Monroe died of a probable intentional overdose at the age of 36 on August 4, 1962. Her final interview with “Life” editor Richard Meryman was published two days prior.

Marilyn Monroe’s final full interview before her death revealed: ‘Most people really don’t know me’

Monroe died of a probable intentional overdose at the age of 36 on August 4, 1962. Her final interview with "Life" editor Richard Meryman was published two days prior.

By Ryan Coleman

Ryan Coleman

Ryan Coleman is a news writer for with previous work in MUBI Notebook, Slant, and the LA Review of Books.

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May 6, 2026 4:07 p.m. ET

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Marilyn Monroe in 'Let's Make Love' in 1960. Credit:

Donaldson Collection/Michael Ochs Archives/Getty

- Marilyn Monroe's final full interview before her death in 1962 is being revealed.

- PEOPLE shared a preview of the iconic star's conversation with *Life *editor Richard Meryman, which was published two days before her death at age 36.

- In the interview, Monroe discusses fame, money, her childhood, singing for John F. Kennedy on his birthday, her stepchildren with playwright Arthur Miller, and more.

More than 60 years after her death, Marilyn Monroe is redefining her legacy in her own words.

The iconic star of films like *Niagara*, *How to Marry a Millionaire*, and *The Misfits *died on Aug. 4, 1962, at the age of 36. Her death was eventually ruled a potential suicide by way of acute barbiturate poisoning, but questions still surround her final weeks and months.

In the lead up to her 100th birthday on June 1, Simon & Schuster imprint Weldon Owen is releasing one of the most insightful windows into that troubling stretch of time in the form of *Marilyn: The Lost Photographs, The Last Interview*.

Monroe gave her final interview to *Life* editor Richard Meryman, and it was published in the magazine two days before her death. On May 12, her enduringly loyal fanbase can read the full, unedited interview and see all the *Life *photographs that didn't make it to print. But on Wednesday, PEOPLE shared a preview of some of the star's most poignant comments.

Marilyn Monroe on the set of 'Something's Got to Give' in 1962.

Bettmann Archive

Monroe has become synonymous with the unblemished glamour and moneyed sheen of Hollywood in the decades since her death. But she sprang from humble origins, growing up in Los Angeles, the daughter of a single mother who worked as a film negative cutter. At only 8, Monroe became a ward of the state when her mom, Gladys Baker, was diagnosed with schizophrenia and committed to a psychiatric hospital.

Looking back on her childhood in the final interview, Monroe told Meryman, "I decided I wanted to be an actress when I was five. Some of my foster parents used to send me to the movies to get me out of the house, and there I'd sit all day and way into the night — up in front, a little kid all alone, and I loved it."

She married her first husband, factory worker James Dougherty, at 16 years old. She spoke frankly of how quickly her childhood elapsed in the interview, remarking, "When I was 16, a kid, I was a housewife. I was brought up differently than the average American child. Happiness wasn't anything I ever took for granted. Sometimes I think all I've ever wanted in the world is to settle for being a happily married woman with a wonderful family, but I don't think I would trade that for what I've learned."

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Monroe never had children of her own, but spoke highly of the stepchildren she shared with her third and last husband, the playwright Arthur Miller.

"One time, my stepson, Bobby, had some magazine kind of hidden.  It was one of these awful articles all about me," she recalled. "I just said, 'Bobby, anything you want to know about me, come and ask me. But don't get it secondhand from these kind of things'... My stepchildren are my best friends."

Of course, Monroe spoke about her legendary career, and the famous figures it led her to cross paths with. The actress offered a voluminous commentary on her notorious birthday performance for President John F. Kennedy at Madison Square Garden in 1962, recalling, "There was like a hush that came over the place. I didn't think anything was going to come out. When I got to the microphone, I just took one breath and then suddenly I thought, here goes! I thought, I'll sing this song if it's the last thing I ever do. And not only just for the president, but for all the people."

Monroe continued, "Afterwards, they had some kind of reception. I had met the attorney general [Robert F. Kennedy] briefly, so it was good to see a smiling, friendly face. But I was with my former father-in-law. He came here an immigrant, and I thought this would be the biggest thing in his life. I thought it would be something he could tell his grandchildren about. So instead of saying, 'How do you do, Mr. President?' I said, 'This is my former father-in-law, Isidore Miller.'"

Marilyn Monroe singing to John F. Kennedy at Madison Square Garden in New York City in 1962.

Bettmann Archive

Regarding her collaboration with fellow bombshell Jane Russell on the 1953 comedy classic *Gentlemen Prefer Blondes*, Monroe shared, "I remember when I got the part in *Gentlemen Prefer Blondes*. Jane Russell was the brunette and I was the blonde. She got $200,000 for it, and I got my $500 a week, but to me that was considerable. But I couldn’t get a dressing room. I said, finally, 'Look, after all, I am the blonde, and it is *Gentlemen Prefer Blondes*! Because they always kept saying, 'Remember, you're not a star.' I said, 'Well, whatever I am, I am the blonde!' I was always being talked down to by the corporation."

Monroe shot her final film, the melancholic quasi-Western *The Misfits*, in 1960. The film released just a year before her death in 1961, and several months after the death of her costar, Clark Gable, at the age of 59. Though she was beloved by millions, Monroe remarked to Meryman in their interview, "You know, most people really don't know me."

*If you or someone you know is struggling with mental health challenges, emotional distress, substance use problems, or just needs to talk, call or text 988, or chat at **988lifeline.org** 24/7.*

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