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Hawkman, you just "...made our day..", Boston, and dys got sandwiched in between (Velvetta and coke, of course) with his brief reminder of Arthur Miller.

Thanks to "boat of youse". Clint Eastwood interests all of us because of his many talents both on and off the screen. Since he call Rowdy "the idiot of the plains." Let's listen to this one, folks. Then we shall await our Raggedy to remind us of what those famous faces resemble.

Rollin', rollin', rollin'.
Rollin', rollin', rollin'.
Rollin', rollin', rollin'.
Rollin', rollin', rollin'.
Rawhide!
Hah! Hah!

Keep rollin', rollin', rollin',
Though the streams are swollen,
Keep them dogies rollin', rawhide.
Through rain and wind and weather,
Hell bent for leather,
Wishin' my gal was by my side.
All the things I'm missin',
Good vittles, love, and kissin',
Are waiting at the end of my ride.

Move 'em out, head 'em up,
Head 'em up, move 'em on.
Move 'em out, head 'em up:
Rawhide.
Cut 'em out, ride 'em in,
Ride 'em in, cut 'em out,
Cut 'em out, ride 'em in:
Rawhide!
Hah! Hah!

Movin', movin', movin',
Though they're disapprovin',
Keep them dogies movin', rawhide.
Don't try to understand 'em,
Just rope an' throw an' brand 'em.
Soon we'll be living high and wide.
My heart's calculatin',
My true love will be waitin':
Waitin' at the end of my ride.

Move 'em out, head 'em up,
Head 'em up, move 'em on.
Move 'em out, head 'em up:
Rawhide.
Cut 'em out, ride 'em in,
Ride 'em in, cut 'em out,
Cut 'em out, ride 'em in:
Rawhide!

(Rollin', rollin', rollin'.)
(Rollin', rollin', rollin'.)
Hah!
(Rollin', rollin', rollin'.)
Hah!
(Rollin', rollin', rollin'.)
Rawhide.
Hah!
Rawhide!

I Talk To The Trees

from Paint Your Wagon

Clint Eastwood

I talk to the trees
But they don't listen to me
I talk to the stars
But they never hear me

The breeze hasn't time
To stop, and hear what I say
I talk to them all
In vain

But suddenly, my words
Reach someone elses ear
At someone elses heart
Strings too

I tell you my dreams
And while you're listening to me
I suddenly see them
Come true

I can see us some April night
Looking out across a rollin' farm
Having supper in the candlelight
Walking later, arm in arm

Then I'll tell you
How I pass the day
Thinking mainly how
The night would be

Then I'll try to find
The words to say
All the things you
Mean to me

I tell you my dreams
And while you're
Listening to me
I suddenly see them
Come true

My word, Bob. I didn't realize that tree song came from Paint Your Wagon. Thanks again, Boston.

Well, folks, I finally found the song that matches edgar's Jack of Spades song.

Jack of Diamonds

Jack of Diamonds, Jack of Diamonds, I know you of old
You have robbed my poor pockets of silver and gold
Tis raining, ?'tis hailing, ?'tis a dark stormy night
And my horses cannot travel for the moon gives no light
My horses cannot travel for the moon gives no light
Go put up your horses and feed them some hay
Then sit down beside me till the light of the day
My horses ain't hungry, they won't eat your hay
So fair thee well, Darlin', I'll be on my way
So fair thee well, Darlin', I'll be on my way

I'll build me a cabin on the mountain so high
Where the wild geese can see me as they pass me by
As sure as the dewdrop grows on the green corn
Last night you were with me but today you are gone
Last night you were with me but today you are gone

Jack of Diamonds, Jack of Diamonds, I know you of old
You have robbed my poor pockets of silver and gold
Rye whiskey, rye whiskey, I wish you no harm
But I wish I had a bottle as long as my arm
I wish I had a bottle as long as my arm


Lyrics adapted and arranged by Connie Dover
(Songs of Scotland, Ireland and Early America) by Connie Dover

Good afternoon WA2K.

I guess better late than never.

Hey, B.L.T.N. Good to see you with those perfect photo's, gal.

Let's see, PA, we're looking at Omar Khayyam, Walt Whitman, Don Ameche, of course. Then there is Clint out of the closet. Oops, I mean "shadows". And, Leah.

Can you believe, folks, that Don really did his own break dancing in Cocoon?

How about a bit of the Rubaiyat, then.

Look to the rose that blows about us-Lo,
Laughing, she says, into the World I blow
At once the silken Tassel of my Purse
Tear, and its Treasure on the Garden throw."

And a brief poem from Walt...

Oh, you whom I often and silently come
Where you are that I may be with you,
As I walk by your side or sit near, or
Remain in the same room with you,
Little you know the subtle electric fire
That for your sake is playing within m.

Anyway You Want Me

I'll be a strong as a mountain, Or weak as a willow tree, Anyway you want me, That's how I will be. I'll be a tame as a baby, Or wild as the raging sea, Anyway you want me, That's how I will be. In your hand my heart is clay, To take a mold as you may. I'm what you make me, you've only to take me, And in your arms I will stay. I'll be a fool or a wise man, My darling you hold the key, Yes, anyway you want me, That's how I will be, I will be.

They all sat around in a circle
They were all laughing and all telling lies
Then the tall one he bumped in a dollar
He said boys I've got nothing to hide
Now if the King and the Queen stood together
Then the ace he would not be to blame
And if the cards were all laid on the table
Then love could be more than a game

And if the stars didn't shine on the water
Then the sun wouldn't burn on the sand
And if I were the man you wanted
I would not be the man that I am

And I have seen my share of long nights
And I have told my share of lies
And I have run into the darkness
When I saw the look in your eyes
But if the night didn't lie in the darkness
Then the daylight would be hard to find
And if the truth didn't turn to a weakness
I would have never have spoken my mind

And if the stars didn't shine on the water
Then the sun wouldn't burn on the sand
And if I were the man you wanted
Then I would not be the man that I am

So if you're going out to Carolina
Then don't linger in New Mexico
And if you think of the one there behind you
Then you might not feel so alone

And if the stars didn't shine on the water
Then the sun wouldn't burn on the sand
And if I were the man you wanted
I would not be the man that I am

Ooh...who wrote that, Dys?

edgar, I do suppose that there are people on the planet that will be what you want them to be. I like those lyrics, Texas.

dys, Yes, love would be more than a game if we laid our cards on the table. Thanks for that song, and it deserves a second glance.

I forgot to mention Brooke Shields, so here is one for her.

Artist: Emmanuel Carella
Song: Touching wood

Shaking off my problems on a Sunday afternoon
With a bottle of cervasa I'm watching blue lagoon
Thinking gee that Brooke Shields is such a pretty girl
Where can I find one like that to shake up all my world?
Then suddenly I saw her on a Jerry Springer show
You were fighting with two lovers while I was home alone

Oh, nothing lasts forever lets pretend we do
And Oh, I am not that clever I'm just a fool like you
I am touching wood

Running late for work now my keys have disappeared
Another parking ticket should've stayed in bed asleep
What did I do, in another life to deserve this crap?
They've handed me this modern life now they can have it back

Oh, nothing lasts forever lets pretend we do
And Oh, I am not that clever I'm just a fool like you
I am touching wood

I don't want anyone else to find me
Coz I'm walking right out the door
Coz I deserve a little more

Oh, well nothing lasts forever lets pretend we do
And Oh, I am not that clever I'm just a fool like you
I am touching wood

Oh, nothing lasts forever lets pretend we do
And Oh, I am not that clever I'm just a fool like you
I am touching wood
Oh, nothing lasts forever lets pretend we do
And Oh, I am not that clever I'm just a fool like you
I am touching wood

for edgar, who may be stuck in traffic

Well there she sits buddy just a-gleaming in the sun
There to greet a working man when his day is done
Im gonna pack my pa and Im gonna pack my aunt
Im gonna take them down to the cadillac ranch

Eldorado fins, whitewalls and skirts
Rides just like a little bit of heaven here on earth
Well buddy when I die throw my body in the back
And drive me to the junkyard in my cadillac

Cadillac, cadillac
Long and dark shiny and black
Open up your engines let `em roar
Tearing up the highway like a big old dinosaur

James dean in that mercury `49
Junior johnson runnin through the woods of caroline
Even burt reynolds in that black trans am
All gonna meet down at the cadillac ranch

Cadillac, cadillac
Long and dark shiny and black
Open up your engines let `em roar
Tearing up the highway like a big old dinosaur

Hey little girlie in the blue jeans so tight
Drivin alone through the wisconsin night
Youre my last love youre my last chance
Dont let `em take me to the cadillac ranch

Cadillac, cadillac
Long and dark shiny and black
Open up your engines let `em roar
Tearing up the highway like a big old dinosaur

Hey, Eva. I think dys wrote it.

Which reminds me, folks.

I Write The Songs
Artist: Barry Manilow

I've been alive forever, and I wrote the very first song
I put the words and the melodies together
I am music and I write the songs

CHORUS
I write the songs that make the whole world sing
I write the songs of love and special things
I write the songs that make the young girls cry
I write the songs, I write the songs

My home lies deep within you
And I've got my own place in your soul
Now, when I look out through your eyes
I'm young again, even though I'm very old

CHORUS

Oh my music makes you dance
And gives you spirit to take a chance
And I wrote some rock 'n' roll so you can move
Music fills your heart
Well, that's a real fine place to start
It's from me it's for you
It's from you, it's for me
It's a worldwide symphony

Incidentally, folks. That song is about MUSIC, not Barry

My word, how did I miss our dj and his cadillac. Smooth running engine, I guess.

Thanks, Canada, for the reminder, and here's one that's pink.

Bruce Springsteen - Pink Cadillac

You may think I'm foolish
For the foolish things I do
You may wonder how come I love you
When you get on my nerves like you do
Well baby you know you bug me
There ain't no secret 'bout that
Well come on over here and hug me
Baby I'll spill the facts
Well honey it ain't your money
'Cause baby I got plenty of that
I love you for your pink Cadillac
Crushed velvet seats
Riding in the back
Oozing down the street
Waving to the girls
Feeling out of sight
Spending all my money
On a Saturday night
Honey I just wonder what you do there in back
Of your pink Cadillac
Pink Cadillac

Well now way back in the Bible
Temptations always come along
There's always somebody tempting
Somebody into doing something they know is wrong
Well they tempt you, man, with silver
And they tempt you, sir, with gold
And they tempt you with the pleasures
That the flesh does surely hold
They say Eve tempted Adam with an apple
But man I ain't going for that
I know it was her pink Cadillac
Crushed velvet seats
Riding in the back
Oozing down the street
Waving to the girls
Feeling out of sight
Spending all my money
On a Saturday night
Honey I just wonder what it feels like in the back
Of your pink Cadillac
Now some folks say it's too big
And uses too much gas
Some folks say it's too old
And that it goes too fast
But my love is bigger than a Honda
It's bigger than a Subaru
Hey man there's only one thing
And one car that will do
Anyway we don't have to drive it
Honey we can park it out in back
And have a party in your pink Cadillac

Manfred Mann
Geronimo's Cadillac

They put Geronimo in jail down South
Where he couldn't look a gift horse in a mouth
Sergeant, Sergeant don't you feel
There's something wrong with your automobile
Warden, Warden, listen to me
Be brave and set Geronimo free
Governor, Governor, 'aint it strange
You never see a car on the Indian range

Oh boys take me back
I wanna ride in Geronimo's Cadillac
Oh boys I wanna see it for real
I wanna ride in Geronimo's automobile
Take me, take me, take me back
I wanna ride in Geronimo's [Cadillac]

Warden, Warden, don't you know
The prisoners 'aint got no place to go
It took ol'Geronimo by storm
They took the badges from his uniform
Jesus told me and I believe it's true
The redmen are in the sunset too
They stole their land and they won't give it back
And they sent Geronimo a Cadillac

Oh boys take me back
I wanna ride in Geronimo's Cadillac
Oh boys I wanna see it for real
I wanna ride in Geronimo's automobile
Take me, take me, take me back
I wanna ride in Geronimo's [Cadillac]

They put Geronimo in jail down South
Where he couldn't look a gift horse in a mouth
Sergeant, Sergeant don't you feel
There's something wrong with your automobile
Warden, Warden, listen to me
Be brave and set Geronimo free
Governor, Governor, 'aint it strange
You never see a car on the Indian range

Oh boys take me back
I wanna ride in Geronimo's Cadillac
Oh boys I wanna see it for real
I wanna ride in Geronimo's automobile
Take me, take me, take me back
I wanna ride in Geronimo's [Cadillac]

odd, edgar, I was just checking out Geronimo. Don't paratroopers yell his name when they jump. Like that song, buddy.

This one pretty well covers all the automobiles, listeners.

Cars - Drive Lyrics

Who's gonna tell you when,
It's too late,
Who's gonna tell you things,
Aren't so great.

You cant go on, thinkin',
Nothings' wrong, but bye,
Who's gonna drive you home,
tonight.?

Who's gonna pick you up,
When You fall?
Who's gonna hang it up,
When you call?

Who's gonna pay attention,
To your dreams?
And who's gonna plug their ears,
When you scream?

You can't go on, thinkin'
Nothings wrong, but bye,
(who's gonna drive you)
(who's gonna drive you)
Who's gonna drive you home, tonight?
(who's gonna drive you home)

(bye baby)
(bye baby)
(bye baby)
(bye baby)

Who's gonna hold you down,
When you shake?
Who's gonna come around,
When you break?

You can't go on, thinkin',
Nothin's wrong, but bye,
(Who's gonna drive you)
(who's gonna drive you)
Who's gonna drive you home, tonight?
(who's gonna drive you home)

Oh, you know you can't go on, thinkin',
Nothin's wrong,
(Who's gonna drive you)
(Who's gonna drive you home)
Who's gonna drive you home, tonight?

(bye baby)
(bye baby)
(bye baby)

One Piece at a Time
Johnny Cash

Well, I left Kentucky back in '49
An' went to Detroit workin' on a 'sembly line
The first year they had me puttin' wheels on cadillacs

Every day I'd watch them beauties roll by
And sometimes I'd hang my head and cry
'Cause I always wanted me one that was long and black.

One day I devised myself a plan
That should be the envy of most any man
I'd sneak it out of there in a lunchbox in my hand
Now gettin' caught meant gettin' fired
But I figured I'd have it all by the time I retired
I'd have me a car worth at least a hundred grand.

CHORUS
I'd get it one piece at a time
And it wouldn't cost me a dime
You'll know it's me when I come through your town
I'm gonna ride around in style
I'm gonna drive everybody wild
'Cause I'll have the only one there is a round.

So the very next day when I punched in
With my big lunchbox and with help from my friends
I left that day with a lunch box full of gears
Now, I never considered myself a thief
GM wouldn't miss just one little piece
Especially if I strung it out over several years.

The first day I got me a fuel pump
And the next day I got me an engine and a trunk
Then I got me a transmission and all of the chrome
The little things I could get in my big lunchbox
Like nuts, an' bolts, and all four shocks
But the big stuff we snuck out in my buddy's mobile home.

Now, up to now my plan went all right
'Til we tried to put it all together one night
And that's when we noticed that something was definitely wrong.

The transmission was a '53
And the motor turned out to be a '73
And when we tried to put in the bolts all the holes were gone.

So we drilled it out so that it would fit
And with a little bit of help with an A-daptor kit
We had that engine runnin' just like a song
Now the headlight' was another sight
We had two on the left and one on the right
But when we pulled out the switch all three of 'em come on.

The back end looked kinda funny too
But we put it together and when we got thru
Well, that's when we noticed that we only had one tail-fin
About that time my wife walked out
And I could see in her eyes that she had her doubts
But she opened the door and said "Honey, take me for a spin."

So we drove up town just to get the tags
And I headed her right on down main drag
I could hear everybody laughin' for blocks around
But up there at the court house they didn't laugh
'Cause to type it up it took the whole staff
And when they got through the title weighed sixty pounds.

CHORUS
I got it one piece at a time
And it didn't cost me a dime
You'll know it's me when I come through your town
I'm gonna ride around in style
I'm gonna drive everybody wild
'Cause I'll have the only one there is around.

(Spoken) Ugh! Yow, RED RYDER
This is the COTTON MOUTH
In the PSYCHO-BILLY CADILLAC Come on

Huh, This is the COTTON MOUTH
And negatory on the cost of this mow-chine there RED RYDER
You might say I went right up to the factory
And picked it up, it's cheaper that way
Ugh!, what model is it?

Well, It's a '49, '50, '51, '52, '53, '54, '55, '56
'57, '58' 59' automobile
It's a '60, '61, '62, '63, '64, '65, '66, '67
'68, '69, '70 automobile.

here's a classic, it's not about cars, but it's about daves

from the mind of dr seuss

Did I ever tell you that Mrs. McCave
Had twenty-three sons, and she named them all Dave?

Well, she did. And that wasn't a smart thing to do.
You see, when she wants one, and calls out "Yoo-Hoo!
Come into the house, Dave!" she doesn't get one.
All twenty-three Daves of hers come on the run!

This makes things quite difficult at the McCaves'
As you can imagine, with so many Daves.
And often she wishes that, when they were born,
She had named one of them Bodkin Van Horn.
And one of them Hoos-Foos. And one of them Snimm.
And one of them Hot-Shot. And one Sunny Jim.
And one of them Shadrack. And one of them Blinkey.
And one of them Stuffy. And one of them Stinkey.
Another one Putt-Putt. Another one Moon Face.
Another one Marvin O'Gravel Balloon Face.
And one of them Ziggy. And one Soggy Muff.
One Buffalo Bill. And one Biffalo Buff.
And one of them Sneepy. And one Weepy Weed.
And one Paris Garters. And one Harris Tweed.
And one of them Sir Michael Carmichael Zutt.
And one of them Oliver Boliver Butt.
And one of them Zanzibar Buck-Buck McFate . . . .
But she didn't do it. And now it's too late.

Daves I Know

Bruce: [Spoken] Hi, I'm Bruce McCulloch. I'd like to tell you about the Daves I know.

[Singing: ]
These are the Daves I know, I know
These are the Daves I know
These are the Daves I know, I know
These are the Daves I know

David Hoffman
He works in my dad's store
He's worked here for 12 years
He'll probably work here for more

These are the Daves I know, I know
These are the Daves I know
These are the Daves I know, I know
These are the Daves I know

Dave Gort
I've known since I was six
In grade eight he broke his leg
So we got drunk and sick

These are the Daves I know, I know
These are the Daves I know
These are the Daves I know, I know
These are the Daves I know

Some of them are Davids
[Dave Gort: But most of us are Daves]
They all have their own hands
But they come from different moms

These are the Daves I know, I know
These are the Daves I know
These are the Daves I know, I know
These are the Daves I know

Dave Jadiski
Man, this cat can swing
He weighs almost 50 pounds
And he delivers my paper on time

These are the Daves I know, I know
These are the Daves I know
These are the Daves I know, I know
These are the Daves I know

Dave Capisano
I hardly know him
...
[Bruce stands around, looking vaguely uncomfortable for the rest of the measure]

These are the Daves I know, I know
These are the Daves I know
These are the Daves I know, I know
These are the Daves I know

[Next two measures sung by the Daves Bruce knows: ] We are the Daves he knows, he knows
We are the Daves he knows
We are the Daves he knows, he knows
We are the Daves he knows

Some of us them are Davids
But most of us are Daves
We all have our own hands
But we come from different moms

These are the Daves I know, I know
[Daves: We are the Daves he knows, he knows]
[All: These are the Daves]

Paperback Writer
The Beatles

Paperback writer, paperback writer

Dear Sir or Madam, will you read my book
It took me years to write, will you take a look
It's based on a novel by a man named Lear
And I need a job
So I want to be a paperback writer
Paperback writer

It's a dirty story of a dirty man
And his clinging wife doesn't understand
His son is working for the Daily Mail
It's a steady job
But he wants to be a paperback writer
Paperback writer
Paperback writer, paperback writer

It's a thousand pages, give or take a few
I'll be writing more in a week or two
I could make it longer if you like the style
I can change it 'round
And I want to be a paperback writer
Paperback writer

If you really like it you can have the rights
It could make a million for you overnight
If you must return it you can send it here
But I need a break
And I want to be a paperback writer
Paperback writer

Paperback writer, paperback writer
Paperback writer, paperback writer
Paperback writer, paperback writer
Paperback writer, paperback writer
Paperback writer

Andy Griffith
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia


Birth name Andy Samuel Griffith
Born June 1, 1926 (1926-06-01) (age 81)
Mount Airy, North Carolina, USA
Years active 1953 - Present
Notable roles Sheriff Andy Taylor on
The Andy Griffith Show
Ben Matlock on
Matlock

Andy Samuel Griffith (born June 1, 1926) is a Tony Award-nominated and Emmy Award-nominated American actor, producer, writer, director and Grammy Award-winning southern gospel singer.[1] He gained prominence in the starring role of A Face in the Crowd, before he was better known for his starring roles, playing the title characters in the long-running 1960s sitcom, The Andy Griffith Show, for CBS and in the long-running 1980s and 1990s legal drama, Matlock, on both networks, NBC and later ABC.





Early life

Griffith, an only child, was born in Mount Airy, North Carolina to Carl Lee Griffith, a furniture worker, and Geneva Nann Nunn, a guitarist. At a very young age, Andy had to live with relatives until his parents could afford to get a home of their own. Without a crib or a bed, Andy slept in a bureau drawer for a few months. In 1929, when Andy was 3, his father took a job working as a carpenter and was finally able to purchase a home. Like his mother, Andy grew up listening to music. By the time he entered school he was well aware that he was from what many considered the 'wrong side of the tracks.' He was a shy student, but once he would found a way to make his peers laugh, he began to come into his own. As a student at Mount Airy High School, Andy cultivated an interest in the arts and he participated in the school's drama program. A growing love of music would change his life. At age 15, after watching the 1941 movie, Birth of the Blues, he decided to become a singer. Although neither he nor anyone else in his hometown knew how to play it, the first musical instrument he purchased was a used trombone. Griffith looked up Ed Mickey, a minister at Grace Moravian Church, who led the brass band and taught Andy to sing and play the trombone. Mickey nurtured Griffith's talent throughout high school until graduation in 1944. Griffith was delighted when he was offered a role in The Lost Colony, a play still performed today in the historic Outer Banks of coastal North Carolina, a part of the state he grew to love. He performed as a cast member of the play for several years, playing a variety of roles, until he finally landed the role of Sir Walter Raleigh, the namesake of North Carolina's capital.

He began college studying to be a Moravian preacher, but changed his major to music. He attended the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and earned a bachelor's degree in music in 1949. While at UNC, he was president of the UNC Men's Glee Club and was a member of the Alpha Rho Chapter of Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia, America's oldest fraternity for men in music. After graduation, he taught English at Goldsboro High School, Goldsboro, NC for a few years.


Comedian to film star

Richard Linke signed Griffith to Capitol Records, who started out in show business as something of a stand-up comedian, although a better description might be monologist. His first success was a 1953 live recording of "What It Was, Was Football," a story about a country boy at his first football game delighting in the "big orange drinks" and the boys running up and down the "cow pasture" in "the awfulest fight I have ever seen in my life" and "these purty girls a-wearin' these little-bitty short dresses and a-dancin' around." It sold more an 900,000 copies, and Griffith would commute to New York City. Later that year, he recorded "Number One Street", telling the story of a rural family travelling to Florida on U.S. Route 1.

By 1954, he was on Broadway, starring in No Time for Sergeants, a play about a country boy in the Air Force. Griffith reprised his lead role in the play for the movie version in 1958; the film also featured Don Knotts as a military psychiatrist, marking the beginning of a life-long association between Griffith and Knotts. No Time for Sergeants is also considered the direct inspiration for Gomer Pyle, U.S.M.C.. Also in 1958, Griffith portrayed a United States Coast Guard sailor in the movie Onionhead.


Dramatic pinnacle

In 1957, Griffith starred in A Face in the Crowd. Again, he played a "country boy", but this "country boy" was manipulative and power-hungry; a drifter who became a television host and used his show as a gateway to political power. Co-starring Patricia Neal, Walter Matthau, Tony Franciosa and Lee Remick (in her film debut), this now-classic film showcased Griffith's powerful talents as a dramatic actor and singer.

It also showed early on the power of television upon the masses. Directed by Elia Kazan, written by Budd Schulberg, ostensibly based on the alleged onstage phoniness of Will Rogers and Arthur Godfrey, the prescient film was seldom run on television until the 1990s. A 2005 DVD reissue came complete with a mini-documentary on the film with comments from Schulberg and surviving cast members, Griffith, Franciosa and Neal.


Southern character actor

Griffith first appeared as a character performer on two episodes of The United States Steel Hour'. He made other character appearances on Playhouse 90, Gomer Pyle, U.S.M.C., Mayberry R.F.D., The Mod Squad, Hawaii Five-O, The Doris Day Show, Here's Lucy, The Bionic Woman, Fantasy Island, among many others. He also reprised his role as Ben Matlock on Diagnosis Murder in 1997, and his final guest-starring role was on an episode of Dawson's Creek.


TV roles

The Andy Griffith Show

Before The Andy Griffith Show, Griffith appeared as a country sheriff (who was also justice-of-the-peace and editor of the local newspaper) in an episode of The Danny Thomas Show. This episode, in which Thomas's character is stopped for speeding in the little town of Mayberry, served as a backdoor pilot for Griffith's own show. Both shows were produced by Sheldon Leonard. Griffith starred in his own series called, The Andy Griffith Show, beginning in 1960, for CBS, alongside other successful 1960s family sitcoms that dealt with widowhood, such as: My Three Sons, Family Affair, Beulah, The Beverly Hillbillies, Julia, The Courtship of Eddie's Father and The Brady Bunch. The show took place in Mayberry where Griffith's character Andy Taylor, a widower, was the Sheriff and town sage. It was an immediate hit. Though Griffith never received a writing credit for the show, he worked on the development of every script. Though co-star Knotts was frequently lauded, Griffith was never nominated for an Emmy during the show's run. In 1967, Griffith was under contract with CBS to do one more season of the show, but Griffith decided to quit the show to pursue a movie career and other projects.

Co-starring on the show was a familiar character actor, comedian and longtime friend of Griffith's from Morgantown, Don Knotts, who played the role of Taylor's cousin and partner, Deputy Barney Fife from 1960 to 1965. And also starring on The Andy Griffith Show was Ron Howard as Taylor's only son, [[Opie TaylorHoward said of the successful show, "Mayberry was less about a family or sorta moral values, and it was simply a community where people care about one another." He also said that he appreciated his well-being and respect on The Andy Griffith Show, "I was always grateful for the experience and the atmosphere that was created, because it was the best of all possible environments, particularly for a kid growing up." Ron also said about his mentor/colleague of more than 45 years: "We're rehearsing and I was suppose to say,'Pa, Pa something'; I coudn't make the line work. I said, 'Can I say something? I don't think a kid would say it this way." Andy asked me, 'so how would a kid say it?' I told him it, and he said, 'Fine, do it that way.' And I remember, kind of freezing there, and Andy said, 'What's the matter, Ronny?,' and I said, 'That's the first suggestion that anybody accepted.' He responded,'That's the first one that was any good.'" When asked after his co-star had been under contract with the network for the final season, he said, "I had no interested in that show ever ending at that stage in my life, but, I think he was looking for a change." Prior to the show's cancelation in 1968, Howard also said, "It would give a chance to absolutely go highly on top, and do something different and I respect that. Although it hit me hard when it finally ended." On one of Griffith's first unpopular TV series, The Headmaster, Howard said, "I think they were 249 Andy Griffith episodes. Well, that's a lot of seeing Andy as one character." Howard still keeps in touch with Griffith.


Other series and Matlock

After leaving his still-popular show in 1968, Griffith starred in less successful series such as The Headmaster (1970), The New Andy Griffith Show (1971), Salvage 1 (1979), and The Yeagers (1980).

After spending time in rehabilitation in 1986, Griffith came back to work in another popular TV series as the title character Ben Matlock, in Matlock. Griffith's character was a country lawyer in Atlanta, who was known for his southern drawl and always won his cases. By the end of its first season it was a ratings powerhouse on Tuesday nights. Though the show was nominated for 4 Emmys, Griffith once again was not even nominated. During the series' sixth season, he served as Writer, Executive Producer, and Director of the show. The second most-enduring Griffith show ended in 1995, and Griffith enjoyed playing a down-to-earth lawyer that everybody can depend on. Distributed by Viacom it has seen long-running success in syndication.

Also starring on Matlock, was Miss Florida winner of the Miss Universe Pageant of 1976 and future best-selling author of Christian books, Nancy Stafford, a Fort Lauderdale native who played the role of Matlock's law partner, aide and friend Michelle Thomas (beginning in 1987 to her last appearance in 1992). There was had an unquestionable on- and off-screen chemistry between Griffith & Stafford. Well-known character actor Kene Holliday played Matlock's first private investigator, Tyler Hudson. He left the show in 1989 amid tensions with the star. He was replaced by Clarence Gilyard, another veteran character actor, film star, cowboy, and Griffith's longtime fan, playing the role of Conrad McMasters from 1989 to 1993). Unlike the relationship of Griffith & Holliday, the chemistry and on- and off-screen friendship was an asset to the program. Griffith became Gilyard's acting coach and mentor. Upon Gilyard's arrival in New York City to work with the seasoned actor, he said of his idol, "I was doing a lot of stress management that day. I decided to forget about the audition script and focus on Andy the man. Having grown up with The Andy Griffith Show, adoring the father/son relationship, I just figured to be Opie (Ron Howard) for a day. Well, I blew it. I was disappointed with myself, thinking I would never work again. But I turned on the TV, in the limousine taking me back to the airport that night, and my second episode of Diff'rent Strokes happened to be on. I felt it was a good omen." In addition, Clarence also said, "There is a God in Heaven, because the character fits me like a glove. McMasters is a serious private eye with his finger on the pulse of Atlanta, though he's fun to be around and has time for girlfriends. Lots of them. I see him as a former college football player and rodeo cowboy who stumbled on a job as a deputy sheriff in North Carolina (Griffith's hometown), then worked his way up to bigger and better things." Gilyard left the show in 1993, after the show switched networks from NBC to ABC. At the same time, he was offered a co-starring role prior to shooting the pilot for Walker, Texas Ranger on CBS, where he stayed on the show for 9 consecutive seasons. Today, Gilyard is still friends with Griffith, along with Stafford.

And also joining the cast of Matlock for the series' seventh season in 1992, was longtime film and character actor, Universal series fan, future Nash Bridges star, writer and producer Daniel Roebuck, as Matlock's assistant Cliff Lewis. His appearances proved to be so popular that he was given a starring role in 1993, and stayed with the series until the very end. On the program's star, he commented: "Andy took a great deal of interest in producing, rewriting, always tweaking it. As I said on Matlock, we worked very hard and nobody worked very harder than Andy Griffith, who'd be pulling a 12 hour day, you know, when he was in his late 60s, and I don't know a lot of people my age who would do that consistently everyday. I love the time that we had together on the set; and we had a wonderful, professional relationship. The time that I spent with Andy as an actor was some of the best times I had." The final thing that Roebuck said of Griffith's career (as a singer): "He loved music so much, it was something else that Andy brought to the show, wasn't just the humor, it was the music. Anybody who watches Matlockconsistently will remember that there's music throughout the show."


Movies

He also starred in many television films such as The Strangers In 7A (1972), Winter Kill (1974) and Pray for the Wildcats (1974). In 1981 Griffith won an Emmy nomination for his role in the TV film Murder In Texas and in 1983 won further acclaim for his role as a homicidal villain in the TV film Murder In Coweta County, co-starring music legend Johnny Cash as the hero. During this period, Griffith also appeared in two big screen movies, both of which were flops at the box office. He co-starred with Jeff Bridges in the 1975 comedy Hearts of the West, and appeared alongside Tom Berenger as the villainous Colonel Ticonderoga in the 1985 movie Rustler's Rhapsody. He also had an appearance as the villain in the 1996 movie Spy Hard. Savages (1974), a made for TV movie based on the novel Deathwatch by Robb White, is an excellent though neglected thriller[citation needed] with many surprises and a literate, well-reasoned script. Griffith plays the villain. In the 1999 film A Holiday Romance, directed by Bobby Roth, Andy played the role of "Jake Peterson." A Holiday Romance is available on DVD. In 1961 he made "Second Time Around" with Debbie Reynolds.

In the 2007 movie Waitress, Griffith plays a character named "Old Joe". He briefly promoted the role when he appeared on Larry King Live in 2006, on an episode paying tribute to Don Knotts.

Griffith, revered for his wholesome image for decades, revealed a more complex side of himself in the A Face in the Crowd DVD documentary, where he recalled director Kazan prepping him to shoot his first scene with Lee Remick. Remick played a teenage baton twirler who captivates Griffith's character on a trip to Arkansas. Griffith recalls that Kazan wanted a specific facial expression from him to convey the character's emotional state, which Kazan summed up in the phrase, "Look at her like you want to f--- her!"


Singing and recording career

Griffith sang as part of some of his acting roles, most notably in A Face In The Crowd and on some episodes of The Andy Griffith Show. Within recent years, he has recorded successful albums of classic Christian hymns, for Sparrow Records. In 1999 Andy was inducted into the Country Gospel Music Hall of Fame with fellow artists, Lulu Roman, Barbara Mandrell, David L Cook, Gary S. Paxton, Jimmy Snow, Loretta Lynn and Jodi Miller. [2]

Griffith was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom by President George W. Bush on 9 November 2005.

The C.F. Martin Guitar company offers an Andy Griffith signature model.


Trademarks

Griffith's trademarks are driving 2 separate Ford automobiles: (Galaxie on The Andy Griffith Show, and Crown Victoria on Matlock), his southern drawl, and for wearing his gray suit (on Matlock).


Name dispute

William Harold Fenrick of Platteville, Wisconsin legally changed his name to Andrew Jackson Griffith and ran for sheriff of Grant County in November, 2006 (he lost). Subsequently, actor Griffith filed a lawsuit against Griffith/Fenrick, asserting that he violated trademark, copyright and privacy laws by changing his name for the "sole purpose of taking advantage of Griffith's notoriety in an attempt to gain votes." However, on May 4, 2007, U.S. District Judge John Shabaz ruled Griffith/Fenrick did not violate federal trademark law because he did not use the Griffith name in a commercial transaction, but instead "to seek elective office, fundamental First Amendment protected speech."


Friendship with other actors

Griffith's relationship with comedian Don Knotts began in 1955, when they both co-starred together in the Broadway play and film, No Time for Sergeants, and its 1958 sequel. A couple of years later, Knotts would co-star with Griffith on The Andy Griffith Show, for five years, playing Griffith's cousin on the series. After leaving the show, Knotts and Griffith kept in touch with one another until Knotts' death in early 2006. Knotts also had a recurring role on Matlock. It is reported that Griffith traveled from his Manteo, North Carolina home to Los Angeles to visit a terminally ill Don Knotts in the hospital as Knotts succumbed to complications of lung cancer.

Griffith's longtime friendship with Ron Howard began in 1960, when the child actor guest-starred alongside him on an episode of Make Room For Daddy which led to the success of Griffith's The Andy Griffith Show, that same year. For 8 seasons, Griffith & Howard shared a unique father-son relationship on the set. When the show ended, Howard had also guest-starred alongside Griffith on its spin-off show, Mayberry R.F.D., where his character's father marries long-time girlfriend Helen Crump.


Personal life

Griffith was married to Barbara Bray Edwards for 23 years (1949-1972), with whom he adopted two children, Andy (now deceased) and Dixie. After his divorce from Edwards, he married Solica Cassuto (1973 - 1981). Griffith married his current wife, Cindi Knight, on April 2, 1983.

Griffith has three adopted children. A son, Andrew Samuel Griffith, Jr. (aka "Sam Griffith"), a real-estate developer (b. 1957 - d. January 17, 1996), and two daughters: Dixie and Nan.


Health

Griffith's first health problem started in April 1983, when he was diagnosed with Guillain-Barre syndrome, and couldn't walk for 7 months. Throughout his battle, he spent his time in a rehabilitation center, fighting for his life, to stop being paralyzed from the knees down.

On May 9, 2000, just one month before his 74th birthday, Griffith underwent quadruple heart bypass surgery at Sentara Norfolk General Hospital in Norfolk, Virginia.

After a fall, Griffith underwent hip surgery on September 5, 2006, at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles, California.


Griffith in popular culture

In Episode 2x01 and 2x02 of the TV-sitcom Married... with Children, the fictional town of Dumpwater has only one celebrity, a man who met Andy Griffith.

To this day, Mount Airy, North Carolina, Griffith's home town, annually celebrates The Andy Griffith Show. In the town, Floyd's Barber Shop is still open and visitors can eat a meal in the Snappy Lunch Diner, a place Griffith often visited growing up and even mentioned once on The Andy Griffith Show.

Griffith may have been an inspiration for the Hanna-Barbera cartoon character Huckleberry Hound, introduced in 1958, although voice actor Daws Butler had employed the same generic "Southern drawl" for other cartoon characters starting in the 1940s. Griffith was spoofed in a surreal sketch on the Canadian comedy series SCTV. The sketch conflated his Andy Taylor character with the persona of TV talk show host Merv Griffin. In SCTV's version of Mayberry, the sheriff (Rick Moranis) and Floyd the barber (Eugene Levy impersonating Howard McNear's character from the show) both exclaimed, "Ooh!" in unison.

Marilyn Monroe
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia


Birth name Norma Jeane Mortenson
Born June 1, 1926
Los Angeles, California
Died August 5, 1962 (aged 36)
Brentwood, California (drug overdose)
Other name(s) Norma Jeane Baker
Years active 1947-1962
Spouse(s) James Dougherty (1942-1946) (divorced)
Joe DiMaggio (1954) (divorced)
Arthur Miller (1956-1961) (divorced)
Official site Marilyn Monroe.com
Notable roles Lorelei Lee in
Gentlemen Prefer Blondes
The Girl in The Seven Year Itch
Chérie in Bus Stop
Roslyn Taber in The Misfits
Golden Globe Awards

Best Actress - Motion Picture Musical or Comedy
1960 Some Like It Hot

Marilyn Monroe (born Norma Jeane Mortenson on June 1, 1926 - August 5, 1962), was a Golden Globe Award-winning American actress, singer, model and pop icon. She was known for her comedic skills and screen presence, going on to become one of the most popular movie stars of the 1950s and early 1960s. At the later stages of her career, she worked towards serious roles with a measure of success. However, she faced disappointments in her career and personal life during her later years. Her death has been subject to speculation and conspiracy theories.




Childhood

Her mother

Marilyn Monroe was born under the name of Norma Jeane Mortenson in the charity ward of the Los Angeles County Hospital.[1][2] According to biographer Fred Lawrence Guiles, her grandmother, Della Monroe Grainger, had her baptized Norma Jeane Baker by Aimee Semple McPherson.[1] She obtained an order from the City Court of the State of New York and legally changed her name to Marilyn Monroe on February 23, 1956. [3]

Monroe's maternal grandparents were Otis Elmer Monroe and Della Mae Hogan. Her mother Gladys Pearl Monroe was born in Porfirio Diaz, Mexico, now known as Piedras Negras, on May 27, 1902[4] where the family had gone, so Otis could work on the railroad. The family returned to California where Gladys's brother Otis was born in 1905. Their father, suffering from syphilis which had invaded his brain, died in 1909 in Southern California State Hospital in San Bernardino County.[5] Gladys married first to Jasper Baker May 1917 and had two children, Robert Kermit Baker (born January 24, 1918) and Berniece Baker (born July 30, 1919). They were both born in Los Angeles.[6][7] After Gladys and her Kentucky-born husband divorced, the husband took the children and moved to Kentucky, according to Miracle's book My Sister Marilyn. Gladys moved there as well, to be near her children. After living there for a while, she returned to Los Angeles.


Her father

After Gladys returned to Los Angeles, she married Martin Edward Mortenson (1897-1981) on Oct 11, 1924.[8] They divorced six months into their marriage, according to My Sister Marilyn. Martin's father, also named Martin, was born in Haugesund, Norway and had immigrated to the United States about 1880 where he married Stella Higgins. Their son was born in Vallejo, California.[9]

Many biographers, such as Donald H. Wolfe in The Last Days of Marilyn Monroe, believe Norma Jeane's biological father was Charles Stanley Gifford, a salesman for RKO Pictures where Gladys worked as a film-cutter. Monroe's birth certificate lists Gladys's second husband, Martin Edward Mortenson, as the father. While Mortenson left Gladys before Norma Jeane's birth, some biographers think he may have been the father.[10] In an interview with Lifetime, James Dougherty, her first husband, said Norma Jeane believed that Gifford was her father. Whoever the father was, he played no part in Monroe's life.


Foster parents

Unable to persuade Della to take Norma Jeane, Gladys placed her with foster parents Albert and Ida Bolender of Hawthorne, California, where she lived until she was seven. In her autobiography My Story, Monroe states she thought Albert was a girl.

Gladys visited Norma Jeane every Saturday. One day, she announced that she had bought a house. A few months after they had moved in, Gladys suffered a breakdown. In My Story, Monroe recalls her mother "screaming and laughing" as she was forcibly removed to the State Hospital in Norwalk. According to My Sister Marilyn, Gladys's brother, Marion, hanged himself upon his release from an asylum, and Della's father did the same in a fit of depression.

Norma Jeane was declared a ward of state, and Gladys's best friend, Grace McKee (later Goddard) became her guardian. After McKee married in 1935, Norma Jeane was sent to the Los Angeles Orphans Home (later renamed Hollygrove), and then to a succession of foster homes.

The Goddards were about to move to the east coast and could not take her. Grace approached the mother of James Dougherty about the possibility of her son marrying the girl. They married two weeks after she turned 16, so that Norma Jeane would not have to return to an orphanage or foster care.


Career

Early years

While her husband was in the Merchant Marine during World War II, Norma Jeane Dougherty moved in with her mother-in-law, and started to work in the Radioplane Company factory (owned by Hollywood actor Reginald Denny), spraying airplane parts with fire retardant and inspecting parachutes. Army photographer David Conover was scouting local factories, taking photos for a YANK magazine article about women contributing to the war effort. He saw her potential as a model and she was soon signed by The Blue Book modeling agency. In his book Finding Marilyn, Conover claimed the two had an affair that lasted years. Shortly after signing with the agency, Monroe had her hair cut, straightened, and lightened to golden blonde.

She became one of Blue Book's most successful models, appearing on dozens of magazine covers. In 1946, she came to the attention of talent scout Ben Lyon. He arranged a screen test for her with 20th Century Fox. She was offered a standard six-month contract with a starting salary of $125 per week.[11]

Lyon suggested she adopt Marilyn (after Marilyn Miller) as her stage name, since Norma Jeane wasn't considered commercial enough. For her last name, she took her mother's maiden name. Thus, the twenty-year-old Norma Jeane Baker became Marilyn Monroe. During her first half year at Fox, Monroe was given no work, but Fox renewed her contract and she was given minor appearances in Scudda Hoo! Scudda Hay! and Dangerous Years, both released in 1947. In Scudda Hoo!, her part was edited out of the film except for a quick glimpse of her face when she speaks two words. Fox decided not to renew her contract again. Monroe returned to modelling and began to network and make contacts in Hollywood.

In 1948, a six-month stint at Columbia Pictures saw her star in Ladies of the Chorus, but the low-budget musical was not a success and Monroe was dropped yet again. She then met one of Hollywood's top agents, Johnny Hyde, who had Fox re-sign her after MGM turned her down. Fox Vice-President Darryl F. Zanuck was not convinced of Monroe's potential, but due to Hyde's persistence, she gained supporting parts in Fox's All About Eve and MGM's The Asphalt Jungle. Even though the roles were small, movie-goers as well as critics took notice. Hyde also arranged for her to have minor plastic surgery on her nose and chin, adding that to earlier dental surgery.[12][13][14][15]

The next two years were filled with inconsequential roles in standard fare such as We're Not Married! and Love Nest. However, RKO executives used her to boost box office potential of the Fritz Lang production Clash by Night. After the film performed well, Fox employed a similar tactic and she was cast as the ditzy receptionist with Cary Grant and Ginger Rogers in Howard Hawks's slapstick comedy Monkey Business. Critics no longer ignored her, and both films's success at the box office was partly attributed to Monroe's growing popularity.

Fox finally gave her a starring role in 1952 with Don't Bother to Knock, in which she portrayed a deranged babysitter who attacks the little girl in her care. It was a cheaply made B-movie, and although the reviews were mixed, they claimed that it demonstrated Monroe's ability and confirmed that she was ready for more leading roles. Her performance in the film has since been noted as one of the finest of her career.[16]


Stardom

Marilyn Monroe
Playboy centerfold
appearance December 1953
Birthplace Los Angeles, California
Birthdate June 1, 1926
Measurements 37C - 23 - 36
Height 5 ft 5½ in
Weight 118 lb
Preceded by None
Succeeded by Margie Harrison

Monroe proved she could carry a big-budget film when she starred in Niagara in 1953. Movie critics focused on Monroe's connection with the camera as much as on the sinister plot.[17] She played an unbalanced woman planning to murder her husband.

Around this time, nude photos of Monroe began to surface, taken by photographer Tom Kelley when she had been struggling for work. Prints were bought by Hugh Hefner and, in December 1953, appeared in the first edition of Playboy. To the dismay of Fox, Monroe decided to publicly admit it was indeed her in the pictures. When a journalist asked her what she wore in bed she replied, "Chanel no.5". When asked what she had on during the photo shoot, she replied, "The radio".

Over the following months, Gentlemen Prefer Blondes and How to Marry a Millionaire cemented Monroe's status as an A-list actress and she became one of the world's biggest movie stars. The lavish Technicolor comedy films established Monroe's "dumb blonde" on-screen persona.

In Gentlemen Prefer Blondes, Monroe's turn as gold-digging showgirl Lorelei Lee won her rave reviews,[18] and the scene where she sang "Diamonds Are a Girl's Best Friend" has inspired the likes of Madonna,[19] Kylie Minogue[20] and Geri Halliwell. In the Los Angeles premiere of the film, Monroe and co-star Jane Russell pressed their foot- and handprints in the cement in the forecourt of Grauman's Chinese Theatre.

In How to Marry a Millionaire, Monroe was teamed up with Lauren Bacall and Betty Grable. She played a short-sighted dumb blonde, and even though the role was stereotypical, critics took note of her comedic timing.[21]

Her next two films, the western River of No Return and the musical There's No Business Like Show Business, were not successful. Monroe got tired of the roles that Zanuck assigned her. After completing work on The Seven Year Itch in early 1955, she broke her contract and fled Hollywood to study acting at The Actors Studio in New York. Fox would not accede to her contract demands and insisted she return to work on productions she considered inappropriate, such as The Girl in Pink Tights (which was never filmed), The Girl in the Red Velvet Swing, and How to Be Very, Very Popular.

Monroe stayed in New York. As The Seven Year Itch raced to the top of the box office in the summer of 1955, and with Fox starlets Jayne Mansfield and Sheree North failing to click with audiences, Zanuck admitted defeat and Monroe returned to Hollywood. A new contract was drawn up, giving Monroe approval of the director as well as the option to act in other studios' projects.

The first film to be made under the contract was Bus Stop, directed by Joshua Logan. She played Chérie,[22] a saloon bar singer who falls in love with a cowboy. Monroe deliberately appeared badly made-up and unglamorous.

She was nominated for a Golden Globe for the performance and was praised by critics. Bosley Crowther of The New York Times proclaimed: "Hold on to your chairs, everybody, and get set for a rattling surprise. Marilyn Monroe has finally proved herself an actress." In his autobiography, Movie Stars, Real People and Me, director Joshua Logan wrote: "I found Marilyn to be one of the great talents of all time... She struck me as being a much brighter person than I had ever imagined, and I think that was the first time I learned that intelligence and, yes brilliance have nothing to do with education."

Monroe formed her own production company with friend and photographer Milton H. Greene. Marilyn Monroe Productions released its first and only film The Prince and the Showgirl in 1957 to mixed reviews. Along with executive-producing the film, she starred opposite the acclaimed British actor Laurence Olivier, who also directed it.

Olivier became furious at her habit of being late to the set, as well as her dependency on her drama coach, Paula Strasberg. Monroe's performance was hailed by critics, especially in Europe, where she was handed the David di Donatello, the Italian equivalent of the Academy Award, as well as the French Crystal Star Award. She was also nominated for the British BAFTA award.


Later years

In 1959, she scored the biggest hit of her career starring alongside Tony Curtis and Jack Lemmon in Billy Wilder's comedy Some Like It Hot. After shooting finished, Wilder publicly blasted Monroe for her difficult on-set behavior. Soon, however, Wilder's attitude softened, and he hailed her as a great comedienne. Some Like It Hot is consistently rated as one of the best films ever made.[23] Monroe's performance earned her a Golden Globe for best actress in musical or comedy.

After Some Like It Hot, Monroe shot Let's Make Love directed by George Cukor and co-starring Yves Montand. Monroe was forced to shoot the picture because of her obligations to Twentieth Century-Fox. While the film was not a commercial or critical success, it included one of Monroe's legendary musical numbers, Cole Porter's "My Heart Belongs to Daddy".


Arthur Miller wrote what became her and her co-star Clark Gable's last completed film, The Misfits. The exhausting shoot took place in the hot Nevada desert. Monroe, Gable and Montgomery Clift delivered performances that are considered excellent by contemporary movie critics.[24] Tabloid magazines blamed Gable's death of a heart attack on Monroe, claiming she had given him a hard time on the set. Gable, however, insisted on doing his own stunts and was a heavy smoker. After Gable's death, Monroe attended the baptism of his son.

Some of the most famous photographs of her were taken by Douglas Kirkland in 1961 as a feature for the 25th anniversary issue of LOOK magazine.

Monroe returned to Hollywood to resume filming on the George Cukor comedy Something's Got to Give, a never-finished film that has become legendary for problems on the set and proved a costly debacle for Fox. In May 1962, she made her last significant public appearance, singing Happy Birthday, Mr. President at a televised birthday party for President John F. Kennedy.

After shooting what was claimed to have been the first ever nude scene by a major motion picture actress, Monroe's attendance on the set became even more erratic. On June 1, her thirty-sixth birthday, she attended a charity event at Dodger Stadium.


Already financially strained by the production costs of Cleopatra, starring Elizabeth Taylor, Fox dropped Monroe from the film and replaced her with Lee Remick. However, co-star Dean Martin, who had a clause in his contract giving him an approval over his co-star, was unwilling to work with anyone but Monroe. She was rehired.

Monroe conducted a lengthy interview with Life, in which she expressed how bitter she was about Hollywood labeling her as a dumb blonde and how much she loved her audience.[25] She also did a photo shoot for Vogue, and began discussing a future film project with Gene Kelly and Frank Sinatra, according to the Donald Spoto biography. Furthermore, she was planning to star in a biopic of Jean Harlow. Other projects being considered for her were What a Way to Go! (in which Shirley MacLaine would replace her), Kiss Me, Stupid, a comedy starring Dean Martin (and Kim Novak taking on Monroe's role) and a musical version of A Tree Grows In Brooklyn.

Before the shooting of Something's Got to Give resumed, Monroe was found dead in her Los Angeles home on the morning of August 5, 1962. She remains one of the 20th century's legendary public figures and archetypal Hollywood movie stars.



Marriages

James Dougherty

Monroe married James Dougherty on June 19, 1942. In The Secret Happiness of Marilyn Monroe and To Norma Jeane with Love, Jimmie, he claimed they were in love but dreams of stardom lured her away. In 1953 he wrote a piece called "Marilyn Monroe Was My Wife" for Photoplay, in which he claimed that he left her.

In the 2004 documentary Marilyn's Man, Dougherty made three new claims: he was her Svengali and invented the "Marilyn Monroe" persona, studio executives forced her to divorce him, and that he was her only true love.

He remarried in 1947. When informed of her death, the August 6, 1962 New York Times reported that he replied "I'm sorry," and continued his LAPD patrol. He did not attend Monroe's funeral.

His sister wrote in the 12/1952 Modern Screen Magazine that Dougherty left Monroe because she wanted to pursue modeling. He admitted to A&E Network that his mother asked him to marry her, and told Lifetime in 1996 that he cut off her allotment after being served with divorce papers. The 1999 Christie's auction of Monroe's estate revealed that she kept nothing from Dougherty except their divorce decree.


Joe DiMaggio

In 1951 Joe DiMaggio saw a picture of Monroe with two Chicago White Sox players, but did not ask the man who arranged the stunt to set up a date until 1952. She wrote in My Story that she did not want to meet him, fearing a stereotypical jock. They eloped at San Francisco's City Hall on January 14, 1954. During the honeymoon, they visited Japan, and she was asked to visit Korea. She performed ten shows over four days in freezing temperatures for over 100,000 servicemen. Biographers have noted that DiMaggio, who stayed in Japan, was not pleased with his wife's decision during what he wanted to be an intimate trip.

Back home, she wrote him a letter about her dreams for their future, dated February 28, 1954:

"My Dad, I don't know how to tell you just how much I miss you. I love you till my heart could burst... I want to just be where you are and be just what you want me to be... I want someday for you to be proud of me as a person and as your wife and as the mother of the rest of your children (two at least! I've decided)..."[26]

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DiMaggio biographer Maury Allen quoted New York Yankees PR man Arthur Richman that Joe told him everything went wrong from the trip to Japan on. Fred Lawrence Guiles speculated that Joe, knowing the power and hollowness of fame, wanted desperately to head off what he was convinced was her "collision-course with disaster." Friends claimed that DiMaggio became more controlling as Monroe grew more defiant.[citation needed] On September 14, 1954, she filmed the now-iconic skirt-blowing scene for The Seven Year Itch in front of New York's Trans-Lux Theater. Bill Kobrin, then Fox's east coast correspondent, told the June 26, 2006 Palm Springs Desert Sun that it was Billy Wilder's idea to turn it into a media circus: "... every time her dress came up and the crowd started to get excited, DiMaggio just blew up." The couple later had a "yelling battle" in the theater lobby.[27] Her makeup man Allan Snyder recalled Monroe later appeared on set with bruises on her upper arms.[citation needed] She filed for divorce on grounds of mental cruelty 274 days after the wedding.

Years later, she turned to him for help. In February 1961, her psychiatrist arranged for her to be admitted to the Payne Whitney Psychiatric Clinic, where, according to Donald Spoto, she was placed in the ward for the most seriously disturbed. Unable to check herself out, she called DiMaggio, who secured her release. She later joined him in Florida. Their "just good friends" claim did not stop rumors of remarriage. Archive footage shows Bob Hope jokingly dedicated Best Song nominee The Second Time Around to them at the 1960 Academy Awards telecast.

According to Maury Allen, on August 1, 1962, DiMaggio ?- alarmed by how his ex-wife had fallen in with people he felt detrimental to her, such as Frank Sinatra and his "Rat Pack" ?- quit his job with a PX supplier to ask her to remarry him. He claimed her body and arranged her funeral, barring Hollywood's elite. For twenty years, he had a dozen red roses delivered to her crypt three times a week. Unlike her other two husbands, he never talked about her publicly, wrote a tell-all, or remarried.


Arthur Miller

On June 29, 1956, Monroe married playwright Arthur Miller, whom she had first met in 1951, in a civil ceremony in White Plains, New York. City Court Judge Seymour Robinowitz presided over the hushed ceremony in the law office of Sam Slavitt (the wedding had been kept secret from both the press and the public). Nominally raised as a Christian, she converted to Judaism before marrying Miller. After she finished shooting The Prince and the Showgirl with Laurence Olivier, the couple returned to the United States from England and discovered she was pregnant. However, she suffered from endometriosis and the pregnancy was found to be ectopic. A subsequent pregnancy ended in miscarriage.

By 1958, she was the couple's main breadwinner. While paying alimony to Miller's first wife, her husband reportedly charged her production company for buying and shipping a Jaguar to the United States.[citation needed]

Miller's screenplay for The Misfits, a story about a despairing divorcée, was meant to be a Valentine gift for his wife, but by the time filming started in 1960 their marriage was beyond repair. A Mexican divorce was granted on January 24, 1961. On February 17, 1962, Miller married Inge Morath, one of the Magnum photographers recording the making of The Misfits.

In January 1964, Miller's play After the Fall opened, featuring a beautiful and devouring shrew named Maggie. The similarities between Maggie and Monroe did not go unnoticed by audiences and critics (including Helen Hayes), many of whom sympathized with the fact that she was no longer alive and could not defend herself.[citation needed]

Simone Signoret noted in her autobiography the morbidity of Miller and Elia Kazan resuming their professional association "over a casket". In interviews and in his autobiography, Miller insisted that Maggie was not based on Monroe. However, he never pretended that his last Broadway-bound work, Finishing the Picture, was not based on the making of The Misfits. He appeared in the documentary The Century of the Self lamenting the psychological work being done on her before her death.


Death and aftermath


Monroe's last home was in Brentwood in Los Angeles. She was found dead by her housekeeper on August 5, 1962. Her death was ruled as an overdose of sleeping pills. Questions remain about the circumstances and timeline of housekeeper Eunice Murray's discovery of Monroe's body. Also, some conspiracy theories involve John and Robert Kennedy.

There is speculation that her death was accidental,[citation needed] but the official cause was "probable suicide".

On August 8, 1962, Monroe was interred in a crypt at Corridor of Memories, #24, at the Westwood Village Memorial Park Cemetery in Los Angeles, California. Lee Strasberg delivered the eulogy.


Administration of estate

In her will, Monroe left Lee Strasberg control of 75% of her estate. She expressed her desire that Strasberg, or, if he predeceased her, her executor, "distribute [her personal effects] among my friends, colleagues and those to whom I am devoted."[28]

Strasberg willed his portion to his widow, Anna. She declared she would never sell Monroe's personal items after successfully suing Odyssey Auctions in 1994 to prevent the sale of items which were withheld by Monroe's former business manager, Inez Melson. However, in October 1999 Christie's auctioned the bulk of the items Monroe willed to Lee Strasberg, netting US$12.3 million.

Anna Strasberg is currently in litigation against the children of four photographers to determine rights of publicity, which permits the licensing of images of deceased personages for commercial purposes. The decision as to whether Monroe was a resident of California, where she died, or New York, where her will was probated, is worth millions.[29]


On 4 May 2007, a federal judge in New York ruled that Monroe's rights of publicity ended upon her death, thus allowing the family of photographer Sam Shaw to sell photos of Monroe.[1]


Quotes

Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to:
Marilyn Monroe" I think that when you are famous every weakness is exaggerated. (...) Goethe said, "Talent is developed in privacy," you know? And it's really true. (...) Creativity has got to start with humanity and when you're a human being, you feel, you suffer. You're gay, you're sick, you're nervous or whatever.[30]
"
" Say goodbye to Pat, say goodbye to the president, and say goodbye to yourself, because you're a nice guy.[...]I'll see, I'll see. [31] "


Miscellaneous facts


Ella Fitzgerald credited Monroe with helping her launch mainstream career by securing her a gig at the then-segregated Mocambo. [2]
Hugh Hefner purchased the crypt beside Monroe for himself. [32]
Monroe's films made over $200,000,000 on their first run, according to her New York Times obituary.
Tiles on the doorstep of Monroe's Brentwood home bore the Latin inscription, "Cursum Perficio," commonly translated as "My journey is over." (or "I have completed my course.").[33]
The Jean Louis gown in which Monroe sang "Happy Birthday, Mr. President" to John F. Kennedy in May 1962 was sold at Christie's auction in 1999 for $1,267,500.
In February 2007's issue of Premiere magazine Mickey Rooney claims to have given her the name Marilyn Monroe.
Many days after Monroe's death, Mrs. Eunice Murray attempted to cash her last paycheck from Monroe, and it was declined and marked "deceased." This check, one of the last that Monroe ever wrote on her Roxbury Drive Branch account at City National Bank in Beverly Hills, is today on display at the Hollywood Entertainment Museum in Hollywood, CA.
Marilyn Manson formed his name after combining the names of Marilyn Monroe and Charles Manson.
It has been rumored for years and reported in Ripley's Believe It Or Not that Marilyn Monroe had 6 toes on her left foot, but this was false. The rumor started after a photo shoot in 1946 on a beach in California where a clump of sand made it appear she had an extra toe. [34]
The horror punk band The Misfits derived their title Monroe's film of the same name, due to lead singer Glenn Danzig's interest in Marilyn Monroe. The band also has a song "Who Killed Marilyn?".