Marilyn Monroe gets ready to go out
Tickets for the Broadway premiere of "Cat on a Hot Tin Roof"
Chris Wild
March 24, 1955
These shots of Marilyn were taken at the Ambassador Hotel in New York City. Marilyn was photographed preparing to attend the Broadway premiere of Tennessee Williams' "Cat on a Hot Tin Roof" at the Morosco Theater. The play would be awarded the Pulitzer Prize for Drama later in the same year.The production Marilyn saw, directed by Elia Kazan, starred Burl Ives and Barbara Bel Geddes. Bel Geddes, the daughter of designer Norman Bel Geddes, would later star as Miss Ellie in "Dallas." She was nominated for a Tony Award for her performance in "Cat on a Hot Tin Roof."In May 1955, two months after the pictures were taken, Marilyn started to see Arthur Miller, the playwright. She had been divorced from second husband Joe DiMaggio for six months. They had been married for less than a year when they divorced. Monroe's film "The Seven Year Itch" was also released that year, and DiMaggio accompanied her to the premiere on June 1, which was also Marilyn's 29th birthday. At the end of the premiere, DiMaggio threw a party for his ex-wife, but they argued and she left the party alone.
She saw herself drowning in Hollywood in 1955 and told her studio, ‘I’m not just wiggling my behind.’ - Eli Wallach, Marilyn’s co-star in The Misfits
In all these years, you never believed I loved you. And I did. I did so much. I did love you. I even loved your hate and your hardness. - Tennessee Williams, Cat on a Hot Tin Roof
I didn't want to give up my career, and that's what Joe wanted me to do most of all. - Marilyn Monroe on Joe DiMaggio
I don’t feel bad about dying. At least, I’ll be with Marilyn again. - Joe DiMaggio, 1999
