Suzie Kennedy: Living With Marilyn Monroe

In this episode, I sit down with my dear friend Michelle Morgan — the world’s most prolifically published Marilyn Monroe biographer — to have one of the most personal conversations I’ve ever shared publicly.

Both Michelle and I have spent much of our lives connected to the legacy and image of Marilyn Monroe. For me, as one of the world’s most recognised Marilyn tribute artists — and for Michelle, through her writing, research, and dedication to telling Marilyn’s story with dignity and depth.

But behind all of the work and the spotlight, we both walked a very real and life-changing journey with cancer.

Together, we talk about what it was like to navigate illness while holding identities that were shaped around beauty, femininity, and being seen. We explore how cancer changed how we felt about our womanhood, our bodies, our work, and our sense of self. There were moments of fear, grief, re-shaping, and learning to meet ourselves with gentleness again.

We also talk about the unexpected gifts — the gratitude for the small joys, the slowing down, the rediscovery of what actually matters. The cup of tea in the morning. A walk in the fresh air. The kindness of people who show up. The softness we learn to give ourselves.

This conversation is not just about what we survived. It is about who we became.
 How we healed our minds, our bodies, and our spirits — piece by piece — in our own time.

Life is never the same after an experience like this.
 But there is beauty in the life that comes after.

I hope that by sharing our stories, anyone going through their own chapter of change, loss, or rebuilding will feel less alone — and more held, more seen, and more understood.

I am joined by Marilyn Monroe's most published author, Marilyn Monroe, to celebrate the news that Marilyn Monroe's home has been saved from demolition thanks to the fans and the fantastic Los Angeles Councilwoman Traci Parks.  

It is early days, but this is excellent news for protecting the legacy of many of the icons and historical places in Hollywood and the legacy of Marilyn Monroe. 

We look at the process of how the permit was signed and the story of the last 72 hours.

We celebrate the great work of the fans and Councilwoman Traci Parks and the way she paid tribute to Marilyn Monroe. 

Are they really demolishing the home where Marilyn Monroe died?

In this episode, I have guests Michelle Morgan, the world's most published biographer of Marilyn Monroe and Kelly Lacroix, owner of the Instagram photo archive account of Marilyn Monroe @Silver_technicolor and historian on the relationship between Marilyn Monroe and Joe Dimaggio. We discuss the breaking news of the possible demolition of the last home of Marilyn Monroe and the home where she passed away. 

This is a developing story, and this episode was recorded on the 6th of september 2023 when the story had just broken. 

In this episode I am joined by the world's most published Marilyn Monroe author and Marilyn historian Michelle Morgan. We separate where Netflix 'Blonde' blurred fact and fiction.

After watching the Netflix movie 'Blonde' , I give my thoughts on it prior to its main release on  on Netflix on the 28th Septemember 2022 

 An exclusive interview with Scott Fortner from The Marilyn Monroe Collection who first broke the story about Kim Kardashian wearing Marilyn’s dress. The Marilyn Monroe collection is a collection of authentic personal and professional clothing and artefacts from Marilyn Monroe’s life. This is the  first in person interview Scott Fortner  has given to express his views on Kim Kardashian wearing the historical Marilyn Monroe Happy Birthday dress.  We also talk about how he protects  his archive of Marilyn Monroe's personal clothing. I ask him if he would  allow a celebrity to wear any part of his collection? A fun moment was when I asked a  personal question about one of the  items he owns , Marilyn Monroes’ address book from 1962 and I get a shock with his answer . I felt like @piersmorgan with a scoop ! What a star Scott Fortner is. A fun, kind caring person and a professional . His collection is exhibited internationally with care and respect. He is also a leading expert in authenticating Marilyn Monroe owned items and is called upon by Julien's Auction House to authenticate Marilyn items that come up for sale.  Keep up to date by following @marilynmonroecollection on instagram.  

Listen to the full interview at Suzie Kennedy: Living with marilyn , the podcast. Available on Spotify, Apple and wherever you get your podcasts. 

What a great episode to come back with. We discuss the biggest news stories right concerning Marilyn Monroe in the news right now . The biggest being the Marilyn Monroe Happy Birthday dress wearing by Kim Kardashian. We also talk about the Netflix series The Mystery of Marilyn Monroe :The unheard Tapes of which my special guest April Chambers has had access and listened to . 
April Chambers is the owner of ClassicBlondes. com and has studied Marilyn Monroe for over 16 years and consulted various archives to find out the truth about Marilyn's life. She has written extensively on her site about Marilyn, culminating in a 2016 book, Marilyn Monroe: A Day in the Life. 

In this episode I review the book 'When Marilyn Met The Queen' . I review what I thought about the book after having read both the hardback and listened to the audio version.  I am joined by the author of the book Michelle Morgan. We discuss some of the previously unknown characters in Marilyn's . We also discuss the new revelations about Marilyn's time in the UK.

In this special episode I speak to Amy Greene and Joshua Greene . 
Amy was married to Milton Greene , Marilyn Monroes' business partner in Marilyn Monroe Productions. 
Marilyn lived with the Greenes at the height of her fame between 1954-1957 
It was Amy's  92nd birthday when we spoke.

In this episode I talk to Michelle Morgan , the world's most published author of Marilyn Monroe biographies.
She talks about the rejection faced in the earlier years of her career and  how  being told 'no' to  her dream book in 1991  lead to even a better version of her dream book being commissioned thirty years later., 
An inspiration episode about writing a fan booklet  lead to being one of the most published biographers  of Marilyn in the world. 

Follow Michelle at @mmwritergirl 
Follow Suzie @suziekennedy

The book , 'When Marilyn met the Queen' will be available from March 2022 ,  both in hardback  and audio form.