Scandal in the wind
QUESTION
Did Marilyn Monroe have a marriage in the early Fifties that was hushed up and quickly annulled? This was the alleged marriage between Marilyn and newspaper reporter Robert F. slatzer (1927-2005).
A native of Marion, Ohio, slatzer moved to hollywood in 1946, where he worked as a sometime screenwriter and director (The hellcats, 1968, and Bigfoot, 1970), sportswriter and book critic. he published two books on Monroe: The Life And Curious Death Of Marilyn Monroe (1974) and The Marilyn Files (1992).
he claimed he met Marilyn at Fox when she was a 19-year-old model and again on the set of her breakthrough dramatic role, Niagara. There are a few fairly intimate shots of the two taken at the time.
slatzer claimed he and Marilyn married secretly in Mexico on October 4, 1952, and that the relationship was ordered to be dissolved by Darryl F. Zanuck, then the head of 20th Century Fox studios, who was worried about Marilyn’s image. he said Marilyn returned to Mexico and ‘undid’ the marriage by burning the copy of the certificate filed in Mexican courts.
slatzer made a career out of this and was also behind many conspiracy theories about her death involving the Kennedys.
it appears that slatzer claimed to have married Marilyn only after a potential publisher said it would be a good selling point for his 1974 book. his story was made into the 1991 film Marilyn & Me.
Nicola Mensah, Southampton.
QUESTION
Is it true that the average golf handicap has been unchanged for decades, despite new technology? sTATisTiCs show that in 2014 the average handicap for men was about 14.3 and 26.5 for women, as against 16.3 and 29.7 in 1991. some of that reduction in average handicaps might be attributable to improved golf equipment. A golfer’s handicap is a reflection of their golfing ability rather than the technology of their equipment. A good golfer will still be a good golfer playing with clubs made 30 years ago, while a bad golfer will still be a bad golfer playing with the latest hightech offerings. it has often been said: ‘You can’t buy a good golf shot.’
it is not the distance a player can drive the ball from the tee that will govern a handicap, but their ability to get the ball in the hole. Golf pros have a saying: ‘Drive for show — putt for dough.’
Putters have barely changed since they were introduced. Modern ones might look different, but in essence are still a flat-faced bit of metal on the end of a stick. Many low-handicap golfers prefer to use their old putters because the familiarity gives them confidence.
Most improvements in golfing technology are in the most expensive club in the player’s bag — the driver.
Yet this is used for only about 12 shots in 18 holes, about 13 per cent of their total shots for a round, while the putter is used for between 18 and 36 shots (or more) in 18 holes — between 20 per cent and 40 per cent of their shots.
Professional golfers get some advantage from new driver technology. Between 1980 and 1993, average driving distances on the U.s. PGA Tour increased just three yards, from 257 to 260. Over the next ten years, they increased by 27 yards, reaching 287 yards in 2003.
since then there has been only a small increase. During the same time in the ladies’ professional game, there was an increase of 22 yards. Research suggests that improvements in driver technology in the Nineties account for a large part of the increase, but this rate of change in driving distances has not been maintained over the past decade, so further improvements seem to be an illusion.
A significant amount of the increase in driving distance is also due to improved fitness regimes and better coaching.
Being able to hit a ball a long way is not a guarantee of a low handicap or a winning score.
it is often better for an amateur to hit the ball shorter, but straighter, to stay out of trouble, and improved technology is of little help.
Technology is of most use off the golf course. Videoing a golfer’s swing allows a coach to identify flaws in technique and correct them, but few amateur golfers invest in that sort of coaching.
The principal reason handicaps remain relatively high is the lack of practice amateurs can put in. Most play only once or twice a week, which is insufficient to maintain a consistent swing.
When someone retires and starts to play more golf, their handicap will often reduce quite quickly, before starting to climb once again as age and infirmity take their toll. Bob Dillon, Edinburgh.
QUESTION
My late mother told me only one bomb fell in Elstree, Herts, during World War II, killing all my father’s first family. He was terribly injured and never spoke of it. Did only one bomb fall in Elstree during the war? ON sEPTEMBER 27, 1940, The Fortune, a house off Barnet Lane, Elstree, was hit by a bomb, killing four occupants. Fortune Lane, Elstree, was subsequently named after the house.
The World War ii bomb census at Kew shows there was a cluster of bombs around Barnet Road and Deacon’s hill, but other than the Fortune bomb, Elstree was largely unscathed.
Nearby Borehamwood, home to Elstree studios, suffered several strikes. An unexploded World War ii bomb was found in The Mound, an area at the back of Elstree studios, in shenley Road in 2013. initially, there was speculation this was a prop from Monty Python’s Meaning Of Life film! Adrian Turner, Watford, Herts.
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