Monroe maid, biographer Lena Pepitone dies

A woman who worked as Marilyn Monroe's maid and co-wrote a book about the storied actress' life has died in Manhattan. Lena Pepitone was 86.

Pepitone's family said Wednesday that she died from a heart attack at her Upper East Side apartment. They said she was found dead Tuesday when a family friend went to check on her.

Pepitone was Monroe's maid from the late 1950s to the early 1960s. She co-wrote "Marilyn Monroe Confidential," published in 1980. She was also known to cook for Monroe's famous friends. A biographer of Monroe husband and baseball great Joe DiMaggio wrote that Pepitone kept Monroe's bedroom in order and also cooked Italian dishes for DiMaggio.

A son, John Pepitone, said his mother was born in Naples, Italy, on Feb. 7, 1925.

-- AP