By her chauffeur Ralph E. Schulz
Mark S. Schulz | Special to the Fitzhugh
As a young man, my dad, Ralph E. Schulz, arrived in Jasper by rail in May of 1953 and walked across Connaught Drive into the nearby Park Office, and asked the National Park official if there were any jobs available?
The Park official asked Dad if he could drive a bus? Dad replied, “No, but I have driven a truck.”
“Close enough," said the Park official, "they need drivers. Go see the tour bus manager at the Athabasca Hotel.”
The next day, Dad had a job driving tourists in the very first Volkswagen passenger “busses” in Western Canada.
In addition, he was given a small room in the basement of the Athabasca Hotel where he boarded for the rest of the summer.
In late July, the manager of the tour bus company called Dad in one day, and knowing of his previous term working in a Hamburg Hotel, asked him to “polish up the black Buick limousine, and report back here after lunch”.
Dad did as requested and, when he returned, a man “from a Hollywood movie studio” was present in the office and the Hollywood man asked Dad a few questions and engaged in polite conversation.
Seemingly satisfied, the man advised Dad that he would be the personal chauffeur to none other than Marilyn Monroe for approximately three weeks.
The movie was the Twentieth Century Fox Film River of No Return and also starred Robert Mitchum and Rory Calhoun.
A few days later Dad reported for duty to pick up Marilyn Monroe from the Jasper Park Lodge in order to take her to the movie set.
For three glorious weeks, my Dad was the chauffeur for Marilyn Monroe during her time in Jasper.
Dad would report to the hotel and pick her up, and noted that she often wore Wayfarer sunglasses with a headscarf.
As she exited the hotel, the cameras flashed and people stared and gawked.
However, once Marilyn was in the limousine she was often nervous, usually quiet, and other than a few customary pleasantries exchanged with Dad, she kept silently to herself.
Dad remained at the movie set all day and once filming had finished he would take Marilyn back to the hotel.
Dad recalled an occasion where Marilyn was not required for filming one day, and after supper she called for Dad to pick her up. Marilyn asked Dad to “just take me for a drive”.
Realizing that Marilyn had been cooped up in the hotel all day he decided to show her beautiful Maligne Lake.
Marilyn quietly sat in the back of the limousine, and smoked a few cigarettes for the 45-minute drive. Dad observed that Marilyn rarely looked at the scenery, and appeared deep in thought.
Once at Maligne Lake, she exited the limousine and walked a short distance to the water’s edge where she sat down on a log and chain-smoked four cigarettes.
Dad stood at attention near the limousine and kept a careful eye on the world’s number one female movie star, as nearby tourists suspiciously stared at Marilyn as they walked by her.
After a few more minutes, Marilyn asked Dad to take her back to the hotel.
Again, Dad noted, once in the back seat, Marilyn was quiet, reserved, and appeared very nervous, frequently biting her fingernails.
One other occasion Dad mentioned, with a grin, was the time Joe DiMaggio arrived in Jasper to visit Marilyn.
Joe DiMaggio had been in Jasper for about one day, and Marilyn had summonsed Dad to drive them to a party later in the evening.
When Dad pulled up to the front, Joe DiMaggio and a few other men were outside talking. Two of the men, familiar with Dads limousine, moved out of the way to allow dad to park closer to the front step.
Dad reported that Joe DiMaggio came over and poked his finger in Dad's shoulder and rudely demanded: “Who are you?!”
Dad quickly retorted; “I’m Ralph, Miss Monroe’s personal chauffeur here in Jasper, who are you!?!”
Dad stated that Joe backed off quickly and appeared rather shocked at Dads response.
Of course, Dad knew who Joe DiMaggio was, he just gave him some of his own medicine. Marilyn came out a few moments later and Dad drove them to the party without any further commotion.
Additionally, Dad mentioned that on a couple of occasions, Robert Mitchum asked Dad to take him out “to the local watering hole”, and Dad shared a few evening drinks with Robert Mitchum - as if they were old buddies.
Dad continued for the remainder of his term as Marilyn’s chauffeur to and from the movie set, and maintained the utmost professionalism in his job serving Marilyn.
Out of respect for Marilyn, he did not take any pictures of her with his own camera, but he was given an 8x10 glossy photograph signed by Marilyn to Dad.
What he remembered the most, and about which he most frequently commented, was the distinct difference between Marilyn’s public appearances, when the cameras, movie staff, and onlookers were present, and when she was in total privacy, such as the back seat of his limousine.
Dad was the first to agree that Marilyn was an ordinary woman, like any other, who had been thrust into the powerful and glaring spotlight of stardom, and he understood that she must have been under a tremendous amount of pressure in her role.
Dad was afforded a very rare glimpse of Marilyn Monroe as an ordinary person, away from the cameras and paparazzi, and he was proud that he felt trusted that Marilyn was comfortable enough to be her real self when she was with him.
Dad spoke very fondly of his three-week term driving Marilyn. He often wondered if she ever thought of or remembered the natural beauty of Jasper, the mountains, turquoise blue lakes and rivers, the Jasper Park Lodge, and a few of the people she met there that summer in 1953.
For the rest of his life my Dad treasured the memories of Jasper, the movie production, and his very fortunate experience of being chosen to be the chauffeur to Marilyn Monroe that summer, long ago, in Jasper.
Jasper Museum's operating hours are 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. daily.
Now showing in our Showcase Gallery in partnership with Mountain Galleries is Enchanted Forests and Other Wonders - a collection of art by many western Canadian artists including local artists Pascale Robinson and Satoko Naito (Rico). We have also collaborated with other local arts and culture groups to bring you the 20/20 Arts & Culture Draw, for more details again check out our website at www.jaspermuseum.org/culturedraw.
Our annual duck race in partnership with the Right to Read Society of Jasper will take place on Sunday, September 27, 2020 and tickets are now available for only $5. Also available in our gift shop are bird feeders with all proceeds supporting the museum.
