Dear Diary, it's Marilyn

Chapter 13

We only got to 29 votes on the last chapter but I wanted to upload anyway. We'll just try again for 36 this time, won't we?

I hope this chapter isn't too confusing...just remember that this chapter covers a 3 year period, 1947-1950. A couple more characters will be introduced. For the first paragraph or so, Marilyn is 22 years old. By the end, she is 25.

Enjoy!

Chapter 13

Ladies of the Chorus didn’t get me much publicity, but all of its songs and dances were a lot of fun. I had even become friends with some of the other ladies in the show. We would go out after filming for drinks and earn glares from more “respectable” ladies because real ladies don’t drink in public. They only drink themselves to death in the privacy of their own homes. Blah!

Now I was 23 years old, the perfect age to star in all the Hollywood films, if only I could make a name for myself. I didn’t have a contract with Columbia Pictures anymore which meant I was all on my own; no acting coach, no job, no commitments.

I decided to call in a favor with Ben. He said couldn’t help me but his wife could. Bebe called a friend, a man stage-named Harpo. He and his brothers made up The Marx Brothers, a very successful talent agency. Bebe got me a screen test and audition with them, which landed me a fairly small role in Love Happy.

On the set, although not in the movie, was a Marx brother named Zeppo. He was the youngest of the brothers, in his 40’s at the time, and he seemed to take a liking to me. Between filming we would chat together and act friendly, but I got the feeling Zeppo wanted to be more than just friends.

Zeppo would always sit very close to me, sometimes even touching, and would occasionally move my hair out of my face or touch my hand. Zeppo was a very important man in the film industry and I knew he could be my ticket to success; he could help me get ahead.

 I was willing to ignore the fact that he had a wife and children as long as our relationship never exceeded harmless flirtations. Zeppo confided in me that he believed his wife Marion was having an affair with one of his own brothers. He seemed very jealous and I thought he was a bit hypocritical but I kept my mouth shut.

Our relationship over the filming period became a little more intimate; a few stolen kisses here and there, but not much more.

It was a thrill every time I was near Zeppo. I wasn’t terribly experienced when it came to men and thanks to Jim I was still a virgin, so I don’t think Zeppo realized how much his touches and kisses affected me. I reminded myself not to get carried away; he had a wife, kids, and would probably never love me. I know I had said there would be nothing more than flirtation, but now I just promised myself I wouldn’t sleep with him.

I held fast to that promise but kept up my other relations with Zeppo and eventually they paid off. Zeppo let me travel to New York to be a part of Love Happy’s promotional campaign. Can you imagine that? New York! I had never been out of California before.

  Zeppo told me the producers were impressed by me, but I knew he had pulled strings. Still, I decided not to see him again after our trip to New York. I had been having trouble sleeping the past few weeks because of guilt. I decided not to tell Zeppo of my intentions to break it off though; he was also travelling to New York and I didn’t want him to ruin my fun.

I felt queasy for most of the plane ride but I pretended to be enjoying myself. Illness wasn’t very attractive and Zeppo was sitting right next to me. It was just a relief when we landed and my feet were on solid ground again.