‘I Love Lucy’ star played matchmaker for Marilyn Monroe and Joe DiMaggio: book

Marilyn Monroe met her husband number two thanks to an unlikely matchmaker: an “I Love Lucy” star.

The 25-year-old was having dinner with her agent, Norman Brokaw, when William Frawley, who played Fred Mertz on the sitcom, approached them. He had an offer that the actress couldn’t refuse.

“(My father) took her to a TV show called ‘Lights, Camera, Action,’ which was a showcase of up-and-coming talent,” Norman’s son, Joel Brokaw, told Fox News Digital. “(It was) a live show in Hollywood that all the casting agents tuned in to watch. They went and made this TV show, and then he said, ‘Let’s go down the street and go to the Hollywood Brown Derby and have a show.’ meal.’ It was the place to be seen.”

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Marilyn Monroe had no idea who Joe DiMaggio was when they met in 1952. (Getty Images)

“It wasn’t long before they figured it out,” Joel shared. “William Frawley… approached the table and said… ‘I’m having dinner with Joe D. He would like to meet the young lady. We’ll stop by your table when we’re done.’

“Marilyn turned to my dad and said, ‘Who’s Joe D?’ she had no idea Who was Joe DiMaggio. Obviously she wasn’t a baseball fan. So he had to tell him a brief story of the importance of Joe DiMaggio.”

According to Hollywood lore, Joe DiMaggio was reading the newspaper when he saw a photo of Marilyn Monroe in a baseball uniform. I was in love. (Getty Images)

Brokaw, who represented Elvis Presley, Clint Eastwood and many other major stars, died in 2016 at age 89. Joel has written a new memoir about the late patriarch. “Driving Marilyn” which details how he went from working in the mailroom at the William Morris Agency to becoming its CEO.

Joel Brokaw’s book, “Driving Marilyn,” is available now. (Lyon Press)

DiMaggio, who was 12 years older than Monroe, had just retired from the New York Yankees. He was having dinner with his close friend when he found himself captivated by the blonde beauty.

And Brokaw jumped at the chance to help bring the two together.

“(My father and Marilyn) finished their food first,” Joel said. “They came to the table and the rest is history.”

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William Frawley played Fred Mertz in the 1950s comedy “I Love Lucy.” (CBS via Getty Images)

Joel said his father met Monroe through his uncle, Hollywood talent agent Johnny Hyde. In his book “My Story”, Monroe said that Hyde was in love with her and had asked her to marry him.

“If you look at all the stories that have been written about Marilyn Monroe, Johnny Hyde is a standout,” Joel explained. “He was the top super agent who believed in Marilyn. He also lived with her. He bet his entire reputation on advancing her career.”

Hollywood agent Johnny Hyde wanted to marry his client, up-and-coming star Marilyn Monroe. (ALAMIA)

“At that time, a lot of the attitudes of his peers were, ‘That’s his lover and she’s this year’s blonde,'” Joel shared. “A lot of people didn’t see anything really special about her. But finally, towards the end of her life, he got her a contract with 20th Century Fox. At the time, my father had just been promoted to junior agent.”

Marilyn Monroe with her agent Johnny Hyde, circa 1949. (ALAMIA)

Joel said Hyde had “a very bad heart condition,” which prevented him from taking his dream client to performances. That’s when Brokaw intervened.

“He had to take her to her auditions, which were $55 a job, SAG minimum,” Joel explained. “He took her to acting classes, he went to premieres and television shows that she did. He spent a lot of time with her.

WATCH: ‘I LOVE LUCY’ STAR PLAYED THE MATCHMAKER BETWEEN MARILYN MONROE AND JOE DIMAGGIO: AUTHOR

“From what he told me about her, they really got along very well. He really liked her. He thought she was incredibly smart. They just had a great relationship.”

Norman Brokaw went on to represent Marilyn Monroe. (Brokaw Family)

Hyde died in 1950. He was 55 years old.

It was in 1952 when Brokaw and Monroe approached DiMaggio’s table to say hello. DiMaggio and Monroe dated for almost two years before marrying at San Francisco City Hall in 1954.

several months after the couple said, “I do,” Brokaw received a phone call. It was DiMaggio’s. According to the book, Monroe was no longer his client at that time.

Joe DiMaggio hoped Marilyn Monroe would become a housewife. He had other plans. (AFP via Getty Images)

“Joe DiMaggio received advice from my father that came at a very crucial time in his marriage,” Joel said. “Joe really wanted Marilyn to be a housewife. He was increasingly upset by Marilyn’s higher profile and appearance in public.

Marilyn Monroe and Joe DiMaggio’s marriage was said to be tumultuous before they finally ended it. (Underwood Archives/Getty Images)

“And then my father told her, ‘I don’t know any woman who can convince you not to come out to bat for the 56th game in a row. And I don’t know any man who can convince a The young actress won’t star in a movie with Clark Gable or Spencer Tracy.'”

“That made a light bulb go on in Joe DiMaggio’s mind,” Joel said. “He credited that advice with keeping the marriage alive longer… It also cemented a lifelong friendship my father had with Joe DiMaggio.”

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Marilyn Monroe and Joe DiMaggio’s marriage lasted nine months. (New York Daily News Archive via Getty Images.)

The power couple’s marriage lasted only nine months. Monroe filed for divorce from DiMaggiociting “mental cruelty.”

Brokaw and Monroe crossed paths again in a unique way in 1962.

At the time, Joel’s mother was hospitalized with schizophrenia. Brokaw needed someone to help him take care of his children. Monroe’s psychiatrist, Dr. Ralph Greenson, who had also worked with Joel’s mother, suggested housekeeper Eunice Murray.

Marilyn Monroe and Joe DiMaggio reconnected in 1961, a year before his death. (Getty Images)

“She was someone he placed with many of his patients to help them manage their daily responsibilities and keep an eye on them,” Joel explained. “A few weeks earlier, Eunice Murray came in and found Marilyn Monroe dead. That was a really strange episode in my life.”

Mrs. Eunice Murray, housekeeper of the late Marilyn Monroe, tells reporters that the actress had not seemed suicidal to her. (Getty Images)

“I really liked Mrs. Murray,” Joel said. “But I also felt that the energy in her was strange… That was part of growing up in Hollywood: a lot of strange things.”

Monroe died from a barbiturate overdose in 1962. He was 36 years old. It was DiMaggio, who had returned to her life in 1961, who planned her funeral.

“It was an undying love that he had for her for the rest of his life,” Joel said.

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Joe DiMaggio’s last words were: “I’ll finally get to see Marilyn.” (Getty Images)

DiMaggio had fresh roses delivered to Monroe’s grave twice a week for 20 years. He survived his ex-wife by almost four decades. He died in 1999 at 84 years old.

DiMaggio’s lawyer later said that his last words were, “I’ll finally get to see Marilyn.”