Marilyn Monroe bleached her pubic hair so she didn't have to wear panties, claims late hairstylist's memoir
Celebrity hairstylist Kenneth Battelle, who is famous for working with A-list clients including Audrey Hepburn, Judy Garland and Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis, has reportedly revealed that he offered Marilyn Monroe an intimate style tip, which she apparently got hooked on to.
Before his death at the age of 86, Battelle was working on his biography with writer Giuseppe Longo titled ‘Kenneth: Shear Elegance’. The book details his journey to fame and navigates his work at the White House with Kennedy and the time when he first met Monroe at her apartment in 1958, wearing nothing a bathrobe. She had called in for him to seek help regarding her hair fall caused due to all the bleaching and perming while filming her movie ‘Some Like It Hot’.
Seems like the duo developed a rapport soon enough as they went on to share a rather intimate styling moment together before the premiere of the film, according to reports. Battelle has reportedly revealed in his book that a film executive spilled champagne on her beige silk dress, turning it transparent.
“You could see everything like she was in a wet T-shirt. She was going to throw the mink coat over the stains for the press conference, but I told her that if she wasn’t changing her dress, she should at least put on some underwear,” he said according to Daily Mail.
However, she wasn’t convinced by the idea of putting panties on, as it would be visible through her flimsy dress, thus making Battelle come up with an alternative solution. “I said, ‘I hear Jean Harlow didn’t wear underwear, either — but she used to bleach her [pubic] hair so it wouldn’t show through,’ ” the hairstylist said.
“So I went downstairs to the hotel drugstore and bought her powdered milk of magnesia, 20% peroxide and spirits of ammonia. It’s a very old formula for decolorizing hair. I told her, ‘Now go in the bathroom and bleach.’ Nothing showed through when they switched on those bright lights,” he added.
He was also the man behind her look during the infamous 1962 performance for President John F Kennedy’s birthday rally at Madison Square Garden. Apparently, she didn’t want him with her backstage and in the book, Battelle recalls rumors regarding her having an affair with the president. “She said she was fearful of publicity. I don’t really know what she had in mind, but since I was doing both Marilyn and Mrs Kennedy at the same time, I imagine it was about that,” he said.
Meanwhile, Monroe’s longtime maid Lena Pepitone revealed in the book ‘Marilyn Monroe Confidential’ that the actress had made bleaching of her pubic hair a part of her regular routine. She recalled walking in on Monroe while she was working on her private part.
According to the Village Voice, Pepitone has stated in ‘Marilyn Monroe Confidential’ that she often wondered what the star did in her bathroom for an unusual amount of time, especially for someone who didn’t like the hot tub. “One day, I found her perched on the toilet, legs up, performing an elaborate ceremony with a bottle of some chemical and two toothbrushes. She was bleaching her pubic hairs blonde,” the maid revealed.