70's Star Angie Dickinson Comments on Marilyn Monroe

Superstar Angie Dickinson spoke about Marilyn Monroe during a recent interview. She was interviewed by Alan W. Petrucelli of The Barnstable Patriot.

You mentioned Marilyn Monroe. Did you know her?

I met her twice. It’s funny – I’ve met a lot of people and cannot remember when or where, but with Marilyn I remember the exact moments. The first time was in 1958 or 1959, in the ladies’ room of the great restaurant Romanoff’s. I came out of the stall and there she was, in a gorgeous black strapless gown. She had just lost a lot of weight, and I said, “Oh, Marilyn, you look fantastic!” And she said [Dickinson does a spot-on imitation of Monroe], “Thank you! I am down to a size eight!” She was sweet and gracious. The second time I saw her was at a dinner at Peter Lawford’s home. I walked in and said, “Hi Marilyn.” I think she said hi back.

Did you ever see fear or insecurity in her eyes?

I never got the chance. At that time she was at her peak. I was stunned by her beauty and her “specialness.” I saw her fragility but never fear or insecurity.

Do you think she was killed? There are all those Kennedy-linked conspiracies.

I would let them burn me at the stake before I change my comment: If Marilyn died of an overdose, it was accidental. In my heart, the only thing I am positive of is that she took an amount of pills, then took more, forgetting she had already taken them. She did not kill herself deliberately. That I have no doubt about.

About Angie Dickinson:

Though she appeared in a bit and uncredited role in the 1954 Doris Day musical Lucky Me, it was the role of flirtatious gambler Feathers, opposite John Wayne and Dean Martin in Howard Hawks’ Rio Bravo (1959), that launched Angeline Brown, now known as Angie Dickinson. into stardom.

Dickinson made many films, including Ocean’s Eleven (1960) and the still-shocking Dressed to Kill, Brian DePalma’s 1980s thriller in which the actress (then near 50) played a sexually frustrated housewife and proved that time had been good to her. No wonder that in 1999, Playboy ranked Dickinson No. 42 on their list of the “100 Sexiest Stars of the Century;” in 2002, TV Guide ranked the actress No. 3 on their list of “50 Sexiest Stars of All Time.”

Yet she’s perhaps most known for her Emmy-nominated role as Sgt. Pepper Anderson in Police Woman, the groundbreaking ’70s small-screen series that spawned today’s slew of law and disorder shows.

And though Angie’s personal life – dating Frank Sinatra, marrying (and divorcing after 15 years of marriage) Burt Bacharach, and the 2007 suicide of their 40-year-old daughter Nikki – it’s her body (and body of work) that is most arresting.

This month, Angie can be seen in the Hallmark TV movie Mending Fences in which she plays a woman fighting to keep the family ranch while repairing her relationship with her daughter. It’s the first role she’s done since Nikki’s death. “I’d rather have a role with more meat,” she said. “But I’m not complaining. It’s work.”