By Mark LaFlamme,Staff Writer

SABATTUS – James Dougherty’s four-year marriage to the girl who would become Marilyn Monroe brought him a lifetime of dubious fame.

And while Norma Jeane Baker went on to become a big-time movie star, Dougherty led an impressive life of his own as a cop, a politician, a teacher and an author, among other things.

On Monday, the former Sabattus man died in San Rafael, Calif., at the age of 84.

“His years with Marilyn Monroe, that was just a small part of his life,” said Schani Krug, who wrote, produced and directed a documentary about Dougherty last year. “He was a Renaissance man, he really was. He was an Olympian as far as his talents.”

Dougherty died about 5 p.m. Monday of complications from leukemia, according to his stepdaughter, Annie Woods. He had recently moved west after living much of his life in Sabattus.

“He had a very full life. His happiest years were here, in the state of Maine,” said Woods of Sabattus.

In 1941, Dougherty was 20 years old and working nights at Lockheed Aircraft. Through family, he met 15-year-old Norma Jeane Baker, a student at nearby Van Nuys High School in California. A year later they married.

When World War II broke out, Dougherty joined the Merchant Marine. While he was away at sea, Norma Jeane had her picture taken by a military photographer. It was the beginning of the end for the young couple. He wanted a family. She wanted Hollywood. The two dreams wouldn’t work in one marriage. They divorced in 1946.

“I could never be Mr. Monroe,” Dougherty told a Sun Journal reporter in 1997. “It wouldn’t work with me at all.”

Six months later he remarried. His second wife, Pat, was jealous of his famous first wife and forbade the name Norma Jeane or Marilyn Monroe from ever being mentioned. For that reason, Dougherty destroyed some 200 love letters from Monroe, plus photos. He didn’t want his new wife to find them and get upset.

The couple divorced after producing three children.

In 1972, he married a different woman, the former Rita Lambert.

For 25 years, Dougherty worked with the Los Angeles Police Department, where he served many years as a detective. He also trained the first Special Weapons and Tactics group with the department.

“He was a legend in the police department,” Krug said. “He broke a lot of cases.”

After retiring in 1974, Dougherty moved from California to Arizona, then to Maine to take care of Rita’s dying father. The couple settled in Sabattus, but Dougherty did not slow down. Among other things, he served as an Androscoggin County commissioner, taught a course in political science, served on the Maine Boxing Commission and taught a special weapons class at the Maine Criminal Justice Academy. He was an exalted ruler with the local Elks Club.

“He was a musician. He played the fiddle, the guitar, the violin, the mandolin and he sang,” Woods said. “He fished, he hunted, he was a sharp shooter. The list goes on and on.”

For years, Dougherty refused to speak publicly or be interviewed about Norma Jeane. Later, after his second divorce, he became more relaxed about discussing his years with one of the world’s most beloved movie stars. Students called him to talk about her. People stopped him in public and asked for his autograph.

Dougherty was often paid for interviews by national magazines and syndicated talk shows both in and outside the United States. He was featured in German publications. A Playboy reporter from Japan once came to Maine to interview him for a story.

“He was never egotistical about it. He was very humble,” said Krug, who spent 4 years working with Dougherty for the documentary “Marilyn’s Man.”

In 1997, Dougherty was flown to Milan, Italy, for a four-hour taping of a Marilyn Monroe television special. The backdrop of the set was decorated with larger-than-life photos of Monroe’s famous face and a full-length photo of her in a bathing suit. The documentary featured Dougherty and film star Jane Russell, who co-starred with Marilyn Monroe in movies and who remained friends with Dougherty.

Emile Jacques, a Lewiston man and longtime friend, said Dougherty enjoyed the fame brought about by his celebrity marriage and would talk about it when pressed.

“We’d question him about it and he would talk about her,” Jacques said. “Jim was a good guy. Everyone seemed to like him.”

James and Rita Dougherty celebrated their 25th wedding anniversary in the spring of 1997. The same year, Dougherty wrote a book about his life with the woman who became Marilyn Monroe. The book was titled “To Norma Jeane, Love Jimmie” and was co-authored by Brunswick author L.C.Van Savage.

“He’s a famous guy,” Van Savage said in the 1997 interview with the Sun Journal. “He loves it. It’s fun for him.”

Reached at home on Tuesday, Van Savage said she did not want to discuss Dougherty’s life and death until she had a chance to speak with his family in California.

Rita Dougherty died in June 2003. Woods said the family will fly Dougherty’s body back to Maine for burial.

“He will be back in October,” she said. “He will be buried next to his Rita.”

Woods said her father enjoyed his claim to fame and the interest it generated even six decades after he split with the movie star. But, she said, there was so much more to Dougherty’s life that he never ran out of things to say.

“He always had a story to tell,” Woods said. “It didn’t matter who you were, he could tell you a story and make you laugh.”

Krug’s film “Marilyn’s Man” includes early photos of the movie star and long interviews with Dougherty. The filmmaker said that what few people know is that Dougherty prepared young Norma Jeane for stardom and that she adored him even after achieving great fame.

“He was everything she never had,” Krug said. “She was crazy in love with him.”

In the 1997 interview with the Sun Journal, Dougherty said he followed Monroe’s career from a distance until her death in 1962. That woman was a movie star, he said. The woman he loved was a small-town girl named Norma Jeane Baker.

“I love her, but I’m not in love with her,” Dougherty explained. “There’s a lot of difference between loving someone and being in love. “

Krug, who runs Valhalla Productions out of York, said he heard about Dougherty’s passing Monday night.

“I was devastated,” he said. “He was a charming man. He was just an amazing human being.”

On the Web

www.jimdougherty.com

www.doheny.demon.co.uk/james_dougherty.htm

www.marilynsman.com