I don’t often get personal on here, but this Christmas I want all my readers to know how much I appreciate your following The Marilyn Report. It’s the human connections that matter in life and at this time of year, sharing our joys can light up the world. Some of you will remember my annual roundups of the biggest Marilyn headlines. You’ll have to wait a bit longer though as I still have a few more posts up my sleeve, but I promise to deliver in the new year.
And now let’s go back to December 1945, when Marilyn was still Norma Jeane, and saw her first snowfall while on a modelling jaunt with photographer Andre De Dienes.
“It was raining while we drove to Mount Hood, Oregon, and the rain turned into snow when we got to the Timberline Lodge. I went to inquire about accommodations and there was only one room available … I went out to the car where Norma Jeane was waiting; she was in a rather serious mood. She said she could prefer it if we would drive on and find cabins somewhere in the woods … separate cabins. I felt disappointed, because I liked that hotel and wanted the comfort there. The opportunity would have been extraordinary to take pictures of Mount Hood – a beautiful, extinct volcano – and it’s a fantastic place for good skiing. But I obeyed Norma Jeane and drove down on the narrow, curving road while it was snowing really hard and dusk was coming. At the junction of that narrow road and the main highway, there was a place called Government Lodge. The snow was already too deep and my car could not go any further. We got stuck right in front of the hotel, as if fate’s hand had guided us there purposefully. And in that hotel, too, there was only one room left available … I came out to inform Norma Jeane that we had to stay there! It was already darkening. Norma Jeane smiled at me. She said, ‘Okay, let’s take the room. Let’s not worry anymore about anything!'”
UPDATE…
Flowers were delivered to Marilyn’s crypt in Los Angeles on Christmas Eve, on behalf of the Marilyn Remembered and Immortal Marilyn fanclubs.
Over in Paris, artist Olivier Coulon gifted us with two festive illustrations, including one inspired by Let’s Make Love.
In London, meanwhile, David Downton‘s ‘White Christmas’ paid homage to Jon Whitcomb’s 1959 cover illustration for Cosmopolitan – and I’m also reminded of Marilyn’s first photo shoot for Richard Avedon.
And finally, the latest issue of German fanzine Marilyn Today takes us back to 1954, when Marilyn wished Cinelândia‘s readers in Mexico and Argentina a ‘Feliz Natal!’
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