took as many photographs as to complete five reels. She three she sent them to Life magazine. They included photographs as infamous as the one of the actress's feet with a cadaver tag put on by forensics. With its publication, one of the greatest symbols of the 20th century became a simple number: the corpse 81828 in the Los Angeles morgue.
These images went around the world, although for many years it was rumored that there was even more explicit material. It was in the aforementioned documentary, when the photographer's own son confirmed the existence of those two remaining photographic rolls. Wiener refused to release the material at the time, considering it too violent and unsuitable for American audiences, and the reels ended up hidden in an unknown location. The photojournalist claimed in life to have "processed, examined and put them in a safe", as now confirmed by his son, who says he does not know their whereabouts. "He died with that mystery," he adds. Something irremediable since Leigh Wiener died in 1993 and took with her the secret of these prohibited photographs of the actress.
Marilyn's spirit, more alive than ever
Whether or not these images ever come to light, nothing can change the image that the public retains of Marilyn Monroe. The year in which the 60th anniversary of her death is commemorated, coincides with the tribute that Kim Kardashian paid her wearing one of her most iconic dresses at the MET gala. Also 2022 is the date chosen by Netflix for the release of a biopic that adapts the 'bestseller' by Joyce Carol Oates. Blonde, which retains the original title of the novel, captures almost the entire life journey of one of the most influential women on the planet. Ana de Armas gives life to Marilyn Monroe and her name already sounds like Oscar.
