While there were happy times in their marriage, including a moment when Miller dedicated a collection of his plays to Monroe, ultimately, they divorced in 1961.
Frank Sinatra (1961)
Whether or not Marilyn Monroe and Frank Sinatra had a physical relationship is debated by friends of the singer and biographers alike. But all can agree that Sinatra felt protective of her and that the two were very close.
Tony Oppedisano, Sinatra’s longtime friend and the coauthor of Sinatra and Me: In the Wee Small Hours, said that “Sinatra felt she was a fragile girl who had been exploited by a lot of people.” According to Oppedisano’s recount of their relationship, this is part of the reason Sinatra never made a move on Monroe, even though he was attracted to her.
However, in 1997, J. Randall Taraborrelli wrote that the pair began an alleged affair in 1954 in his book Sinatra: The Man Behind the Myth. He claims that Sinatra proposed to Monroe weeks before her death “in an effort to save her from herself.” His protective nature toward Monroe is a common theme throughout differing accounts of the nature of their relationship.
A photograph of Marilyn Monroe and Frank SinatraDavid Livingston/Getty Images
JFK (1961–1962)
While never confirmed, Marilyn Monroe’s alleged relationship with President John F. Kennedy is one of the most talked-about affairs in history.
Monroe and JFK were first introduced in 1954 by Peter Lawford, JFK’s brother-in-law. According to biographer James Spada, “When Kennedy tired of her, he passed her off to his brother” in 1962. However, biographer Donald Soto claims there are only select confirmed occasions when Monroe and JFK were together. Between October 1961 and August 1962, he writes, the pair met four times.
Excluding Monroe's infamous performance of “Happy Birthday, Mr. President,” which ignited—and continues to ignite—assumptions that the pair had an affair, their relationship remained private due to JFK’s marriage to first lady Jackie Kennedy.
In the weeks leading up to her death, it was reported that she was threatening to hold a press conference to expose her relationship with President Kennedy and his brother U.S. Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy. A Netflix documentary released earlier this year, The Mystery of Marilyn Monroe: The Unheard Tapes, shared new insights into her death, including her impregnation by one of the Kennedy brothers. A few days before she died, she called a close friend to tell them about her plan to marry Bobby Kennedy.
Since her death, there has been countless conspiracy theories claiming the Kennedy family was involved in her death. While that has not been proved, it further fuels the mystery that was Monroe's life.
