Marilyn Monroe, the first overdose in 1956 and the detective who saved her. The unknown story now in a book
Six years before Marilyn Monroe's body was found lifeless in bed at her home in Brentwood, Hollywood, in 1962, the actress had nearly died of an overdose in a cheap motel. This is what a new one reveals biography centered on the figure of Fred Otash, police officer of Los Angeles become private investigator and friend of many movie starsa character from Raymond Chandler's novel and a man whom Hollywood asked in the 1950s and 1960s to help cover up scandals and mysteries related to movie celebrities.
According to what emerges in the book “The Fixer”, written by Josh Young and Manfred Westphal, one Saturday morning in the spring of '56, Otash had been hastily invited to a breakfast at Nate'n' Al's, a place in Beverly Hills frequented at the time by stars such as Rita Hayworth, Ava Gardner and James Garner. It was the same place where Doris Day stopped every morning to get her cheesy donut. Otash was known locally as 'Freddie'. In the club in Beverly Hills, the policeman had met the producer of “From Here to Eternity” Maurice Adler. When Otash found him at the table, Adler, who appeared unusually nervous, immediately got to the point and revealed the reason for the meeting: “Marilyn is missing.” “What do you mean?”, the policeman replied. At that point Adler had explained that the actress did not show up on set, where she was expected to film some scenes of “Bus Stop”, where Marilyn played the part of the protagonist, Cherie, a nightclub dancer with whom a Montana cowboy falls in love. No one had seen her in the last twenty-four hours. Her husband, Arthur Miller, was also worried.
Shortly before, Marilyn had been hospitalized for “nervous tension”. Adler had said he would have fired her if it hadn't been for the fact that the film was halfway through production and a cast change would have been unthinkable. Every missed day of work cost production forty thousand dollars. There was no time to waste. Adler said he needed to find Monroe as soon as possible. Otash immediately got to work contacting all the people in the actress's circle. Among these, there was a report from a guy known to be a drug supplier and himself a drug addict. According to some, he had been seen hanging out with the actress in the days before her disappearance.
The research had not led to positive results. There was no one at home. The last trace could have been a run-down motel in Santa Barbara. The investigator showed up at the indicated location, knocked on the door of an anonymous hotel room, introducing himself as the delivery boy. Someone had opened the door for him. Otash found himself in front of a man in his underwear: he was the pusher. Monroe was naked on the bed, unconscious, sitting in the fetal position. There were syringes, needles and other materials useful for an injection. The investigator had called the producer and asked what he should do. Adler's order had been to take the actress away before any paparazzo noticed. Otash, like a true “Fixer”, a problem solver like Mr. Wolf from “Pulp Fiction”, had taken care of removing any trace from the room, taking away the idiot found in the room and putting him on the first bus with a one-way ticket to San Francisco. Marilyn underwent detoxification in a Hollywood clinic and returned to the set a few days later.
When journalists asked the reason for the long absence, a spokesperson for the actress had said that the star had only needed a little rest from too much work. The final scene of “Bus Stop” was filmed a few days later. In August '56 the film was released in American theaters. For her performance, Monroe received many positive comments. New York Times film critic Bosley Crowther said, “Marilyn Monroe has finally proven herself as an actress.”
#Marilyn #Monroe #survived #overdose #unpublished #story #book
