The actor Don Murray spoke out this week to discuss what it was like to work with the legendary Hollywood star Marilyn Monroe on the 1956 movie Bus Stop.
Murray, 91, explained that he did not know much about Monroe when he was cast on the movie, but he quickly became fond of her once they began shooting.
“Marilyn was very kind to me,” Murray told Closer Weekly [1]. “I thought she was magnificent. I never understood why she was not nominated.”
Murray was referring to the fact that he was nominated for an Academy Award for the movie, while Monroe was snubbed. He added that the actress was able to easily surprise him when they first met.
“I had been overseas, so I didn’t know much about her,” Murray explained. “I was totally taken aback by how important a movie star she was. There was press around all the time because of her.”
However, he also remembered that working with Monroe was not always easy.
“She had difficulty remembering her lines, so we had to do many takes,” Murray recounted. “Often, when we were doing a scene, she would get so emotionally involved that she’d go off her mark. The director told me to put my hands on her hips and move her to her marks. That’s what I did whenever we were shooting above her waist.”
Monroe had other issues on set as well, according to Murray.
“She was always late,” he added. “Not 10 minutes, but two hours or half a day! She also took a week off and called in sick, but she was actually having a romance with Arthur Miller at the Chateau Marmont! It was quite a trial. Being from theater, I wasn’t used to that!”
Monroe tragically died in 1962 at the age of 36 from a barbiturate overdose. Murray would go on to have a successful decades-long career in Hollywood.
“To tell you the truth, it doesn’t feel any different,” Murray said as he talked about aging. “The only thing is that I don’t run as fast as I did when I was 70.”
These days, Murray stays busy by writing and spending time with his family.
“I don’t do anything to excess,” he explained. “I never drive to excess or eat to excess. I do everything in moderation. I also believe that you have to be involved with something you feel is worthwhile, commit to it and give it as much of your heart and mind as you can.”
This piece originally appeared in UpliftingToday.com [2] and is used by permission.
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