Some think of Marilyn Monroe as just a pretty face—a tragic figure we lost too soon. But looking at Marilyn Monroe’s most important quotes from her final interview sessions before her untimely death, it’s easy to see she was a complicated and insightful person whose beauty was much more than skin-deep.
In July 1962—mere weeks before Monroe was found dead—Life Magazine associate editor Richard Meryman visited the actress’ Brentwood, California home for a series of candid conversations about the effects of fame on her life.
These Marilyn Monroe quotes from Meryman’s interviews are from the two resulting articles. Published just the day before her passing, “Marilyn Lets Her Hair Down About Being Famous” appeared in Life on August 3, 1962.
Meryman’s follow-up piece about the interview sessions, “A Last Long Talk With a Lonely Girl: Marilyn Monroe“, appeared in Life‘s August 17 issue that year.
“We human beings are strange creatures and still reserve the right to think for ourselves.”
“I was never used to being happy, so that wasn’t something I ever took for granted.”
“I think that when you are famous every weakness is exaggerated.”
“Creativity has got to start with humanity and when you’re a human being, you feel, you suffer.”
“An actor is not a machine, no matter how much they want to say you are.”
“I used to get the feeling, and sometimes I still get it, that sometimes I was fooling somebody; I don’t know who or what, maybe myself.”
“It’s nice to be included in people’s fantasies but you also like to be accepted for your own sake.”
“I don’t understand why people aren’t a little more generous with each other.”
“It stirs up envy, fame does.”
“… when you’re famous you kind of run into human nature in a raw kind of way.”
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Which are your favorite Marilyn Monroe quotes from her final interview? Let us know in the comments below!
