James Dougherty (police officer)

James "Jim" Edward Dougherty was born on April 21, 1921 in Texas, U.S. He was the fifth and final child of Edward and Ethel Dougherty (née Beatty), natives of Pueblo, Colorado.[1] After moving to Globe, Arizona, the family suffered from the Great Depression, living in a tent.[2] Dougherty graduated from the Van Nuys High School in 1938, in the same class as actress Jane Russell.

Following his graduation, Dougherty turned down an athletic scholarship from the University of California at Santa Barbara.[3] Instead, he worked night shift at Lockheed Aircraft, meeting Norma Jean Baker. Following the move of her foster-parents, Baker's return to an orphanage was prevented, when Dougherty married her on June 19, 1942. She dropped out of high school and became a housewife.[4] They moved to Santa Catalina Island, where Dougherty joined the Merchant Navy and taught sea safety.[5]

After Dougherty's commission on the South Pacific, Baker moved back to Van Nuys and was noticed by photographer David Conover. She later signed a contract with the Blue Book Model agency and 20th Century Fox, who demanded her nonmarital.[6] Therefore, Baker divorced from Dougherty in 1946, who received the papers while on Yangtze and dismissed her ambitions. He followed her career as actress, Marilyn Monroe, for the next years. After Monroe's death, he appeared in CBS' To Tell The Truth and gave numerous interviews:[5]

"Fame was injurious to her. She was too gentle to be an actress. She wasn't tough enough for Hollywood. And once someone starts getting into pills -- uppers and downers, the way she was -- people can go downhill. They can't sleep, so they take more and more pills."

— Dougherty, interview with Associated Press in 2002

Dougherty married Patricia Scoman in 1947. They had three daughters. In 1949, he joined the Los Angeles Police Department and served as a detective. He played a part in the creation of the Special Weapons and Tactics group, becoming the first to ever train it. He also broke a plot of kidnapping James Garner.[7][8] Dougherty married his final wife, Rita Lambert, in 1974.[9] Together, they moved to her hometown in Sabattus, Maine, where he taught at the Criminal Justice Academy and worked as an Androscoggin County commissioner.[5][10] He also worked for the Maine Boxing Commission and appeared in the documentary The Discovery Of Marilyn Monroe, along with actor Robert Mitchum and Highschool friend Jane Russell.[11] Dougherty and Russell also appeared on Sally in 1992, accompanied by Susan Strasberg. Throughout his life, he released two memoirs, The Secret Happiness of Marilyn Monroe and To Norma Jeane With Love, Jimmie.

In 2003, Dougherty's wife died. Marilyn's Man, a documentary about Dougherty, was filmed in 2004.[12] He died on August 15, 2005. His death made a standalone obituary in several outlets, such as Los Angeles Times, Chicago Tribune and The New York Times.[13][14]