parra

Did Thelonious Monk ever use drugs? For some reason I rember reading that he had an addiction to something or am I just confusing his biography with some of his contemporaries? I just finished Thelonious Monk: Straight No Chaser, a biography produced by Clint Eastwood and released in 1989. The film was created using documentary footage shot in the late 60's and includes contemporary interviews with those closest to him and I could not help wonder if the omission of his use of illegal substances was a decesion Clint Eastwood made or if he did in fact not use drugs. I only bring this up because they allude to him being sick, and being hospitalized but they never come right out and tell us what he has which leads me to believe that the filmakers would hide other aspects of his life. It is not important whether he did drugs however if he did and it is not included in the documentary it leaves one suspicious of other material that was left out. Other than that the footage is generally amazing and offers a unique view of such a great man I just wish I had gotten the whole story, I feel cheated.