Forgotten

[Carmen]

Uncle Carlos, yes, you have a point there, but maybe it's in everyone's nature if one is so strong or not. For example, you have told us many times about how strong Vivien Leigh was. It was in her character, and that's what made her such an amazing person besides an actress. But there is a big difference between Marilyn and the actresses you mentioned. Marilyn was practically a 100% a Hollywood product. She was exploited by the industry so much that I think that may be a big factor for that strange behavior of hers. I wouldn't for the world want to be a Hollywood slave, that sure must have been a crazy terrible experience. The other stars you mentioned were stars too, big ones, but they were not 100%-made-in-Hollywood. Marilyn was, I think, and besides that, she was not a very confident, strong person. Oh, I don't know, that's my opinion, even though I'm not her biggest fan at all.

Reanne, I agree, the things you mention must influence a lot on the kind of star you become. Not everyone can handle fame. It's a dangerous toy.
David, I agree with you. One must not believe everything one hears and reads.

[carlos]

Well I don't know, I've always been very pro-Marilyn - to me she gets so much grief already. There have been so many books written about her, and if you believe all of those then you really start seeing an ugly picture of Marilyn being painted when I honestly don't think even half of the stuff printed about her is true. Take for instance a sexually-filled book on Jean Harlow that was published in the 1960s. Myrna Loy, a close friend of Harlow, said "It makes me wild when I think about the rubbish that is printed.". William Powell as well said quietly "She wasn't like that at all". Or even the outrageous book on Joan Crawford. In other words, with a huge star like Marilyn, there's undoubtedly truth and fiction intertwined.

I have heard that Gable's wife and Marilyn were friends at the time of the filming of the Misfits, and that his wife didn't metion that the cause of Gable's death was related to Monroe But the film was really plagued with problems with the director and stars that I don't find Marilyn's behavior entirely wrong

Believe me: I NEVER wrote anything if I,m not sure: same as u believe in what u wrote about Jean Harlow, same me reading about M Monroe: which is the difference?: you didn,t know Harlow, nor Monroe- I didn,t know Monroe: so tell me, what can we do?: to read nothing?- try to know friends of them so we can be objetive?. I didn,t read one or two books about Monroe: I read PLENTY, and I have mag and clippings from the 50,s and 60,s about her- (with that concept of you..well, we don,t know ANYTHING about nobody !!-cause we have to read about them): about "The Misfits" and what Gable,s widow tought about Monroe, I,m going to write, here, stuff I have- Not today, tomorrow with more time-
And about autobios beeing more truthful?: I don,t think so- The person writes what he/she WANTS to write, not always the truth.
I don,t know, I,m beggining to wonder IF we know something about ANY Star !!- David: did u read an autobio of Susan?- How can u tell she was like u think she was?- I,m beggining, as I said, to be uncertain about everything, EXCEPT in Vivien Leigh,s case: as I KNEW her daughter and many of her friends.-

[David]

Yeah, you've got a point there Uncle

[Reanne]

That's very true Uncle! It's so hard to know the truth! I still think autobiography's would be a little more accurate even though some stars might be a little self centered and try to make them selves look good. Unless the biography was written by a good friend of the star... maybe that would make a difference.

[Carmen]

My opinion on this biographies subject is this. Following Uncle Carlos' wise words, you should never believe anything a 100% percent. To me the most valuable thing is to interpret these things on your own, and, if possible, look at least at a few different people's points of view. Maybe a good combination would be to read a couple of biographies of the same star and the autobiography too. Still, the most important thing is to try to figure out on your own how the star is or was from your own point of view. That's the way I like to do it. I would hate some cheap biography to kill my image of a star. I like to read between the lines too, but it's never about believing everything. You can't pretend to know everything of a star. Personally, if I were a star I wouldn't like the world to know the absolute and entire truth about me. Stars are people just like anyone else.