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One of the most prominent people whose services
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This photo (left) was taken at the funeral of Marilyn Monroe. Allan Abbott spent three days at Westwood Village Mortuary assisting in the preparation along with her hairdresser and make-up man furnished by her movie studio. Allan also placed a call for six uniformed Pinkerton guards to provide security at her service.
This photo also shows the brand new 1962 Eureka funeral coach our company provided for the service followed by four of the pallbearers. They include Ronald Hast; Allan Abbott; Sidney Guilaroff, Marilyn's studio hairdresser; and Alan Snyder, her make-up man. Before we started dressing her, the embalmer decided to use a surgical procedure to reduce the swelling in her neck, so he cut some hair away and made an incision on the back of her neck and sutured it up tight. As she was being prepared, one of the partners in the mortuary, Mary Hamrock, came into the embalming room. We had just dressed her in a chartreuse Pucci dress with a Florence, Italy, label in it. |
| Click for larger image. |
| Mrs. Hamrock made the observation that in her opinion it didn't look like Marilyn Monroe because she was too flat-chested. The embalmer explained that the autopsy had rendered her physique in that condition. The family had actually brought in to the mortuary a pair of breast enhancers that she had frequently worn, but they were too small to compensate for the effects of the post-mortem. Mrs. Hamrock removed the falsies from the dress, discarded them and proceeded to form her own version out of cotton from the prep-room shelf. When she finished, she took a few steps back and declared, “Now that looks like Marilyn Monroe!” This photo is one of many in Marilyn: A Hollywood Farewell published by Time-Life photographer Leigh Wiener on the 30th anniversary of Marilyn Monroe's death. It is a coffee table book that contains many photographs taken at her home, the Los Angeles county coroners office and her funeral. Leigh died in May 1993 and the book has since been out of print. |
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| This enlarged portion shows Monroe's pallbearers. Front row (closer to hearse, left to right), Sidney Guilaroff and Alan Snyder, back row (left to right), Ron Hast and Allan Abbott. |
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| Abbott & Hast’s 1962 Cadillac Eureka hearse carrying Marilyn Monroe’s body leads the funeral procession from Westwood Village Cemetery Chapel to the crypt. |
