Marilyn Monroe FBI Files

Marilyn Monroe FBI Files

709 pages of material.

FBI Files 

675 pages of files obtained from the FBI, covering Marilyn Monroe (1926-1962), born Norma Jeane Mortenson. Several pages were not declassified until November 2017. Contains approximately 570 different pages from four different Freedom of Information Act releases from 1999, 2011, 2012 and a small release in 2017. Later releases contain significantly fewer redactions then earlier releases.

These files contain coverage of accounts about Monroe's relationships and speculation about the circumstances surrounding her death. The files show the FBI was interested in keeping up with what Walter Winchell was saying about her life and death in his articles and shows. The Bureau showed great interest when Monroe began to date Arthur Miller, a man who an FBI memo says was connected to 29 Communist organizations.

Revealed in later releases, but completely redacted in earlier releases, information that Monroe had sought to obtain visas to visit the Soviet Union.

The conclusion of the FBI's investigation into Communist ties is summarized in a Bureau memorandum from July 1962, "Subject's views are very positively and concisely leftist; however, if she is being actively used by the Communist Party, it is not general knowledge among those working with the movement in Los Angeles."

FBI File Cross References includes extracts from Joe DiMaggio’s FBI file covering an investigation into threats made against DiMaggio and others by a possible former principal in the Marilyn Monroe fan club, related to DiMaggio and his relationships with other women after Monroe.

Includes an account of Frank Sinatra and Joe DiMaggio along with several other individuals attempting to raid Monroe's apartment in Hollywood. It was reported that DiMaggio was attempting to find derogatory information against Marilyn Monroe ahead of their divorce.

Several pages of memos concern Norman Mailer's assertions in his book, "Marilyn," about Monroe’s death and his reporting that she made several calls to Robert Kennedy shortly before her death.

Other Material  

Additional material includes a copy of Marilyn Monroe's will and a financial inventory of her estate crated after her death. CIA FBIS report on Moscow Domestic Service Radio Report on the death of Marilyn Monroe. A 2017 release of a Church Committee folder of Marilyn Monroe files
 

The files contain a text transcript of all computer recognizable text embedded into the graphic image of each page of each document, creating a searchable finding aid. Text searches can be done across all files in the collection at once.