Marilyn Monroe, Part 3: JFK, a Hollywood Comeback, and the Last Summer — The Fight, the Mystery, and the Death of an Icon

This is Part 3 of our three-part series on Marilyn Monroe — marking her centennial on June 1, 2026, what would have been her 100th birthday.

By January 1961, Marilyn Monroe had lost almost everything. Her marriage to playwright Arthur Miller was over. Her latest film The Misfits had flopped. Clark Gable was dead. And somewhere in New York, behind drawn curtains, the most famous woman in the world was alone.

What came next was the last chapter. And the one that still has the world asking questions.

Part 3 traces the final eighteen months of Marilyn Monroe's life: the institutionalization she didn't see coming, the man who got her out, and the psychiatrist who moved into the center of everything. It follows her back to Los Angeles — to the first home she ever owned, to a new film, Something's Got to Give, and to one more fight with Fox. It covers the photo sessions that became her most iconic images, the interview in which she finally said everything she'd always wanted to say, and the night at Madison Square Garden when she sang Happy Birthday to the President of the United States in a dress sewn onto her body.

It also follows what the public couldn't see. The ground giving way beneath the comeback. The doctors who were supposed to be keeping her safe. The last day — unremarkable for most of its hours — and what happened after.

And finally, the goodbye — and a woman gone too soon. 

August 4, 1962. Marilyn Monroe's death. The questions that have never fully gone away. The autopsy. The timeline that didn't quite add up. The investigation that closed the case — and the reason the case has never quite felt closed.

This is the end of the story. And the reason it's never really ended.

Parts 1 and 2 of our three-part series on Marilyn Monroe are available now. 

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When They Were Making It is written, produced, and hosted by Patrick Rankin. Original artwork by Simone Beech and original music by Lionel Ziblat.

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Creators and Guests

Host

Patrick Rankin

Creator and host of When They Were Making It, a narrative documentary podcast exploring classic Hollywood — from the silent era through the early 1960s.

What is When They Were Making It?

Marilyn Monroe. Casablanca. Audrey Hepburn. The Wizard of Oz. Charlie Chaplin. Breakfast at Tiffany's. Alfred Hitchcock. Sunset Boulevard.

What do they all have in common?

They had to make it first.

Each week we bring you the untold human stories behind classic Hollywood's biggest icons and most beloved films.

Not the myths. Not the takedowns. The whole human story.

From the silent era to the early 1960s — the people, the films, and the impossible work of becoming a legend.

WTWMI is written, produced, and hosted by Patrick Rankin. Original artwork by Simone Beech and original music by Lionel Ziblat.

A new chapter every Tuesday. Follow along wherever you get your podcasts.