The Marilyn Scandal

by Sandra Shevey

Taken from interviews with her friends and colleagues, a portrait of a romantic woman and talented actress describes Marilyn Monroe's life and probes the circumstances of her untimely death

Genres: Biography, Nonfiction

341 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published January 1, 1990

About the author

SANDRA SHEVEY is a feminist-revisionist biographer who has authored books about Marilyn Monroe,John Lennon and Alfred Hitchcock.

www.sandrasheveybooks.wordpress.com

sandrasheveyinterviews YouTube (Peter Lawford discusses Marilyn Monroe with Sandra)

Buy a copy 100th birthday edition `The Marilyn Scandal` e-book at sandra_shevey@yahoo.com

Shevey, age 82, has reissued `The Marilyn Scandal` in 2007 as an e-book with a new cover, an updated introduction and appendix of letters from the interviews (many have Sandra`s curious annotations)

`The Other Side of Lennon: John Lennon vs. and Shevey` was reissued by SSBooks c2020 and includes Sandra`s now legendary 12 hr single sitting interview with the icon.

Sandra controls all rights to her books including serialization, dramatizabtiobm foreign language. re: above and for queries personal appearances, interviews, appearance at universities, film festivals contact us at sandra_shevey@yahoo.com Ditto sales, distribution, screenings, panel discussions, libraries, museums exhibitions.

`The Alfred Hitchcock Signature` by Sandra Shevey follows on from the tours. Antoher e-book it is available sandra_shevey@yahoo.com Contents include a chapter my own 1972 interview with the director which proved his last 1-12-1 interview. It turned around perception as it was salty, improvisational, unguarded and unedited. It also is honest about the Hitchcock magic and includes references to technique, locations, montage and aesthetic (`the Hitchcock blonde`)

Our Hitchcock tours award winning segue into 27th year. www.alfredhitchcockwalk.wordpress.com

sandrasheveyinterviews YouTube (Alfred Hitchcock ad John Lennon)



Get in touch! sandra_shevey@yahoo.com

Reviews

[Erin · Rating 2 out of 5]

I've read alot of biographies about Marilyn Monroe, some are good and some are bad...and some are just boring.

Marilyn Scandal is just boring. I've never heard of the author but her writing style just ain't for me. I don't need to always learn new things from a biography( although that is definitely a plus) but I do believe that a biography should be interesting. Either in the writing style or in the prospective. This book was just boring.

For book with the title Marilyn Scandal, there wasn't much scandal. I guess the "Scandal" is that she was murdered but the author doesn't dig into that. The author just says it obviously wasn't a suicide and then implies it was the Kennedys.

How about we expand on that in some way?

Not many people have heard of this book, it's a Marilyn deep cut so I won't recommend it. It's just not worth your time. I still have a few Marilyn books that are my Moby Dick, I want to read every book about her...I doubt I will but it's nice to have goals.

[Melina Quinto]

This is one of the most sympathetic and carefully researched defenses of Marilyn Monroe available. The central argument — that she was a genuinely skilled professional who was systematically undermined by the people and institutions around her — is convincing and supported by vivid, specific detail throughout. Where I found myself hesitating was around the theory surrounding her death. The argument is emotionally compelling and presented with real conviction, but some of the bolder claims would have benefited from stronger documentary evidence. That said, as a portrait of a woman failed by her era, this book is powerful and worth every page.

[Lise · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is an eye opening biography depicting a Marilyn very unlike the one people think they knew.

Yes, she did pose naked in her debut but because she needed the money.

Yes, she got married young to Jim Dougherty but not by choice. She didn't want to be married, to have to act like a wife.

Marilyn was more prude and less debauche.

She took her craft seriously but lacked confidence in herself thus her being late on set as she was never satisfied with the way she looked or the way she had learned her lines.

Producers and directors didn't take her seriously. To them she was the blond bombshell.

Yet, when given the chance she could deliver quite the performance.

She was briefly married to a friend but the head of the studio made her divorce him though that marriage could have lasted.

She loved both Di Maggio and Arthur Miller but neither of them made an effort to get to know her and love her.

Di Maggio was violent, espousing the doctrine of the time that a man should give his wife a good beating on a daily basis. If he doesn't know why, she knows why.

Miller looked down on her and wrote After Fall based on her and it was her happening to read some lines from his diary in which he put her down that was the start of the end for their marriage.

She wanted children and had 2 miscarriages while married to Miller.

She fell in love with Yves Montand who was quite the ladies' man. His wife Simone Signoret was used to his affair and told Marilyn not to expect him to divorce to marry her.

Her childhood idol, the King, not Elvis here, but Rhett Butler himself, Clark Gable was probably the only man to show her some kindness and to treat her well on the set of their last movie, The Misfits.

Basically, poor Norma Jean, was used and betrayed by a lot of people.

She had to borrow gowns to go to premieres as she couldn't afford designers clothes. She was less paid than some of the costars and when she did buy herself a house, it was nothing as the villa some other stars had.

The author does not believe she committed suicide.

I loved that book. I saw some of Marilyn's movies and she had talent. She wasn't just the sexy blond. She is unique.

[Isabella Magnus · Rating 5 out of 5]

I approached The Marilyn Scandal with a degree of healthy skepticism. Another book on Marilyn Monroe? Surely the subject has been exhausted. However, Sandra Shevey's work proves to be something genuinely distinctive. This is neither a sensationalist rehash nor a tabloid exposé, but rather a meticulously researched document, built upon 150 firsthand interviews conducted with those who knew Monroe intimately friends, colleagues, lovers, and insiders at a time when their recollections remained untainted by the decades of mythology that have since accumulated.

What emerges most powerfully from these pages is tenderness. Monroe is rendered not as the tragic victim or the Hollywood caricature, but as a romantic, deeply vulnerable woman who was also a serious and dedicated actress. Shevey's feminist-revisionist lens cuts through the noise and restores the person behind the icon.

It is important to note that this is the only LIVE edition of the work the 2007 e-book with the pink cover, published by SSBooks which includes a new chapter, an expanded introduction, and annotations that illuminate Shevey's extraordinary research journey. The earlier Sidgwick & Jackson edition is long out of print, and all rights have reverted to the author. SSBooks is now the sole legitimate supplier.

A practical note to readers: Should you encounter difficulty locating this edition on Amazon or Waterstones as I did I would encourage you to purchase the e-book directly from SSBooks via the author's website: http://www.sandrasheveybooks.wordpres.... The retail platforms have, for reasons relating to metadata and distribution errors, misrepresented this book as unavailable. Direct purchase ensures you receive the authentic, complete edition while supporting the author and her independent press.

If you seek an authentic, deeply researched, and unexpectedly tender portrait of Marilyn Monroe, this is the definitive work. Shevey devoted decades to this material. It shows. And it matters.

[Fola Mills · Rating 5 out of 5]

Every glossy documentary, every retrospective tribute, every "tragic icon" headline about Marilyn Monroe should come with a requirement to read this book first. Shevey does something radical — she simply listens to the people who were actually there. And what they describe is not a fragile starlet undone by her own excesses, but a brilliant, disciplined woman methodically undermined by an industry that needed her desperate and dependent to stay profitable. The electroshock therapy revelations are harrowing. The Kennedy chapters are explosive. But what moved me most was the quieter truth running through every page — that Marilyn Monroe knew exactly who she was, and the world around her never forgave her for it.
Three distinct voices, three different angles — all anchored in the book's real themes. Want me to tweak any of them?

[Mars Donnell · Rating 5 out of 5]

"Finally, Someone Tells the Truth"
What makes this book different from everything else out there is where the material actually comes from. These aren't recycled Hollywood rumors or tabloid rehashes — these are stories from people who were actually in her life, who worked with her, who cared about her. The picture Shevey builds is of a warm, deeply romantic woman who was taken advantage of at almost every turn — by studios, by doctors, by powerful men who turned on her the moment she became inconvenient. The parts about her psychological manipulation and electroshock therapy are genuinely disturbing and I couldn't stop thinking about them after I put the book down. This isn't gossip. It's a serious, overdue reckoning with one of the most misunderstood women of the last century.

[Robert Wayne · Rating 5 out of 5]

Shevey makes her intentions clear from the very first page — this is not a book that will romanticize Marilyn's suffering for the sake of entertainment. Every chapter feels like a careful act of restoration, professional, personal, and historical all at once. The detail about her having to borrow gowns for her own premieres while the studio banked millions on her name is the kind of thing that reframes everything you thought you understood. The sections on her marriages to DiMaggio and Miller are quietly devastating — a woman who kept reaching for real love and kept finding control instead. The final chapters on her death are handled with exactly the gravity the subject deserves. A landmark book.

[Skinner Lavon · Rating 4 out of 5]

"Revelatory, Though Not Always Easy to Follow"
Shevey's passion for setting the record straight is evident from the first page, and the firsthand interviews give this book a depth and intimacy that most biographies can't touch. The sections on Marilyn's training and work ethic were genuinely eye-opening for me — I had no idea how seriously she took her craft. My one issue is that the timeline moves around in ways that sometimes made it hard to keep track of where we were. It's not a dealbreaker, and the substance of the book more than makes up for it, but it's worth knowing going in. Still, this deserves far more readers than it seems to have found.

[James Beale · Rating 3 out of 5]

For readers curious about the real Marilyn Monroe beyond the iconic images and tragic headlines, this book offers a useful and sympathetic introduction. The accounts from friends and colleagues humanize her in ways that more sensational biographies do not. The sections on her financial exploitation and psychological mistreatment are the strongest parts of the book. The conspiracy narrative surrounding her death, while intriguing, feels underdeveloped compared to the personal portrait Shevey draws so skillfully elsewhere. A worthwhile read, though I would recommend pairing it with other Monroe biographies for a fuller picture.

[Jessica Mark · Rating 5 out of 5]

Most books about Marilyn Monroe tell the same story. The fragile blonde. The Hollywood tragedy. The woman who could not hold herself together. Sandra Shevey throws all of that out completely. This is the first biography that treats Marilyn the way she should have always been treated — as a serious, dedicated artist who studied Method acting, mime, dance, and fencing because she genuinely cared about getting it right. Learning how little she was paid while studios were making fortunes off her name was infuriating to read. Shevey gives Marilyn back her dignity, and that alone makes this book worth reading.

[Mcmanigler Roland · Rating 5 out of 5]

Going in, I expected a sensational tell-all. What I walked away with was something far more meaningful. Shevey dismantles the difficult diva narrative piece by piece — the lateness, the on-set anxiety, all of it gets reframed as what it actually was: a perfectionist who refused to deliver mediocre work for an industry that had no real interest in respecting her. The Kennedy chapters are gripping, and the suggestion of a cover-up surrounding her death is handled with care and thoughtfulness rather than sensationalism. This is exactly the kind of biography that reminds you why the genre matters.

[Meredith Demaria · Rating 5 out of 5]

Published in 1987, this book was decades ahead of the conversation we are only now beginning to have about women in Hollywood. Shevey lays out the mechanics of exploitation with remarkable clarity — a studio system that profited enormously from Marilyn while paying her a fraction of what her male counterparts earned, and a medical establishment that responded to her distress by causing more of it. The interviews give the book a texture and intimacy that purely archival research simply cannot replicate. For anyone who wants to understand Marilyn Monroe, and anyone who wants to understand how Hollywood has always treated its women, this is essential reading.

[Emmanuel · Rating 3 out of 5]

The genuine affection Shevey has for Marilyn comes through on every single page, and the feminist lens applied to Monroe's career is both refreshing and necessary. Where the book lost me was in the Kennedy material and the theory around her death. It is presented with great conviction, but so much of it rests on implication and secondhand testimony that I could not fully go along with the conclusions. I wanted to be persuaded, and I was partway there. The harder evidence simply was not present. The earlier sections of the book are strong and worth reading, but the conspiracy elements are best approached with an open and critical mind.

[OLSEN NORMAN · Rating 5 out of 5]

Shevey's affection for her subject is undeniable, and the personal testimonies from Marilyn's inner circle give the book a warmth that more academic biographies lack. There are genuinely moving passages about who Marilyn was behind closed doors — her humor, her tenderness, her hunger for intellectual connection. However, I found the investigative side of the book less satisfying than the personal portrait. The claims around her death and the Kennedy connection feel more like a compelling conversation than a documented case. A touching tribute, but readers expecting hard revelations may finish it wanting more.

[John Richard · Rating 4 out of 5]

Most Monroe biographies make her the center of her own tragedy. What Shevey does differently is shift the camera outward — toward the studios, the doctors, the powerful men who shaped and ultimately destroyed her. That reframing is this book's greatest strength. Learning that one of Hollywood's biggest earners was borrowing dresses for red carpets because the studio kept her financially dependent is the kind of detail that lingers. I docked one star only because some chapters feel rushed where I wanted more depth. But as an indictment of the Hollywood machine, this book is sharp, angry, and completely deserved.

[Sarah Smith · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read the Marilyn Scandal some time ago but found it fascinating to get some unexplored perspective on such a well documented life. I intend to re-read this one as I've seen copies are available via Nielsen.

[Walter Houston · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book gave me a completely different perspective on Marilyn Monroe. It felt personal, emotional, and incredibly honest. Sandra Shevey did an amazing job bringing together stories and insights that made Marilyn feel more human than ever before.

[Bryan Jasper · Rating 5 out of 5]

A fascinating and emotional read from start to finish. I appreciated how deeply the author explored Marilyn’s life beyond the headlines and rumors. The interviews and personal accounts made the story feel authentic and powerful.

[Demaria · Rating 5 out of 5]

If you’re interested in Marilyn Monroe, this book is absolutely worth reading. It’s thoughtful, detailed, and filled with touching moments that really stayed with me. I couldn’t put it down once I started.

[Jerry · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of the most compelling books about Marilyn Monroe that I’ve read. The writing is engaging and the personal stories shared throughout the book added so much depth and emotion. It truly felt heartfelt and sincere.

[Bernard Bertie · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book goes far beyond the typical celebrity biography. It paints a more intimate picture of Marilyn through the eyes of people who actually knew her. Emotional, insightful, and beautifully written.

[Sandra Shevey · Rating 5 out of 5]

Sandra Shevey`s feminist-revisionist account of the life of Marilyn Monroe is one of the most trenchant and interpretative accounts of the life of the actress.

Sandra worked out of Hollywood in the Seventies after having authored `Down With Myth America` in 1970 for the New York Times. She devised original courses on women and minorities for USC in Los Angeles. Sandra also at the same time was writing for the New York Times News Service, the Metropolitan Newspaper Syndicate and others where she became acquainted with Marilyn`s colleagues and cronies including John Springer, Rupert Allan, Maureen Stapleton, William Travilla and others whom she quotes.

It is a real acknowledgement of Shevey`s abilities to glean information inasmuch as she was interviewing some very high-power Establishment types who could have been put off by her feminist-revisionist approach.

Instead they persuaded her to write a humanized account of the life of the actress.

Rights reverted to the author in the Nineties and she re-published a new edition 2007 with a new cover, an updated introduction and an appendix of personal letters from interviews (all with Sandra`s observations, comments and queries)

The book deals with the psychological manipulations which led to electro-shock therapy and the friends/enemies who influenced the actress. She also breaks ground in commentary about the Kennedys and Jackie in particular who conceivably could have engineered her silence.

Contact: sandra_shevey@yahoo.com

[Tara · Rating 3 out of 5]

One of the few Monroe biographies I hadn't read until now. The title always put me off, with its sensationalist overtones. The opening chapters, which focus on the final two years of Marilyn's life (in reverse) are disorientating. Shevey contends that MM had an 8-year affair with John F Kennedy, but the evidence seems thin. Nonetheless, the main body of this book is devoted to rehabilitating Monroe's image - showing that she was much more than the sum of her affairs, and crucially, re-interpreting her 'difficult' behaviour on movie sets in the light that she was a woman who, despite her immense fame, never got the respect she deserved in Hollywood. Shevey interviewed some of the major players in Monroe's life, including Bill Travilla, Stanley Rubin, Rupert Allan, Norman Rosten and Joan Copeland. In retrospect, some of her sources don't hold up too well - particularly the controversial journalist Robert Slatzer. There are some factual errors, but all biographies have them. 'The Marilyn Scandal' may not a groundbreaking biography in terms of research, but it was the first full-scale biography of Monroe by another woman, and whatever its shortcomings, it nonetheless amounts to a spirited defence of a much-maligned, yet eternally beloved star. And for that brave stance, Sandra Shevey deserves more praise than I had expected to give.

[LJP1610 · Rating 3 out of 5]

Some factual errors - mortenson, Gregory peck etc started with 1962 then book ended with yves which felt a bit odd. Totally agree with everything author says about bus stop though. Bo you can't act.