Voting Station

Norman Rosten

Please vote to return to collections.

Poet

The Resume

    (January 1, 1913-March 7, 1995)
    Born in New York City, New York
    Close personal friend of Marilyn Monroe
    Reportedly met Monroe through mutual photographer friend Sam Shaw, who brought her to visit him and his wife (Feb. 1955)
    Author of 'Marilyn: An Untold Story' (1973) and 'Marilyn Among Friends' (1987)
    Published seven volumes of poetry and four novels
    Most popular play was 'Mister Johnson,' an adaptation of the Joyce Cary novel
    Co-wrote the screenplay for Sidney Lumet's adaptation of Miller's 'A View from the Bridge' (1962)
    Other works include 'Under the Boardwalk,' 'Return Again, Traveler,' 'First Stop to Heaven,' Mardi Gras,' 'Selected Poems,' 'Over and Out,' and 'Neighborhood Tales'
    Portrayed by Jack Huston in the docu-drama 'Love, Marilyn' (2012)

Why he might be annoying:

    He moved between colleges.
    His first play ran for only eight performances.
    He is better known for his association with Marilyn than for anything he's actually written.
    Marilyn only contacted him and his wife because she was convinced that it was the best way to attain an introduction to Arthur Miller.
    He started the unsubstantiated story (likely a myth) that Marilyn snooped through Miller's journal on their honeymoon to discover him making fun of her behind her back.
    He was one of the first to turn writing about Marilyn into a mini-cottage industry, even helping to write a libretto for an opera on her life (he seemed a little obsessed with her frankly).
    Arthur Miller would never forgive his best friend for going public about his relationship with Marilyn, and for speaking about him in such negative terms to the press (even though Miller himself very openly traded on the publicity surrounding their marriage and drew on her memory for several of his own plays).

Why he might not be annoying:

    He met Arthur Miller when they were in the same playwriting class at U-Michigan.
    Both he and Miller would go on to win the prestigious Avery Hopwood award.
    He was named a 1940 winner in the Yale Series of Younger Poets for 'Return Again, Traveler.'
    James Earl Jones became a stage star performing the lead in his 'Mister Johnson' play.
    He escorted Monroe to the premiere of 'The Rose Tattoo,' in 1955.
    He miraculously has never claimed to have slept with Marilyn (even though no one would have doubted him if he had).
    Their relationship was asexual enough that his wife wasn't threatened - in fact, Hedda Rosten would serve as her personal assistant for years.
    Marilyn tended to drag him into her arguments with Miller, which made him extremely uncomfortable.
    He was one of the last to speak with Marilyn Monroe at length the day before she died.
    Marilyn Monroe bequeathed $5,000 for the education of his daughter, Patricia, in her will.
    While national recognition evaded him, he was a beloved figure locally, and the borough's president Howard Golden even named him Honorary Poet Laureate of Brooklyn, in 1979, a title he retained until his death.

Credit: BoyWiththeGreenHair


Featured in the following Annoying Collections:

Year In Review:

    For 2024, as of last weekly ranking, Out of 1 Votes: 100% Annoying
    In 2023, Out of 1 Votes: 0% Annoying
    In 2022, Out of 2 Votes: 0% Annoying
    In 2021, Out of 8 Votes: 62.50% Annoying
    In 2020, Out of 3 Votes: 66.67% Annoying
    In 2019, Out of 4 Votes: 50.0% Annoying
    In 2018, Out of 5 Votes: 40.0% Annoying
    In 2017, Out of 2 Votes: 50.0% Annoying