Robert Slatzer LOS ANGELES--Robert F. Slatzer, whose lackluster career in Hollywood was overshadowed by the notoriety he created with his claim that he was briefly married to Marilyn Monroe, died March 28 at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center after a long illness. He was 77. To MSTies, he was known as the director of the movie in episode 209- THE HELLCATS. Slatzer was born in Marion, Ohio, and by his early teens he knew he wanted to be a writer. After attending Ohio State University, he spent time as a newspaper reporter for the Columbus Dispatch. He relocated to Hollywood in 1946. He also wrote Hollywood biographies, including "Bing Crosby: The Hollow Man" and "Duke: The Life and Times of John Wayne." He was involved in a number film and television projects, including the 1970 film, "Bigfoot." He gained the media spotlight with his 1974 book "The Life and Curious Death of Marilyn Monroe," in which he claimed that he and Monroe had met when she was a struggling model and were secretly married in Mexico in 1952. He wrote that 20th Century Fox Studios head Darryl F. Zanuck ordered the marriage dissolved over concerns about Monroe's image, and that the documents were destroyed. In the 1980s, he sent a letter to county supervisors arguing that Monroe was murdered and a grand jury should investigate her death. The grand jury rejected the request. He wrote a second book on Monroe, "The Marilyn Files," that was published in 1992. Slatzer was never able to conclusively prove the marriage took place to the satisfaction of her many biographers, but, likewise, attempts to conclusively disprove his claims have fallen short as well. He is survived by his wife, sister-in-law and several nieces and nephews.