BBC announces new drama about last 6 months of Marilyn Monroe’s life
The final months of Marilyn Monroe’s life will be dramatised in a new BBC series.
The period drama is being developed with The Good Karma Hospital creator Dan Sefton.
Sefton has previously written episodes of Mr Selfridge, Delicious, Trust Me and Monarch of the Glen.
The writer says he’s “thrilled… to bring this incredible true story to the screen.”
He added: “Marilyn’s desire to be taken seriously as an actress and her battle with the powerful men who control the studio system is sadly as relevant today as it ever was.”
Based on Keith Badman’s 2010 book The Final Years of Marilyn Monroe, the series is set to be called The Last Days of Marilyn Monroe.
Exploring the area “where the harsh glamour of 1960s Hollywood and the hard-edged politics of Washington intersect,” it’ll explore Monroe’s relationship with Hollywood studio bosses and US President John F Kennedy.
Monroe starred in films such as Gentlemen Prefer Blondes, The Seven Year Itch and Some Like It Hot before she died in suspicious circumstances at the age of just 36 in August 1962.
Anne Pivcevic from BBC Studios has described the series as “ambitious” and revealed it will confront “big themes such as power, love, loyalty and politics.”
The Last Days of Marilyn Monroe is expected to air on BBC One in the UK in late 2019 or 2020.
Casting will be announced later this year.
Keith Badman’s book The Final Years of Marilyn Monroe is available on Amazon.