Monroe, born Norma Jean Baker, led a remarkable but short life. Although the circumstances of her death are open to debate, she committed “probable suicide” on August 5, 1962, ending a 36-year roller coaster ride.
Rumors have existed since the 1960s that Monroe had affairs with Robert Kennedy or John F. Kennedy, or both.
While allegations of an affair with President Kennedy did not make it into the mainstream press until the 1970s, a pamphlet in 1964, published after Monroe’s death entitled The Strange Death of Marilyn Monroe, by investigator Frank Cappell, alleged a relationship between Monroe and Bobby Kennedy.
JFK’s reputed mistress Judith Exner, in her 1977 autobiography, also wrote about an affair that she says the president and Monroe had.
