Just days ago, 64 years passed since Marilyn Monroe entered legend forever. The anniversary has brought renewed attention to a historic interview she gave in 1954 to journalist and playwright Alekos Lidorikis.
Through the questions of the Greek journalist, Hollywood’s biggest star spoke not only about success, but also about happiness, love, Greece and her dream of having a family.
On 5 August 1962, the world awoke to the news that Monroe had been found dead at her home in Brentwood, Los Angeles. She was only 36 years old. Her death marked the end of a life closely associated with the glamour of cinema and the mythology of Hollywood.
Eight years earlier, however, a Greek journalist had encountered a different Marilyn.
Lidorikis, during one of his reporting trips to the United States, met the young star and conducted an interview that went far beyond movies, publicity or fame. The conversation became a personal confession about her life's journey, her worries, Greece and the people who had shaped her childhood.
A meeting before global fame
Lidorikis had first met Monroe in 1947, before she became a global icon.
He remembered her as a young woman trying to find her place in the film industry. She spoke of her difficult childhood, the early loss of her father, her mother's serious health problems and the years she spent in orphanages and foster homes.
He left that first meeting with the impression of a young woman determined to change her life.
When he met her again in 1954, everything had changed.
Monroe was already at the peak of her fame. Her films were major successes, magazines around the world carried her photograph and her name had become synonymous with Hollywood glamour.
Lidorikis waited until she had finished filming before meeting her.
When she entered the room, he described a woman who smiled with disarming naturalness. His first impression was summed up in a single phrase:
"This is not Marilyn Monroe. It's a little girl. That is her secret."
‘Dizziness’
The observation became the starting point of their conversation.
Rather than speaking to a Hollywood icon, the journalist sought to talk to the person behind the public image.
His first question concerned her sudden success.
How does a woman feel when, within such a short period of time, she becomes the most recognisable face in Hollywood?
Monroe's answer was a single word.
"Dizziness."
She then explained:
"Something that makes you lose your balance and forces you to hold on so that you don't get lost in the frenzy of your imagination, which races towards its boldest dreams."
‘I am not completely happy’
The conversation then turned to whether extraordinary success had brought the personal happiness she had long sought.
Her answer came without hesitation.
"No... I am not completely happy."
She explained what she felt was missing most:
"I would like to have more time available to read, so that I could feel what the deeper wisdom of humanity might be."
The confession surprised the Greek journalist.
Before him sat a woman admired around the world who chose to speak not about fame, but about knowledge, time and personal fulfilment.
Looking for love
The discussion moved on to personal relationships.
Monroe spoke warmly of Joe DiMaggio and admitted that she still believed there was someone, somewhere, with whom she could share her life.
"I have not given up at all. I keep my eyes wide open and I am constantly searching for him."
When Lidorikis asked where true happiness could be found, her answer was direct.
"Only another human being, not wealth, not fame, not the triumphs of vanity, can give you the thrill of love."
Monroe made clear that she did not equate happiness with publicity or professional success.
For her, the greatest wish was to find a person with whom she could share her life.
‘I wish I had been born in your country’
At that point, the conversation turned to Greece.
Lidorikis wanted to know whether Monroe knew anything about the homeland of her interviewer.
Her reply was immediate:
"I wish I had been born in your country."
Without waiting for another question, she explained what it was that she admired about Greeks.
"Greeks are wonderful. I do not always mean in appearance, although everyone's eyes sparkle in such a strange and passionate way. I like their courage and their carefree spirit, their willingness always to fight for something better, even if they may be crushed in a difficult effort."
Her ‘Apollo’
Monroe then shared a personal memory from her childhood.
While living in a Los Angeles orphanage, she recalled meeting a Greek boy.
According to Monroe, the boy had a peculiar habit of collecting shells and seashells.
Captivated by his appearance and character, she had given him a nickname drawn from ancient Greece.
"I called him Apollo."
Smiling, she recalled that he kissed her once before they eventually lost touch.
"He kissed me once... Then we lost each other... I imagine he must now be a perfect and handsome man."
The memory appeared to carry real emotional weight for Monroe.
A short while later she returned to the subject of Greece on her own.
"I love Greeks very much. Both through the texts I have read in translation and as people of flesh and blood."
Her dream for the future
Towards the end of the interview, Lidorikis asked Monroe what her greatest wish for the future was.
Her answer was brief and revealing.
"My wish is to make a few exceptional films and then retire in order to have... children."
Before the meeting ended, the journalist, who had interviewed many of Hollywood's leading stars, asked her to send a message to her millions of admirers.
Monroe smiled and replied:
"Tell them that if they cannot do something wise, they should limit themselves to admiring and enjoying the company of their wife or sweetheart, who is certainly worth more. Then they should close their eyes for a little while, be tender with them and think of me."
As she said goodbye, Monroe turned to Lidorikis and added with a smile:
"You know, I like Greeks very much."
Lidorikis later wrote that he left the meeting carrying her words about Greece and the Greek people as a treasured memory.
The 1954 interview remains a rare journalistic document, revealing the human side of a woman whose legend had already begun to captivate the world.
