Marilyn Monroe Died of Medical Negligence, Not Suicide or Murder, Claims New Biography on Her Centenary
On what would have been her 100th birthday, a newly discovered prescription reveals that Marilyn Monroe's doctor lied about not prescribing the sedative that killed her, pointing to medical negligence rather than suicide or conspiracy.
A century later, new light on a Hollywood tragedy
Today, 1 June 2026, would have been Marilyn Monroe's 100th birthday. The icon, born Norma Jeane Mortenson in Los Angeles, died on 4 August 1962 at age 36. Official reports ruled her death a probable suicide from an overdose of chloral hydrate and the barbiturate Nembutal. But for decades, conspiracy theories—often linking her to John F. Kennedy or the mafia—have overshadowed the narrative. Now, a new biography by British writer Andrew Wilson, I Wanna Be Loved By You: Marilyn Monroe, A Life in 100 Takes, presents a different account: Monroe was the victim of a tragic medical error.
How do you write a life story? The truth rarely comes to light, usually falsehoods circulate. But it's hard to know where to start if you don't start with the truth.
The prescription that changes the story
Central to Wilson's claim is a prescription for chloral hydrate dated June 1962, signed by Dr. Hyman Engelberg, Monroe's personal physician. Engelberg, who died in 2005, consistently denied ever prescribing that drug to the actress. In a 1982 statement to Los Angeles police, he insisted: "I knew nothing about chloral hydrate. I never used it. Nembutal was the only prescription I gave her." Yet the document, sold at auction in 2011, bears his signature. Wilson, who spent five years researching the book, argues that Engelberg's denial was a cover-up.
If you have nothing to hide, why deny it so categorically?
A doctor's negligence and a vulnerable patient
Wilson suggests Engelberg was distracted by a difficult separation from his wife Esther and "panicked" after Monroe's death. In her last months, Monroe was in crisis: she had been fired from the film Something's Got to Give and was severely depressed. Wilson's investigation reveals that in the final two months of her life, Monroe received prescriptions for over 830 doses of medication—"enough to kill several people," he noted. The combination of chloral hydrate and Nembutal, both prescribed for insomnia, was known to be lethal when taken together.
- Marilyn Monroe born as Norma Jeane Mortenson in Los Angeles.
- Dr. Engelberg signs prescription for chloral hydrate for Monroe.
- Monroe found dead; official cause ruled probable suicide from drug overdose.
- Engelberg tells Los Angeles police he never prescribed chloral hydrate.
- Dr. Engelberg dies at age 92.
- The June 1962 prescription is sold at auction.
- Biography by Andrew Wilson reveals prescription, claiming medical negligence.
The night of 4 August 1962
On the evening of her death, Monroe locked herself in her bedroom. Her housekeeper, Eunice Murray, called her psychiatrist, Dr. Ralph Greenson, who broke in through a window and found her lifeless in bed. Engelberg was summoned and pronounced her dead. Wilson claims there was a delay of about an hour before the police were called, and that Engelberg told investigators she had committed suicide—a version Wilson now calls a "catastrophic misjudgment."
It was an accident, but also a catastrophic misjudgment.
Echoes of another celebrity overdose
Wilson draws a parallel to the 2023 death of actor Matthew Perry, who died at 54 from a drug overdose. Both cases, he says, involve a vulnerable patient prescribed excessive drugs by a trusted physician. While Engelberg was never charged, Wilson believes that by today's standards he could have faced involuntary manslaughter charges. The biography, released to mark Monroe's centenary, aims to strip away the myths and present her not as a victim, but as a survivor.
