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Norma Jeane's first foster parents, Wayne and Ida Bolender did attend, and Norma Jeane is said to have greeted them with a large hug. Norma Jeane tried very hard to be a good housewife and used to cook peas and carrots together because she liked the bright colours. It is said that her cooking was bright and attractive but a little tasteless. She improved her cooking in later years when she was taught many of Joe Di Maggio's favourite dishes by his sister. It should be remembered that Norma Jeane was not raised by a mother who taught her to cook. Jim was to say:
MARILYN: "My marriage brought me neither happiness nor pain. My husband and I hardly spoke to each other. This wasn't because we were angry. We had nothing to say."
JIM DOUGHERTY: "She was a most responsive bride-a perfect bride in every respect-except in the cooking department."
In spring of 1944, Jim was stationed to go to the Pacific, so Norma Jeane moved in with her mother-in-law, who in turn got her a job working at the Radio Plane Munitions Factory, where she worked to help with the war effort.
They were divorced 4 years later.
Joe Di Maggio, the great Yankee Clipper was the son of an immigrant Italian fisherman.
Marilyn had done some publicity photos with Gus Zernial, a power-hitting outfielder for the Philadelphia Athletics. A few days later, Joe DiMaggio played in an exhibition game against Zernial. Joe had seen the photograph and teased him, saying, "How come I never get to pose with beautiful girls like that?" He begged him to set up a blind date with the beautiful girl in the picture. They went on their blind date in 1952 and by 1954 they were married.
On January 14, 1954 Joe and Marilyn were married in San Francisco by presiding judge Charles Peery (seen below). Marilyn carried 3 white orchids for her wedding bouquet, and when they began to wither in the heat, she aked Joe if she died before him, would he be as devoted as to place flowers on her grave every week just as William Powell had done for her own movie-idol, Jean Harlow. The wedding captured headlines worldwide with the respected and beloved Joe DiMaggio and the screen Goddess. The fact that Joe had retired and wanted to avoid public attention yet Marilyn was at the beginning of her rise to stardom didn't help their relationship but Joe was devoted to her and for 20 years he did as she asked, sending roses to her grave every week (some say 2 or 3 times). Eventually in 1980 he changed this to a weekly donation to a childrens charity for her. At this point Robert Slatzer eagerly announced that he would be taking up the mantle but the florist was forced to cancel the order after just a couple of months for non-payment.
She and Joe went to Japan for their honeymoon, and Marilyn was asked to go on a USO tour of Korea to entertain the troops. Despite the freezing weather, Marilyn entertained the 60,000 soldiers. She was a huge success. Joe did not accompany her on this trip, instead he stayed in Japan and awaited her return.
After Marilyn had appeared before the troops in Korea she later exclaimed to Joe: “You never heard such cheering!” and Joe replied, “Yes, I have.”
DiMaggio found out from Zernial that the press agent Dave Marsh had set up the photo shoot. DiMaggio contacted Marsh and the two stars were set up on a blind date. Marilyn showed up 2 hours late.
Marilyn drove Joe home that night. In his book, "Where Have You Gone, Joe DiMaggio?" writer Maury Allen reports that Marilyn said to Joe, "I’m sorry I don’t know anything about baseball." DiMaggio replied, "That’s all right. I don’t know much about movies."
On the day of the wedding, someone asked, "How many kids do you want?"
"I’d like to have six," Marilyn said. "At least one," DiMaggio added. "I’m going to continue my career," Marilyn explained. "But I’m looking forward to being a housewife too."
Joe as an old man:
“I would like to take the great Di Maggio fishing,” the old man said. “They says his father was a fisherman. Maybe he was as poor as we are and would understand.”
Ernest Hemingway
“The Old Man and the Sea”
The playwright Arthur Aster Miller was born October 17, 1915 in New York City. In 1940 he married Mary Grace Slattery and their first child, Jane, was born in 1944. His son Robert was born in 1947, the same year All My Sons premiered.
In 1956, he divorced his first wife and married Marilyn Monroe.
Marilyn and Arthur were married on June 29, 1956. On July 1st, 1956 they had another, Jewish, wedding ceremony. Marilyn and Arthur spent the weeks following their marriage in England where she began work on Marilyn Monroe Productions' first independent movie, The Prince and the Showgirl.
The marriage ended in divorce on Jan. 20, 1961.
still under construction...
Joe in his prime:
Arthur Miller is next, but I haven't finished the research for him I'm afraid!