Marilyn Monroe's Jewish handlers
Jewish Marilyn Monroe
07.08.2024
They held her hands on the set - and wildly irritated the directors. How two Jews led Marilyn Monroe to world fame for 15 years.
"Marilyn came to me when she was ugly and lived as if in a shell," Natasha Laitess told me about the first meeting with the future Hollywood star. However, by the time they met in 1948, Natasha herself was doing a little better. A German Jewish woman née Postmann escaped from Nazi Germany after her teacher, theater director Max Reichardt. He managed to stage a film version of "A Midsummer Night's Dream" in Hollywood and soon died. Natasha played several small roles, but was awarded only the favorable reaction of several critics to her work in the film Once Upon a Honeymoon. "The actress shines with a clear and sharp shine in the tiny role of a Jewish maid," wrote a critic of The New York Times about Laitess. This was the top of her acting career in Hollywood - other directors were not satisfied with either her German accent or her "unfeminine" appearance.
Natasha Laitess (left) and Marilyn Monroe
After saying goodbye to her dreams of acting fame, Natasha agreed to the position of stage teacher at Columbia Pictures. But either Natasha's approach was too cruel, or the most hopeless actors were sent to her - none of her wards in the film industry stayed for a long time. At first, it seemed that Monroe had no chance. "She couldn't speak, she literally didn't know how to open her mouth," Natasha recalled later. - She was afraid of everything. She had a baby face with disheveled hair. It was an unusual sight. And on the other hand, her movements and body were very feminine. It's like two different people."
Marilyn Monroe
Monroe managed to be an hour late for that first meeting. Laitess looked at her - and her provocative red dress - with poorly hidden contempt. This only increased the trembling of the young actress: in a weak voice Monroe told that she wanted to become a "real actress" and not to appear on the screens in swimsuits. In response, she heard about the "Stanislavsky system," "the strongest Russian theater school" - and how she, Marilyn Monroe, is extremely far from all this. "Natasha ruthlessly overthrew me from her own pedestal, throwing me back to the ground, into the thick, chamming under my feet. She claimed that I was absolutely inegucent. Raw, worthless material," Marilyn herself said later.
Marilyn Monroe (left) and Natasha Laitess
Naturally, it all ended with Monroe sobbing. And either they touched Natasha, or they were her initial calculation, but she hugged Marilyn, comforted her and assured that she would take care of her as her own daughter. She kept her promise: from that day on, Natasha became Monroe's mother-herd for many years, who controlled every step of the actress. And not only not on the set. During the day, they honed graceful plastic and stage speech together, in the evening they read the list of literature compiled by Natasha. Mostly Russian. Monroe later admitted that her mentor opened the "Karamazov Brothers" for her - and she was forever captivated by the brilliant image of Grushenka.
Marilyn Monroe
A few months later, Natasha knocked out her first leading role for Monroe - albeit in the low-budget musical "Hoorists". The actress played a girl from the choir, who is cared for by a rich guy. The film was not a great success, but Monroe was charming in it - especially when she sang two unpretentious songs with the main character of the picture: "Everyone knows that I love you" and "Every baby needs a dad." The actress was noticed by the famous American impresario Johnny Hyde - under this pseudonym, a Jew from the Russian Empire Ivan Haydabura worked in the United States. Soon he left his third wife, moved Marilyn Monroe to his place - and took up her career. Hyde even repeatedly offered a girl who was 31 years younger than him to get married - but she always refused. But with gratitude, she accepted more and more contracts, which Hyde knocked out for her at different film studios. With one condition: Natasha Laitess will always be with her on the set.
Natasha Laitess (left) and Marilyn Monroe
Laitess didn't take a step away from her on the set. Sometimes she even held her hand while there was only the actress's face in the frame. This gave the actress courage and self-confidence. Many directors later recalled how Monroe constantly asked them: "Can Natasha be even closer?" Their work did not go unnoticed - after the success of the films "Asphalt Jungle" and "All About Eve" Hyde managed to provide Monroe at the end of 1950 - and at the same time Natasha - a profitable seven-year contract with 20th Century Fox.
Natasha Laitess (left) and Marilyn Monroe
But just a few days after that, Hyde died of a heart attack. The heirs kicked Monroe out of his house - and she came to Natasha. She happily sheltered the actress - and soon she was the first to notice that Monroe was depressed. "She was constantly weighed and put on different makeup with an apathetic face," Natasha told about the days under the same roof with the future star. - Once I worked in the studio and unexpectedly, I don't even know why, I felt that I had to go home. She found Monroe in bed. The actress's face was pale, her cheeks were swollen. "I started slowing her down and asking what happened," Natasha shared. - Seeing her slowed reaction, I was scared and slapped her hard on the face. Her mouth opened - it was full of green pills. I carefully pulled them out one by one." It turned out that Monroe wanted to commit suicide, acutely experiencing Hyde's death.
Marilyn Monroe
Natasha decided to get Monroe out of depression with the help of work - and she did it. In 1953, the film "Niagara" finally assigned Monroe the status of a sex symbol, and the subsequent musical comedy "Gentlemen Prefer Blondes" made the actress one of the most popular in Hollywood. At this peak of her career, Monroe decided that she was ready to leave Natasha. She moved to New York and soon sent her teacher a telegram that no longer needed her services.
It is not known whether such a breakup of relations was preceded by any scandal. But the fact remains: Monroe seems to have crossed out Natasha from her life. She refused to open her door, did not answer her calls and did not even move her finger when she did not extend her contract at 20th Century Fox studios, although she knew that Natasha was seriously ill and needed money. Natasha Laitess died in May 1963 before her 52nd birthday, but survived her most talented student for almost a whole year.
Marilyn Monroe's wedding
Monroe, having moved to New York, quickly found another Jewish woman who was also holding her hand on the set. She was Paula Strasberg, the wife of director Lee Strasberg. The fact is that, having left for New York, Monroe went back to study at Lee Strasberg's Acting Studio. There was nothing surprising about it: the Strasberg School was a place of attraction for all Hollywood stars - the Oscars, earned very quickly by Strasberg's first students, brought him a reputation as a magician. There were queues for retraining in Strasberg. However, not everyone was adopted, which only strengthened the image of the institution. So, to get into the studio, Jack Nicholson had to go through five auditions, Dustin Hoffman had to pass six, and Harvey Keitel got there on the 12th attempt. And it was necessary to wait at least a year between attempts, by the way. Monroe's selection passed - but she refused to study with everyone. Because of shyness! As a result, Strasberg invited the actress to private lessons at his and Paula's house. And soon Monroe became almost a full-fledged member of their family.
Marilyn Monroe (left) and Paula Strasberg
Directors who worked with Monroe soon began to call Paul the "black baroness." It was Paula who now evaluated each scene played. And without a doubt, there was progress - the film "The Prince and the Dancer" brought Monroe many national awards, the role in "Jazz Only Girls" - "Golden Globe" and world fame. Monroe already had the main role in "Breakffast at Tiffany's", but at the last moment Truman Capote decided that the participation of the actress would complicate the shooting. To be more precise, Paula's participation. The woman commented on every sneeze on the set, and still said that Monroe was the best woman in the world and that she had more fans than Jesus. Monroe herself listened favorably to this flattery, but the others only laughed or even angry.
Marilyn Monroe (left) and Paula Strasberg
Monroe's colleagues on stage shared that they never managed to talk to the actress because she was always talking to Strasberg. Director of "Only Girls in Jazz" Billy Wilder, for example, was extremely annoyed by the fact that Monroe continued to take acting lessons during the filming. The actress first asked Paula's opinion about the scene filmed, and only then - Wilder's opinion. In one of the episodes after the team "filmed" Wilder furiously jumped off his seat and sarcastically shouted to Strasberg: "Well, how do you like the scene, Paula?!" In general, Paula Strasberg drove the directors crazy - because of her, they didn't want to work with Monroe. The actress herself idolized the Strasberg couple. "For the first time, I feel that I am not accepted as a freak, but as myself," she repeated. It was Monroe who left most of her inheritance - it turned out after her sudden death in August 1962.
Ekaterina Vasilyeva