Andrew Dominik’s fictionalized and hypnotic Marilyn Monroe biopic Blonde has captivated audiences since its release on Netflix. Similar to Kristen Stewart’s turn in the Princess Diana biopic Spencer, the film isn’t a wholly accurate representation of her life but uses fictionalized elements to put across a message or deeper themes.
In Blonde, that theme is simple: the hypersexualization of Norma Jeane Mortenson aka Marilyn Monroe. Ana de Armas, the actress who brings the starlet to life in the film, is seen topless and calling her loves “Daddy” throughout a large amount of the movie. She is also seen in multiple graphic sex scenes, including disturbing instances of sexual assault.
There are several partners Monroe has in the film, such as baseball player, Joe DiMaggio (Bobby Cannavale), and playwright, Arthur Miller (Adrien Brody). The most surprising relationship Monroe is involved in, though, comes early on. She’s seemingly in a three-way couple with Charlie Chaplin Jr. (Xavier Samuel) and Edward G. Robinson Jr (Evan Williams) – both sons of incredibly famous actors.
But was Marilyn Monroe really in a throuple with these two men? If she wasn’t, was she ever romantically involved with either?
Marilyn Monroe’s relationship with Charlie Chaplin Jr.
Blonde certainly suggests that Monroe might’ve been more involved with Chaplin than she was with Robinson. Otherwise known as Cass Chaplin, he initiates sex with Monroe and encourages her to come out of her shell. But did the two ever date?
In Anthony Summers’ biography of Monroe, titled Goddess: The Secret Lives of Marilyn Monroe, it is stated that the two did indeed have a relationship. However, it was a brief affair, presumably while Monroe was married to DiMaggio, that was also referenced in Chaplin’s own novel, My Father, Charlie Chaplin.
“‘Oh, she’s a beauty,’ Dad used to tell me. ‘What a figure! I admire your taste, son, very much.'”
The affair didn’t last long, however, and the two called it quits, choosing to remain friends. Interestingly, Chaplin dies before Monroe does in Blonde. In real life, however, Monroe died six whole years before Chaplin ultimately passed of a pulmonary embolism.
Marilyn Monroe’s relationship with Edward G. Robinson Jr.
Robinson definitely came off as secondary in the throuple, but Blonde still shows that Monroe apparently had love, and lust, for both men. Was this love explored in real life though?
Again, according to Summers’ biography, it was. The two apparently met through Chaplin and enjoyed a brief stint of love before calling it quits around the time Monroe was filming Gentlemen Prefer Blondes.
As Summers bluntly puts it in his book, according to The Cinemaholic, “Any passion in the Robinson affair was soon spent, and turned to friendship.”
Did the throuple shown in Blonde really exist?
Considering the close timeline in which Monroe was reportedly involved with both men, it might not be hard to imagine that those two relationships became one. But, there is no evidence anywhere that a relationship between Marilyn Monroe, Charlie Chaplin Jr., and Edward G. Robinson Jr. ever really existed.
That being said, Summers did note in his biography, via his source James, that the three were friends.
“They were all depressives, Marilyn, Charlie, and Eddie, and they would hunt each other down when things were bad. She was very dear to both of them, and they would try to help.”
Whether that friendship also included threesomes remains to be seen, and perhaps we’ll never know. Blonde is out now on Netflix, and you can read our review of the film here.