Marilyn attends an auction with acting coach Natasha Lytess and reclaims a white piano from her childhood. She re-experiences the period she lived with her mother, childhood sexual abuse traumas, and her mother’s psychotic episode which leaves Gladys institutionalized. The aftermath fragments little Norma Jeane’s daily life as Grace struggles to find a place for her with stable living conditions. A teenage Marilyn is signed to the Blue Book Modeling agency and learns to protect herself in the male-powered entertainment industry. She later attempts to negotiate her contract with studio mogul Harry Cohn at Columbia Studios.
Help help. Help, I feel life coming closer…when all I want is to die.
Marilyn Monroe
TAP IMAGE TO ENLARGE
Narrator
Natasha Lytess
Auctioneer
Gary Vitacco-Robles
Angry woman
British man
British woman
Norma Jeane (age 8)
Gladys Baker
Grace McKee
Female 1
Female 2
Norma Jeane (age 19)
Female secretary
Harry Cohn
Joe DiMaggio
Emmeline Snively
Fred Karger
Brad Hyland
Amy Selma
Chase Shumway
Himself
Nina Boski
Ron Hayden
Joanna Strapp
Juliana Alden
Kristina Martin
Nina Boski
Joanna Strapp
Staci Yamano
Monica Shahri
Deven Green
Vince Melamed
Ron Hayden
Vanessa Reynolds
Randall Libero
Norma Jeane: Discovering Truths
COMPANION PODCAST
The Co-producers discuss the legend of Marilyn’s white piano as a metaphor for her childhood. Discussed is the identity of her abuser, the woman who failed to protect her, and the impact of sexual abuse and childhood trauma on her life. Gary, Nina, and Randall also cover how Marilyn learns to protect herself in the male-powered entertainment industry and her meeting with studio mogul Harry Cohn at Columbia in 1948 when she attempts to negotiate her contract after completing Ladies of the Chorus.
