Marilyn Monroe

Marilyn was a big supporter of the Civil Rights Movement. Ella Fitzgerald was one of Marilyn’s idols and a major inspiration. However, the Mocambo nightclub in West Hollywood, the most populaire dance spot at the time, refused to let Ella perform there because she was black. Outraged, Marilyn told the owners that if they would let Ella perform, she would be there in the front row every time Ella was onstage. She did, and the two became friends.

“I owe Marilyn Monroe a real debt… It was because of her that I played the Mocambo, a very populaire nightclub in the ’50s. She personally called...

Goodbye Norma Jean
Though I never knew toi at all
You had the grace to hold yourself
While those around toi crawled
They crawled out of the woodwork
And they whispered into your brain
They set toi on the treadmill
And they made toi change your name

chorus
And it seems to me toi lived your life
Like a candle in the wind
Never knowing who to cling to
When the rain set in
And I would have liked to have known you
But I was just a kid
Your candle burned out long before
Your legend ever did

Loneliness was tough
The toughest role toi ever played
Hollywood created a superstar
And pain was the price toi paid
Even when you...