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Marilyn
Monroe (June 1, 1926 – August 5, 1962) was an
American actress of the 20th century. Her sizzling
screen presence, stunning good looks and mysterious
death would make her a perennial sex symbol and
later a pop icon.
Early life
Although she would eventually become the most
celebrated actress in film history, Marilyn's
beginnings were humble to say the least.
A Los
Angeles native, she was born Norma Jeane Mortensen
in the charity ward of Los Angeles County Hospital.
Her grandmother, Della Monroe Grainger, later had
her baptized Norma Jeane Baker. Biographers used to
differ on whether the man listed on her birth
certificate, Norwegian Martin Edward Mortensen, was
not her true biological father. The most likely
candidate for a while seemed to be Charles Stanley
Gifford, a salesman for the studio where Marilyn's
mother, Gladys Pearl Monroe Baker, worked as a
film-cutter. However in later years, more and more
have gone for the theory that Mortensen was in fact
her true father.
Unable
to persuade Della to take the baby, an overwhelmed
Gladys placed Norma Jeane with Albert and Ida
Bolender of Hawthorne, southwest of Downtown Los
Angeles, where she lived until she was seven. The
Bolenders were a religious couple who supplemented
their meager income by being foster parents. In her
autobiography, My Story, ghostwritten by Ben Hecht,
Marilyn said she thought Wayne and Ida were her
parents until Ida, rather cruelly, corrected her.
After Marilyn's death, Ida claimed that she and
Wayne had seriously considered adopting her, which
they could not have done without Gladys's consent.
According to My Story (not always a reputable source
because it was largely a publicity vehicle), Gladys
visited Norma Jeane every Saturday, but never hugged
or kissed her, or even smiled. One day, Gladys
announced that she had bought a house for them. A
few months after moving in, she suffered a
breakdown. Marilyn recalled Gladys "screaming and
laughing" as she was forcibly removed to the State
Mental Hospital in Norwalk, where Della had died;
Gladys's father, Otis, died in a mental hospital
near San Bernardino.
Norma
Jeane was declared a ward of the state. Gladys's
best friend, Grace McKee, later Goddard, became her
guardian. After Grace married in 1935, Norma Jeane
was sent to Los Angeles Orphanage, then to as many
as twelve foster homes, in which she was subjected
to abuse and neglect. However, there is no evidence
that Marilyn had actually lived in so many foster
homes and that she really had been abused. In her
interviews Marilyn often gave exaggerated
information about her childhood. Then in September
1941, Grace took her in again. She was then
introduced to a neighbor's son, James Dougherty, who
would become her first husband. The Goddard family
was moving to the East Coast and felt marriage would
be the best solution for the teenaged Norma Jeane.
Since Marilyn was underage at the time, she had to
get married or otherwise she would have had to
return the orphanage. Norma Jeane had come to think
little of herself, yet also developed a gritty,
opportunistic side and a super-human drive. She was
very intelligent and more unhappy than her screen
image suggested.
Fame
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No other actor has
reached the heights of fame that Marilyn Monroe has.
Her face was certainly her fortune and to this very
day - over 40 years after her mysterious death - she
still generates huge interest in her life and
career.
While
her first husband James Dougherty was at war, the
young Norma Jean began work in a factory. It was
here she was spotted by photographer David Conover
and he immediately saw her potential as a model. She
signed with The Blue Book Modelling agency and
became one of their most successful models appearing
on hundreds of magazine covers. But with strong
aspirations of becoming an actress, Norma Jean came
to the attention of 20th Century Fox by way of
talent scout Ben Lyon who arranged a screen test.
She passed and was offered a standard six month
contract starting at $75 a week. It was here that
her name was changed. She was named after an actress
called Marilyn Miller and Monroe was her mother's
maiden name which Marilyn suggested herself. The
year was 1946 and "Marilyn Monroe" was born.
During
her first six months at Fox she didn't work at all
but learned about hair, make-up, costumes, acting
and lighting. Fox decided to renew her contract when
it expired and in the next six months she appeared
in minor roles in two movies; Scudda Hoo! Scudda
Hay! and Dangerous Years (both released in 1947).
But the films failed at the box office and Fox
decided not to offer her a contract for a third
time. Undiscouraged, Monroe threw herself into her
modelling work and rapidly began to build contacts
around Hollywood and she became an expert at
'networking'. A six month stint at Columbia Pictures
saw her starring in one movie - Ladies of the Chorus
in 1948 but once again she was dropped. At this
point she met Johnny Hyde, one of Hollywood's top
agents. He got her back at Fox (after MGM passed on
the chance to sign her) and although studio head
Darryl F. Zanuck was not convinced of her potential
to become a star she slowly began to change his mind
with scene stealing performances in Bette Davis's
classic All About Eve in 1950 and especially with
The Asphalt Jungle released the same year.
By 1952
Zanuck was nearly convinced and she played her first
role as a leading lady in Don't Bother To Knock. As
a deranged babysitter who attacks the little girl
she is looking after in a rage, Marilyn received
mixed reviews but she later stated this was one of
her own favourite performances. If the critics
doubted her abilities as a dramatic actress, they
were left in no doubt about her sex appeal. Marilyn
proved to Zanuck she could carry a big budget movie
when she headlined Niagara in 1953. Her screen
charisma was so powerful, movie critics seemed to
forget about the plot and focused on Marilyn and her
unique connection with the camera.
It was
around this time that nude photos of Marilyn began
to surface. Shot by Tom Kelley when she was
struggling, the prints were bought by Hugh Hefner
and appeared in the first edition of his new
magazine, Playboy in December 1953. It was a smash
hit. And when the press realised that the nubile
beauty in the magazine was up and coming starlet
Marilyn Monroe, the media went into overdrive.
Marilyn's relaxed attitude (Journalist: "What did
you have on during the photo shoot?" Marilyn:
"Chanel No.5!") quickly endeared her to the public.
Gentlemen Prefer Blondes and How to Marry a
Millionaire both released in 1953 catapulted Marilyn
into A list status and she quickly became the
world's biggest movie star. It didn't matter that
her next two films, River of No Return and There's
No Business Like Show Business under performed, the
public were already hooked. But Monroe grew tired of
the dumb blonde roles Zanuck assigned her and after
completing work on The Seven Year Itch in 1954, she
broke her contract and fled Hollywood to study
acting at The Actor's Studio in New York. Fox would
not budge on Monroe's new contract demands and
insisted she return to the studio to start work on
productions she considered inappropriate (Heller In
Pink Tights and How To Be Very, Very Popular being
two of them). But when The Seven Year Itch raced to
the top of the box office in the Summer of 1955, and
with other Fox starlets Jayne Mansfield and Sheree
North failing to click with audiences, Zanuck
finally admitted defeat and a triumphant Monroe
returned to Hollywood where a new contract was
immediately drawn up.
The
first film to be made was Bus Stop directed by
Joshua Logan who compared Monroe to Greta Garbo.
Critics immediately noted that this was a new
Marilyn working hard at her craft and she gave a
subtle and effective performance as Cherie the
saloon singer who is whisked off her feet by an
amorous cowboy.
By this
time she had formed her own production company
(Marilyn Monroe Productions) with photographer
Milton H. Greene, in which the first film released
by the company was The Prince and the Showgirl which
she produced. The film was received with lukewarm
reviews and the public were indifferent, but with
the release of Some Like It Hot in 1959, Marilyn was
back on track and Billy Wilder's production was her
biggest hit. In The Misfits, released in 1961, she
turned in a moving performance opposite screen
stalwart Clark Gable but it was to be the last film
either actor would make. Gable died of a heart
attack shortly after filming was completed and
although Monroe started work on a new movie,
Something's Got To Give, she died during production.
Marriages
She
married James Dougherty on June 19, 1942. Grace,
moving with her husband, wanted Norma Jeane to marry
to avoid going to an orphanage. In "The Secret
Happiness of Marilyn Monroe" and "To Norma Jeane
With Love, Jimmie," Dougherty * confirms that they
were in love and would have lived happily ever after
had not dreams of stardom lured her away. She
divorced him in 1946. He lives in Maine, and was
married to his third wife until her death in 2003.
In 1951, Joe
DiMaggio saw a picture of Marilyn with two Chicago
White Sox players, but waited until after he retired
from baseball to ask the PR man who arranged the
stunt to set them up on a date. But she did not want
to meet him, fearing him the stereotypical jock.
Their January 14, 1954 elopement at City Hall in San
Francisco was the culmination of a two-year
courtship that had captivated the nation.
The
union was complex, marred by his jealousy and her
casual infidelity. DiMaggio wanted to settle down.
Marilyn wanted to as well, but she craved fame and
would do just about anything for it. DiMaggio was
also said to have been disgusted by Marilyn's
sloppiness and poor hygiene. DiMaggio biographer
Richard Ben Cramer asserts things got violent as a
result. One incident allegedly happened after the
skirt blowing scene in The Seven Year Itch was
filmed on New York's Lexington Avenue before
hundreds of fans; director Billy Wilder recalled
"the look of death" on DiMaggio's face as he
watched. When she announced she would seek a divorce
- just 274 days after the wedding - (on grounds of
mental cruelty), she was quoted as telling 20th
Century Fox "our careers just seemed to get in the
way of each other." Oscar Levant quipped it proved
no man could be a success in two pastimes.
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She
married playwright Arthur Miller, whom she met in
1951, in a civil ceremony on June 29, 1956, then in
a Jewish ceremony two days later. When they returned
from England after she wrapped The Prince and the
Showgirl, they learned she was pregnant. Sadly, she
suffered from endometriosis; the pregnancy was
ectopic and had to be aborted to save her life. A
second pregnancy ended in miscarriage.
By
1958, Monroe was supporting them. Not only did she
pay alimony to Miller's first wife, he reportedly
bought a Jaguar while they were in England, shipped
it to the States, and charged it to her production
company. His script The Misfits was meant to be a
Valentine to her. Instead, by the time filming
started, the marriage was broken beyond repair.
Marilyn's behavior—fueled by drugs and alcohol—was
erratic. A Mexican divorce was granted on January
24, 1961.
DiMaggio re-entered her life as her marriage to
Miller was ending. On February 4, 1961, she was
admitted by her then-psychiatrist into Manhattan's
Payne-Whitney Clinic, reportedly placed in the ward
for the most seriously disturbed. He got her out six
days later, and took her to the Payne Whitney
Psychiatric Clinic at New York Presbyterian
Hospital. After her release on March 5, she joined
him in Florida where he was a batting coach for his
old team, the New York Yankees. Their "just friends"
claims did not stop remarriage rumors from flying.
Bob Hope even "dedicated" Best Song nominee "The
Second Time Around" to them at the 1960 Academy
Awards. According to DiMaggio biographer Maury
Allen, Joe quit his job with a military
post-exchange supplier on August 1, 1962 to return
to California and ask Marilyn to remarry him.
On
February 17, 1962, Miller married Inge Morath, one
of the Magnum photographers recording the making of
The Misfits. In January 1964, his After the Fall
opened, featuring a beautiful, child-like, yet
devouring shrew named Maggie. It upset all of
Monroe's friends. His newest Broadway-bound work,
Finishing the Picture, is based on the making of The
Misfits.
In May
of 1962 she sang Happy Birthday, Mr. President at a
televised birthday party for President John F.
Kennedy. The French chiffon dress she wore that
night was sold at auction by Christie's for a
world-record $1.3 million. 20th Century-Fox fired
her soon after the infamous event while she was
working on her soon-to-be unfinished film
Something's Got to Give, co-starring Dean Martin and
Cyd Charrise and directed by George Cukor. But due
to a clause in Dean Martin's contract giving him
approval over the leading lady, Marilyn was re-hired
to finish the film as Martin refused to work with
any other actress.
Death and aftermath
Marilyn
Monroe was found dead August 5, 1962 in the bedroom
of her Brentwood, California, home at age thirty-six
from an overdose of barbiturates. As with the
assassination of President John F. Kennedy,
conspiracy theories have sprung up around the
circumstances of her death, nearly all involving
allegations that she was killed due to her
involvement with the Kennedy family. A case was made
for the Kennedy/Mob connection in "The Last Days of
Marilyn Monroe" by author Donald Wolfe.
Marilyn's body was discovered by live-in
housekeeper, Mrs. Eunice Murray, assigned to
Marilyn's care by her psychiatrist, Dr. Ralph
Greenson. Controversy today still surrounds the
unexplained timeframe of events on the night of
Monroe's passing. Interestingly, Murray (who Monroe
had just fired) attempted to cash a $200.00 check
made out to her by Monroe several days after
Monroe's death. City National Bank of Beverly Hills
declined to pay Murray and marked the check
"deceased." The un-cancelled check is today on
display in the Monroe exhibit at the Hollywood
Entertainment Museum. In the Fall of 1962, Murray, a
widow of modest means, left the country for an
extended European cruise on the Queen Mary. Pat
Newcomb, Monroe's personal publicist from Hollywood,
joined the Kennedy administration during the ensuing
months. Eventually in the 70s, Murray told her own
sanitized version of that fateful night in "Marilyn,
The Last Months." The book was written by a
ghostwriter while Murray was living in a guest house
in Santa Monica; Pat Newcomb was a frequent visitor
then. In her later years, Murray moved back East,
possibly to Martha's Vineyard, remarried for a short
time, and survived the passing of her second husband
within very short order. Murray has since passed
away.
A
formal investigation in 1982 by the Los Angeles
County District Attorney came up with no evidence of
foul play, but the stories persist. Los Angeles
County coroner Dr. Thomas Noguchi, who'd performed
the autopsy (and the autopsies of Robert F. Kennedy,
Natalie Wood and William Holden, among other
celebrities), wrote in his book Coroner that
Marilyn's death had been highly likely a suicide.
Yet he'd conceded that during the autopsy he could
find no trace in the stomach or intestines of any of
the overdose of barbiturates that had reportedly
been the cause of death; some conspiracy theorists
claim this proves the drug overdose had been
forcibly administered to Monroe (after she'd been
rendered unconscious with chloral hydrate) perhaps
by intravenous injection or, more likely, by rectal
suppository, leaving no marks. Some researchers
believe Chicago Mafia soldier, longtime Sam Giancana
crony and poisoning expert Leonard "Needles" Gianola,
had been directly responsible for administering the
fatal overdose to Monroe.
A
devastated DiMaggio had claimed her body and
arranged her funeral. According to her half-sister,
Berniece Baker Miracle, he just took over and she
allowed him to do so. For 20 years, he had a dozen
red roses delivered three times a week to her crypt.
Unlike the other men who knew her intimately (or had
claimed to), the highly private DiMaggio never
publicly spoke about her nor wrote a book about his
life with her.
Years
after Monroe's death, actress Veronica Hamel (best
known for her role as defense attorney Joyce
Davenport in the popular television crime drama Hill
Street Blues) had purchased Monroe's Brentwood home.
During Hamel's remodeling of the home, workers had
found bundles of hidden thin wires, the kind often
used to connect audio "bugs." This discovery had
lent further support to the claims of conspiracy
theorists that Monroe had been under surveillance by
the Kennedys and the Mafia.
Marilyn
is interred in a crypt at Westwood Village Memorial
Park Cemetery just off of Wilshire Boulevard. She
had Grace Goddard interred there because Grace's
aunt - who cared for Norma Jeane briefly - is there.
Just as her career took off, she asked her make-up
man, Whitey Snyder, to promise he would make her up
when she died. Snyder joked he would if her body was
brought to him while it was warm. A few days later,
he received a money clip: "Whitey Dear, While I am
still warm, Marilyn." He fulfilled that promise with
the help of a bottle of whiskey.
When
Gladys was between mental hospitals, she married her
last husband, John Stewart Eley, who died in 1952.
Diagnosed as schizophrenic, she walked out of a
sanitarium in the early 1970s and flew to Florida,
where Berniece picked her up at the airport. She
died of congestive heart failure on March 11, 1984
at a nursing home. Obsessed by Christian Science,
she would refuse to discuss Norma Jeane or Marilyn
Monroe, perhaps unable to relive the past.
But if
Marilyn's death signalled the end of a human being,
it was only the beginning of an icon. Despite (or
because of) the endless conspiracy theories, Marilyn
still captivates the world and her image can be seen
nearly everywhere. The actress who worried nobody
would take her seriously has become one of the most
famous and most adored women in history. There have
been many imitators and wannabes but no one has
surpassed Monroe for her beauty, charisma and
lasting appeal. She will always be remembered as the
most beloved star in Hollywood history.
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Trivia
-
Childhood
pictures show that Marilyn was born a blonde,
but her hair turned "mousy" brown as she grew
up. She dyed her hair several different shades
of blonde as an adult.
-
The
song Candle in the Wind (1973), which was
written by Bernie Taupin and performed by Elton
John, was about Monroe. In 1997, Elton John
rewrote the song for Diana, Princess of Wales
and performed it at her funeral.
-
Unlikely fans included Albert Einstein, Ayn
Rand, Jean-Paul Sartre, Edith Sitwell, and
Vladimir Nabokov.
-
Actor Colin Farrell has admitted that, as a
child, he would put sweets under his pillow for
Monroe when she came down to visit from heaven.
-
When Prince Rainier III of Monaco was looking
for a famous wife to marry, Marilyn was
suggested. He married Grace Kelly, whose cachet
gave Monaco an additional aspect of fame.
-
Marilyn's features are copyrighted to her
estate, and are not allowed to be copied
exactly.
-
Marilyn had a mild stutter, which was most
severe during her teens. She commented in an
interview, "I stuttered... Later on, in my
teens, when I was at Van Knight High School,
they elected me secretary of the English class,
and every time I had to read the minutes I’d
say, ‘Minutes of the last m-m-m-meeting.’ It was
terrible."
-
Her
first screen test was shot by legendary
cinematographer Leon Shamroy.
-
The
$200.00 check that Eunice Murray attempted to
cash after Monroe's death is on display at the
Hollywood Entertainment Museum at the old Max
Factor Building in Hollywood.
-
Hugh Hefner bought a crypt next to Marilyn for
$85,000 and the other crypt next to her was sold
for $125,000. There are no empty spots available
near Marilyn.
-
A
myth that Marilyn was born with six toes
resulted from the publication of photos taken by
Joseph Jasgur in March 1946. The pictures were
published in The Birth of Marilyn: The Lost
Photographs of Norma Jean by Jasgur and Jeannie
Sakol. Two pictures can be interpreted as
showing six toes, although they can be explained
as tricks of light. Since there is no
corroborating evidence from other photographs or
written records, the story is commonly dismissed
as an urban legend.
-
Marilyn was named Miss Artichoke in 1948.
-
Marilyn had to wear two pairs of white underwear
under her famous white dress for the "subway
grate" scene in The Seven Year Itch, as
bystanders could see a little bit too much. The
scene was refilmed back at the Fox studios, for
crowds in New York City were distracting.
-
Director Billy Wilder (who made two movies with
Marilyn: The Seven Year Itch and Some Like It
Hot) said that Marilyn had breasts like granite
and a brain like Swiss cheese. Wilder has also
said Marilyn was a genius, so one could say it
was an on/off relationship.
-
Was
roommates with Shelley Winters.
-
People rarely looked past the image Marilyn
portrayed, but she was said to be quite
intelligent - it was hidden behind her image as
a dumb blonde with beautiful features. She
herself always regretted not being able to
continue with high school and wrote poems and
was very much involved in literature.
-
Celebrity photographer George Barris claims he
took the last pictures of Marilyn. However, it
was confirmed Allan Grant took the last pictures
of Marilyn during her interview with Life
magazine on July 7, 1962.
-
Among the men Marilyn allegedly had affairs
with: John F. Kennedy, Henry Fonda, Robert F.
Kennedy, Frank Sinatra, Marlon Brando, Yves
Montand and Elia Kazan.
-
Frank Sinatra gave Marilyn a Maltese puppy that
she named "Maf Honey". The Maf was supposedly
short for "Mafia".
-
She
had a beauty mark above her lip, which some
people falsely believe to be fake.
Salary:
Something's Got to Give (1962) $100,000
The
Misfits (1961) $250,000
Some
Like It Hot (1959) $200,000 + 10% gross over $4
million.
The
Seven Year Itch (1955) $1,500/wk
Gentlemen Prefer Blondes (1953) $1,250/wk
We're
Not Married! (1952) $750/wk
All
About Eve (1950) $500/wk, 1-wk guarantee
The
Asphalt Jungle (1950) $1,050
Scudda
Hoo! Scudda Hay! (1948) $75/week
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