History week: The Unexpected Friendship Between Marilyn Monroe and Ella Fitzgerald

- 10/05/2020

To continue the series of monthly historical stories today we will be talking about Marilyn Monroe and Ella Fitzgerald's friendship.

Our story starts in the 1950s when artists were discriminated against and not allowed to perform in many night clubs regardless of how popular they were. The Mocomboe was just that, a nightclub that allowed Frank Sinatra to debut but not Ella Fitzgerald because of her race and her size, they said she wasn't "glamorous" enough to perform there. However that all changed because of Marilyn Monroe.

Before I continue, I must back up a bit. Marilyn Monroe was instructed by her voice teacher to listen to Ella Fitzgerald record, she listened to it 100 times in a row and fell in love with her voice. She immediately called the Mocomboe and said that if Ella Fitzgerald would sing at the nightclub she would be there in the front row every single night. They agreed, having Monroe at the nightclub every night would be amazing publicity. When they called Ella Fitzgerald to ask her, you probably aren't surprised that she was shocked, seeing that she had already asked and they had turned her down. Now they were asking her? Unthinkable. But it was true. The other customers at the nightclub were amazed, they had heard her record but it was not the same. She was spectacular. Monroe had promised to go every single night. And she did.

After a few nights of singing and listening, Ella Fitzgerald and Marilyn Monroe met. They talked and learned that they were similar in many ways. They were both orphans and they were both discriminated against in the art industry because of their sex and size (and Ella Fitgerald because of her race).

The two women helped each other; Ella Fitzgerald helped Monroe with her voice and Marilyn Monroe helped Fitzgerald to sing and be heard and loved by many more people. To quote Fitzgerald, "I owe Marilyn Monrow a real debt."

This is a short story but I think it's beautiful. A story about two women helping each other and creating beauty and art in an industry and in a world that seemed to be against them.