Jeanne Carmen: What Do You Believe?

ClassyCo

Telly Talk Superstar
LV
5
 
Messages
4,233
Reaction score
5,040
Awards
11
Member Since
September 2013
Perhaps best-known today for wrangling her way into multiple biographies and documentaries about Marilyn Monroe, Jeanne Carmen had a career as a model and minor B-movie actress in the 1950s. As she tells it, she was very close with Monroe and the Kennedys, and following Monroe's death in 1962, she was urged to leave Hollywood by mobsters. She withdrew from the limelight for two decades before resurfacing in the 1980s to ride the tidal wave of has-beens dragging up (possibly fabricated) stories about how and when they knew Marilyn, the biggest icon in Hollywood history.

I've been watching a little of Jeanne Carmen's interviews on YouTube the past few days. She seems like a nice enough woman, but she comes across as a little stiff and maybe a little cold and abrasive. Her stories about Marilyn are all over the place, and many of them seem far too outlandish to be true. Many of her claims have been outright denied by people that can be proven to have been close to Marilyn. There's not a single photo or shred of evidence that Jeanne and Marilyn were the best friends Carmen would have us believe. All of Carmen's evidence was conveniently destroyed in a fire many years ago. Even so, many biographies and documentaries use Carmen as a legitimate source.

Any theories out there about Jeanne Carmen? Anyone got any opinions on her?

Below is a photo of Jeanne Carmen from the mid-to-late-'50s. She was touted as a promising starlet for Universal Studios, but her film career was brief and unrewarding.

1638205189697.png


These are the types of photos Jeanne's got with Marilyn. Just her posing by pictures of Marilyn... that's all.

1638205305523.png


I haven't watched this interview personally, but I figured it was a good enough one to share here. I'll watch it later. I've watched the other one that's on YouTube that Carmen did with Skip Lowe.

 

tommie

Telly Talk Hero
LV
3
 
Messages
6,121
Reaction score
8,654
Awards
9
Location
Sweden
Member Since
I dunno
I'd assume it's a classic case of them running in the same circles and then expanding on stories she's heard about Marilyn enough so there's a grain of truth to make them semi-believeable.
 

Snarky Oracle!

Telly Talk Supreme
LV
4
 
Messages
15,103
Reaction score
1,273
Awards
13
Location
USA
I'd assume it's a classic case of them running in the same circles and then expanding on stories she's heard about Marilyn enough so there's a grain of truth to make them semi-believeable.

Carmen is to Marilyn's assassination what Beverly "babushka lady" Oliver is to JFK's assassination -- some of it sounds true and some of it sounds like bull-merde.

And they're blonde.
 

ClassyCo

Telly Talk Superstar
LV
5
 
Messages
4,233
Reaction score
5,040
Awards
11
Member Since
September 2013
At the time of Carmen's death in 2007, her son, Brandon, was in negotiations with producers to turn her life story into a biographical film. Christina Aguilera, Scarlett Johannsson, and Kate Bosworth were in talks to star as Carmen, but the movie never bore fruition.

1638215306361.png
 

Crimson

Telly Talk Dream Maker
LV
1
 
Messages
1,759
Reaction score
5,608
Awards
8
Location
Philadelphia
You're certainly being generous with calling Jeanne Carmen the Queen of the Bs. Jeanne was so minor, she makes Mamie look like a superstar.

I'd assume it's a classic case of them running in the same circles and then expanding on stories she's heard about Marilyn enough so there's a grain of truth to make them semi-believeable.

That's probably about right. There's not a single photo of Jeanne and Marilyn together*, nor was Jeanne's name or contact info found anywhere in Marilyn's personal belongings. Maybe they knew each other in passing by moving in the same social circles and maybe Jeanne heard some things indirectly, but all of Jeanne's tales of a great personal friendship between the two seems to be hogwash.

*Jeanne's excuse for that was a "house fire", but that wouldn't explain why no one else ever had a photo of the two together.
 

Crimson

Telly Talk Dream Maker
LV
1
 
Messages
1,759
Reaction score
5,608
Awards
8
Location
Philadelphia
In his biography of Marilyn, Donald Spoto had this to say about Jeanne:

She was a former bit-part actress who sometimes used the name Jeanne Carmen. Like Robert Slatzer, Carmen emerged from obscurity many years later to transmute her geographic proximity to Marilyn Monroe into something of a career. Claiming she was Marilyn's roommate at Doheny Drive, she began, in the 1980s, to invent an imaginative series of scurrilous tales for which there is simply no basis in fact.

Like that of Slatzer, however, Carmen's name is nowhere to be found in Marilyn's address book, nor did anyone who knew Marilyn ever hear of or see (much less meet or know her).

Jeanne Carmen, who has described herself as one of the star's closet friends but who, like Slatzer himself, was completely unknown to anyone who knew or worked with Marilyn. Slatzer and company regularly trot onto television talk shows, where they cheerfully corroborate one another's outlandish assertions.
 

ClassyCo

Telly Talk Superstar
LV
5
 
Messages
4,233
Reaction score
5,040
Awards
11
Member Since
September 2013
You're certainly being generous with calling Jeanne Carmen the Queen of the Bs. Jeanne was so minor, she makes Mamie look like a superstar.
Well, the subtitle to this thread was taken solely from the A&E BIOGRAPHY that was done on Jeanne Carmen back in 1998. I don't like posting threads without some form of subtitle. It just seems so bland to do "The Jeanne Carmen Thread" or something like that. It's just boring sounding.

I might get with one of the admins and change the title.​
 

ClassyCo

Telly Talk Superstar
LV
5
 
Messages
4,233
Reaction score
5,040
Awards
11
Member Since
September 2013
In his biography of Marilyn, Donald Spoto had this to say about Jeanne:

She was a former bit-part actress who sometimes used the name Jeanne Carmen. Like Robert Slatzer, Carmen emerged from obscurity many years later to transmute her geographic proximity to Marilyn Monroe into something of a career. Claiming she was Marilyn's roommate at Doheny Drive, she began, in the 1980s, to invent an imaginative series of scurrilous tales for which there is simply no basis in fact.

Like that of Slatzer, however, Carmen's name is nowhere to be found in Marilyn's address book, nor did anyone who knew Marilyn ever hear of or see (much less meet or know her).

Jeanne Carmen, who has described herself as one of the star's closet friends but who, like Slatzer himself, was completely unknown to anyone who knew or worked with Marilyn. Slatzer and company regularly trot onto television talk shows, where they cheerfully corroborate one another's outlandish assertions.
Yeah, I notice that Jeanne doesn't show up in any significant research done on Marilyn. Robert Slatzer doesn't show up much either (even though he does have pictures with Marilyn in Canada).​
 

Crimson

Telly Talk Dream Maker
LV
1
 
Messages
1,759
Reaction score
5,608
Awards
8
Location
Philadelphia
Yeah, I notice that Jeanne doesn't show up in any significant research done on Marilyn. Robert Slatzer doesn't show up much either (even though he does have pictures with Marilyn in Canada).

It's been years since I've read about Marilyn extensively, but Spoto at least is dismissive of Slatzer. He claims that Marilyn was friendly enough to pose for snapshots with fans and that Slatzer, like James Haspiel, later parlayed those casual photos into concocted tales of deep friendship and affairs. Jeanne, brazenly, didn't even have snapshots.
 

ClassyCo

Telly Talk Superstar
LV
5
 
Messages
4,233
Reaction score
5,040
Awards
11
Member Since
September 2013
It's been years since I've read about Marilyn extensively, but Spoto at least is dismissive of Slatzer. He claims that Marilyn was friendly enough to pose for snapshots with fans and that Slatzer .... later parlayed those casual photos into concocted tales of deep friendship and affairs.
I've read in a few different spots that Robert Slatzer claimed he and Marilyn were married in Mexico in late 1952, and that Darryl Zanuck got them to "get rid of" the marriage because he felt it would taint Monroe's public image. He had people that "confirmed" his claims as well, but I think he said their marriage license had been destroyed.​
like James Haspiel
Yeah, who was he? How was he connected to Marilyn? I know he's popped in several documentaries (including The Mortal Goddess biography A&E did in the late-'90s), but I don't think I've come across a lot about him in any significant form in Marilyn's biographies.

I think he fashioned a friendship with Jayne Mansfield too (just like a guy name Raymond Strait did). Haspiel said Jayne invited him to watch FEMALE JUNGLE, her feature film debut, with her, in which she had her death scene rerun eight times because she was "fascinated" by the way it was shot.​
Jeanne, brazenly, didn't even have snapshots.
She had zero evidence whatsoever. Not even photo shopped photos.
Jeanne Carmen: The Fibber

:D
That's perfect!
 

ClassyCo

Telly Talk Superstar
LV
5
 
Messages
4,233
Reaction score
5,040
Awards
11
Member Since
September 2013
the Queen of the Bs. Jeanne was so minor, she makes Mamie look like a superstar.
Mamie could be more accurately called "Queen of the B-Movies", which is basically the title she rode with her career resurgence in the 1980s. She and fellow blondes Cleo Moore and, to a lesser extent, Beverly Michaels found their later life brush with celebrity with fans of their cheesy B-movies from 30 years earlier.​
 

Crimson

Telly Talk Dream Maker
LV
1
 
Messages
1,759
Reaction score
5,608
Awards
8
Location
Philadelphia
Yeah, who was he? How was he connected to Marilyn?

I recall that he was a teenaged fan who stalked Marilyn's building during her NYC years, and she was gracious enough to pose for some snapshots with him. He later wrote a book making their brief encounters into something much more substantial, although I don't recall those details.

Mamie could be more accurately called "Queen of the B-Movies", which is basically the title she rode with her career resurgence in the 1980s

I wonder if there was any contemporaneous (50s/60s) references to Mamie being "Queen of the Bs", or something she dubbed herself decades later? The later seems more likely.

A lot of actresses were given that title through the years: Fay Wray, Ann Sothern, Lucy. Mamie mostly didn't even make those kinds of B-pictures, which were still mainstream but lower budgeted. Mamie was more like the Queen of Dreck.
 

ClassyCo

Telly Talk Superstar
LV
5
 
Messages
4,233
Reaction score
5,040
Awards
11
Member Since
September 2013
We've got a NEW thread name:

Jeanne Carmen: What Do You Believe?

I think that subtitle is more fitting of Jeanne Carmen, especially since her entire fandom is wrapped up in stories she's spun about how she rubbed elbows with the Hollywood elite and one of the most famous first families ever.

1638376264335.png
 
Last edited:

ClassyCo

Telly Talk Superstar
LV
5
 
Messages
4,233
Reaction score
5,040
Awards
11
Member Since
September 2013
Of course, there's no photos known to exist of Jeanne and Marilyn, but I found this photo on Google while browsing earlier. I'm not sure who the gentleman is in the middle, but the blonde on the right is Jeanne, while the blonde on the left resembles Danish-born starlet Greta Thyssen to me.

Any ideas on who these individuals might be?​

1638376286110.png
 

ClassyCo

Telly Talk Superstar
LV
5
 
Messages
4,233
Reaction score
5,040
Awards
11
Member Since
September 2013
I wonder if there was any contemporaneous (50s/60s) references to Mamie being "Queen of the Bs", or something she dubbed herself decades later? The later seems more likely.
I haven't came across any reference during Mamie's prime dubbing her "Queen of the Bs", even though the majority of her leading roles came in B-movies.​
A lot of actresses were given that title through the years: Fay Wray, Ann Sothern, Lucy. Mamie mostly didn't even make those kinds of B-pictures, which were still mainstream but lower budgeted. Mamie was more like the Queen of Dreck.
Yeah, these other actresses you've mentioned made more mainstream B-movies, whereas Mamie made lower-budgeted movies primarily aimed towards juvenile audiences and shown at drive-ins.​
 

ClassyCo

Telly Talk Superstar
LV
5
 
Messages
4,233
Reaction score
5,040
Awards
11
Member Since
September 2013
I recall that he was a teenaged fan who stalked Marilyn's building during her NYC years, and she was gracious enough to pose for some snapshots with him. He later wrote a book making their brief encounters into something much more substantial, although I don't recall those details.
I didn't know how he was connected to her, but I know that A&E used him in their "Mortal Goddess" biography they did on Marilyn around 20 years ago. I've seen him in Jayne Mansfield biographies as well.​
 
Top