Memories Of Marilyn Monroe
I have had the pleasure of being psychic and friend to countless film and television stars, heads of state, and members of royalty. But invariably, each time I am invited to do an interview for a talk show anywhere in the world, the first person the host asks about is Marilyn Monroe.
First, I’m asked what she was really like. The second most common question is: did she commit suicide or was she murdered? Before answering the question about her passing, I always feel it’s important to reveal information about the Marilyn that I knew, because in many ways I saw a side of her that few were aware of. I’d like to share how we met and became not only psychic and client but also dear friends.
I was living in the Pacific Heights area of San Francisco in the 1950s. In 1954 I received a phone call from my friend, Broadway and film actor Clifton Webb. Clifton asked me to take on a friend of his as a client – a “Mrs. DiMaggio”, who also lived in San Francisco. The DiMaggio name was fairly common in the city and I thought nothing of it. Clifton simply referred to his friend in this way, and as a favor to him I offered to give the reading to Mrs. DiMaggio at 9 that evening, even though I hadn’t planned on working that night.
“Wonderful – I’ll make all the arrangements,” Clifton said.
However, 9 p.m. came and went, with no sign of my new client. People are generally very excited about having a psychic reading and making contact with their loved ones, so they are rarely – if ever – late for an appointment. Finally at 9:15 my houseboy asked if he should lock the door and turn out the lights.
“No – she’ll be here,” I assured him. I told him he could retire for the evening and I waited confidently because I psychically had a feeling the lady would arrive.
At 9:20 p.m., the doorbell rang. When I opened the door, a beautiful blonde stood before me. I instantly recognized her as legendary screen goddess Marilyn Monroe. She was dressed identically to the outfit she’d worn when she’d recently married baseball great Joe DiMaggio – a black suit with white ermine trim, and a white transparent kerchief covering her hair.
We greeted each other warmly but I noticed that she was breathless. I asked her if she would like a glass of water. “No, I will be fine,” she answered in her breathy voice. As we walked toward my den for the reading, she explained, “I am out of breath because I just walked here. I took a cab but got out five blocks away.”
“Why?” I asked.
“Because it broke in this morning’s papers that I am undergoing psychiatric evaluations,” she said, “and I didn’t want your reputation spoiled.”
That was the essence of the Marilyn I knew. She was very sensitive – very caring…and very aware of the impact her success could have on others, both for the good and for the bad.
That evening’s session was the beginning of a lovely friendship and psychic/client relationship that spanned the years and in fact, I spoke to her just days before her tragic passing.
Some of our sessions were in person but many took place over the telephone. Marilyn suffered from insomnia and once she learned that I am a night person, she often chose the late hours to place calls to me. Hesitant to have anyone know that she was on the line, she developed a code for leaving messages to me. Because she enjoyed saying the words, she would use them even when she knew it was only I who would be answering. “Hello You, It’s Me,” she’d purr into the phone.
Our conversations often covered career issues, because Marilyn was very devoted to her acting and to achieving bigger and better success in films. But she also craved the thought of becoming a mother and she would ask my advice on helping to make this happen. She sought comfort as she suffered several miscarriages. This brought Marilyn more sorrow than perhaps anything else in life. “I want to have a little person in my life!” she would tell me again and again.
Eventually, Marilyn relocated to Beverly Hills and I settled there shortly afterwards. Our conversations and spirit sessions continued, but as her career escalated she developed an emotional issue that was little-known or understood in those days. It was in fact the cause of her lateness on the set. Marilyn was not in any way attempting to be a “diva”. Her lateness was not the result of a drug or drinking problem. What my dear friend suffered from was what we now refer to quite commonly as agoraphobia.
It was sheer fear that prevented her from appearing at a party or business event on time. Terror kept her from emerging from her dressing room. “I love people and I love my work,” she’d cry. “But this sweeps over me and I seem to have no control.”
I agreed to work with Marilyn in overcoming the effects of the malady. I believe in meditating with various colors of candles to visualize problems disappearing. For her depression and fear I suggested she burn a light blue candle. For peace and contentment, she was to burn a rose candle. Both were tall, dinner-style, non-scented candles, designed as a focal point for her to concentrate on. She would do the visualization for 5 minutes at a time, seeing herself stronger, able to overcome any anxiety and able to rise above any hesitation about emerging in public.
I also worked with her on repeating affirmations (positive sayings). One of her favorites was “My mind is peaceful and contented. I love and approve of myself. I am free to be me.”
Another visualization technique I taught her was to place the White Light of Protection around her entire body. As many in the spiritual field know, this is a light of purity and protection that surrounds each part of the body, but never touches. I would tell Marilyn to begin at the top of her head and see the light surrounding her, blocking out negativity.
For awhile, she would be much stronger and more confident. But it was an ongoing battle that she would suffer till the end of her life.
Marilyn told me that in spite of the fact that she was thrilled with her career, she felt that along the way, she’d lost control. “Sometimes I feel that there are 10,000 press agents working overtime just releasing stories about me,” she sighed. She felt pressured to, as she referred to it, “be Marilyn Monroe”. She’d sadly tell me, “I don’t know how to be me anymore.”
During one phone call, she asked me to accompany her to a home in Brentwood that she was interested in purchasing. Many people are unaware that, despite her success, Marilyn had to borrow money in order to pay for the home. While her star was rising, her salary was not – at least, not to the degree that it should have.
There are 25 streets in Brentwood named Helena. When we arrived at Fifth Helena, she directed me towards the end of the cul-de-sac. Though I could tell she was excited, I was not. The home had too many trees which cast shadows on the property. The street was not well-lit and the overall effect was negative and depressing. Though I didn’t tell Marilyn this is so many words, I did tell her that psychically I felt another home would be better suited for her. I tried to discourage her from the purchase but unfortunately this was one time that she refused to listen to the information from spirit.
This would be the home where she would pass away. But there were happy times for Marilyn prior to her passing. She had been dismissed by Twentieth Century Fox from the cast of “Something’s Got to Give” (her agoraphobia had returned), but shortly before her passing negotiations had been completed and she was reinstated. She had many other films in the works.
And there was a romantic secret that Marilyn had, which would have made her completely happy and able to live a long life, had the night of August 4, 1962 not taken a terribly unexpected turn.
She called me on August 1 to celebrate her reinstatement, asking me to go to the beach with her. “I want to walk the beach and see the children playing,” she said. But I told her I had clients that day and couldn’t go. I urged her to go without me. “People will recognize me and not leave me alone,” she feared.
“Marilyn, wear no makeup, no dark glasses, and a sloppy Joe sweater,” I advised. “You will be just fine.” She giggled at the prospect. That evening she called me, elated that she’d been able to spend time unnoticed at the beach as I’d predicted. She also wanted to discuss the party we were to attend at Peter Lawford’s beach house in Malibu. “I’m not going, Kenny,” she said. “I want to rest and be ready for my big press conference…and other things!” she laughed.
She was due to hold a major press conference in a matter of days and the world had been under the assumption that she would reveal her love affair with one or more of the Kennedys.
Instead, the secret that Marilyn had (which she revealed to me and only a few select other friends) was that she and her beloved Joe DiMaggio had planned to re-marry on August 8. She was going to make the announcement to the news media.
Flowers had been ordered – she’d told me Joe had a new suit. But sadly, the date set for the wedding was instead the date of her funeral.
But on that night of August 1, when we last spoke, it was a delighted Marilyn doing the talking. She felt her career was on track, she was re-marrying the love of her life, and her agoraphobia was under control.
This is why I know that Marilyn’s passing was no suicide, and it was not murder. It was simply a tragic case of an accidental overdose of a little too much alcohol and too much barbiturates, not intended to kill her but instead to help her sleep and prepare for her exciting new life.
Her last words to me were “Love is the one immortal thing about us. Without love, what else can life mean?” They were spoken not by a despondent person but by a woman who felt her life was on track in ways that she’d only imagined possible.
I have been in contact with her in spirit many times since her passing, including an extended session which appears in my book I Still Talk To…
I’m often asked if there will ever be another Marilyn Monroe. But I can say that even now, 50 years after her passing, no one has come close. She still remains one of the top film stars and icons of all time.
Lindsay Lohan, Britney Spears, Madonna and many other personalities have at one time or another adopted poses where they’ve tried to resemble Marilyn. But no one can capture that combination of innocence and beauty that shone from within.
In my mind, there has never been another Marilyn and there never will be. I feel blessed to have called her my client and friend. I know she has been reunited with Joe on the other side and can only be happy for her, since I feel she has found peace and contentment at last.
Kenny Kingston is an author of 6 books on the spiritual world and has appeared on radio and television around the world, from the earlier days of talk shows until today’s Internet radio shows. He was host of the highly popular “Kenny Kingston Psychic Hotline” infomercial on television for 7 years. And his list of clients and friends reads like the “Who’s Who” of the political, social and entertainment worlds.
Yet in spite of his celebrity status, he has always been a spiritualist first and foremost. His guiding principle in life is “Only Believe; All Things are Possible if You Only Believe.”
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