When Marilyn Monroe Met Tony Curtis; Fighting Wildfires; Intimations of Murder

A special delivery from the Vanity Fair Archive View in your browser | Update your preferences In this edition of the VF Archive digest, we dig into Britain's most famous political sex scandal, an Upper East Side disappearance, one of Marilyn Monroe's infamous affairs, and more. Dangerous Talents When James Dean's Porsche Spyder crashed, killing the actor just before the premiere of Rebel Without a Cause, his legend was sealed. But the director who gave Dean that immortal role, Nicholas Ray, has been virtually forgotten. Examining Ray's genius, his loves, and the addictions that ruined him, Sam Kashner recaptured the dramas behind the film, as well as the bond shattered by Dean's death. R E A D  M O R E » The Burning Season The National Interagency Fire Center in Boise, Idaho, is command central for a strong army of smoke jumpers, hotshots, and overhead teams who are deployed to fight wildfires. The combat is unpredictable—and deadly. R E A D  M O R E » Intimations of Murder Fifteen years after Gail Katz Bierenbaum vanished, her husband, plastic surgeon Robert Bierenbaum, was tried for murder. But the case was circumstantial, and full of mysteries: Bob's undisclosed Cessna flight the day Gail disappeared, a misidentified torso, and the psychiatrist who claimed he predicted the marriage would be fatal. R E A D  M O R E » When Marilyn Monroe Met Tony Curtis In his memoir, American Prince, Tony Curtis recalled his short—but extremely sweet—1948 affair with another soon-to-be star, Marilyn Monroe. The coda would come 10 years later, as they filmed Billy Wilder's classic Some Like It Hot. R E A D  M O R E » Clouds of Scandal Over the decades, much has been written about Britain's most famous political sex scandal, in which John Profumo, the secretary of state for war, was disgraced as a result of his relationship with a 19-year-old party girl. Decades later, the woman in question told of a naive young girl's entanglements with a philandering politician and a Soviet spy and the powerful forces that turned an extramarital fling into the Profumo Affair. R E A D  M O R E » Get on the list Subscribe to our Hollywood newsletter for your essential industry and awards-season news, every day. Sign Up Now This e-mail was sent to you by VANITY FAIR. To ensure delivery to your inbox (not bulk or junk folders), please add our e-mail address, vanityfair@newsletter.vf.com, to your address book. View our Privacy Policy Unsubscribe Copyright © Condé Nast 2025. One World Trade Center, New York, NY 10007. All rights reserved.