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Marilyn Monroe was one of the most famous sex symbols of the 1950s and early 1960s, and she's still one of the most recognizable icons of American culture. However, behind the scenes, things weren't quite so easy for the starlet.
How much do you really know about the beautiful bombshell?
Norma Jean
Marilyn Monroe was born Norma Jean, a name she held until she became famous. Her mother was named Gladys Pearl Baker, who had escaped a nine-year-long abusive marriage with a man named John Newton Baker. Baker took their two children to Kentucky, leaving Gladys totally alone. To combat this, Gladys remarried a man named Martin Edward Mortensen.
Unknown Parentage
Gladys was only married to Edward for a short period of time, less than a year. Norma Jean had a lot of questions during her childhood, but only one rings true today. Her actual parentage is unknown. While most assume it was Edward, her mother's then-husband, Norma and Gladys always referred to the young actress with the last name 'Baker'.
Early Childhood
Norma Jean had a happy, stable childhood, all things considered. Her mother placed her in foster care for the first six months of her life, unable to care for the baby. When her mother got work in the city, she was resigned to only see her daughter on weekends. In the meantime, Marilyn lived under the watchful eye of Albert and Ida Bolender, married evangelical Christians in the town of Hawthorne, CA.
Back With Mom
Eventually, in the summer of 1933, Gladys was able to buy a house in Hollywood for her and seven-year-old Norma. The other two children had been kidnapped by Baker and moved to Kentucky, though no one knew at the time. In fact, Norma had no idea she had siblings until she was twelve years old.
Mental Breakdown
Living with her mother was fine for a while, but Gladys was unwell. Her mother had been diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia. The living quarters were tight, as the duo shared the house with another family, the Atkinsons. George and Maude Atkinson were both actors, and they also had a daughter named Nellie. All was not well under this roof...
Life Alone
Once her mother had been diagnosed, Gladys spent a few months at home before being admitted to Metropolitan State Hospital. Her and Norma never had a relationship again, as she spent the remainder of her life in and out of hospitals for her disease. Norma Jean was taken care of by the Atkinson family, but there was a high price to pay...
Living With the Atkinsons
Although Grace Goddard, her mother's friend, took over the family affairs, Norma Jean lived with the other family in the house. The family abused Norma which negatively affected her behaviors. She became shy and withdrawn as well as developing a stutter. She lived with them for 16 months before she finally moved...
Orphanage Days
After living with the Atkinson family, Norma spent the summer of 1935 boarding with Grace and her husband Erwin "Doc" Goddard. Over the summer, she also lived with two other families. Eventually, come September, Grace decided to place Marilyn in the Los Angeles Orphans Home. Marilyn was unhappy here, so Grace removed her once again to live with the Goddards.
Goddard Living
Again, Norma stayed with the Goddards for a very short period due to Doc molesting her. She instead moved in with Grace's aunt, Ana Lower, who enrolled her in high school. Though Norma was an okay student, she excelled in writing and enjoyed working for the school newspaper.
Across State Lines
in 1942, Doc Goddard was relocated to West Virginia. Due to child protection laws in California at the time, the Goddards were not legally permitted to remove Norma from the state. She either had to return to the orphanage or find another way to stay in the state, so she figured out a solution. She got married at age 16 to her 21-year-old neighbor.
Married Woman
Norma Jean married James Dougherty, a factory worker, only a few weeks following her 16th birthday. Following this, the child dropped out of high school to become a full-time housewife. Though she liked James, she found them to be a bad pair and described living with him as "dying of boredom". When he became a Merchant Marine, he and Norma moved to Santa Catalina Island where he was stationed.
Modeling Work
In the spring of 1944, Norma's husband shipped out to the Pacific where he would serve for the next two years. In the meantime, Norma moved in with her parents-in-law and took on her first job working in a factory for the Radioplane Company. That same year she met David Conover, a photographer who worked for the Army Air Forces' First Motion Picture Unit.
Norma and Conover
Conover was sent to Norma's factory to shoot pictures of female workers in hopes that it would boost morale. Norma Jean took many photos with the photographer though none were used. In January of 1945, she quit her job at the factory and began to model full time for Conover and his friends, thus starting her career.
Modelling Money
In August of 1945, Norma signed a contract with the Blue Book Model Agency. She changed her name to be Jean Norman, straightened her curly brown locks, and dyed her hair blonde. Due to her curvy figure, she was often booked for more pin-up gigs than fashion. She made most of her money in advertisements and men's magazines.
Hard Worker
Jean Norman wasn't just any model, she was prolific in the field. Her agent, Emmeline Snively, described her client as one of the most hard-working models in the industry, ambitious beyond belief, and of course, beautiful. By the year 1946, publications like Pageant, U.S. Camera, Laff, and Peek had all featured the blondie.
Bad Tests
Jean Norman wanted to try her hand at the silver screen, so she signed with an acting agency in 1946. She had a less than successful interview with Paramount Pictures but was screen-tested anyway by a 20th Century-Fox executive. Though she botched the test, she was signed due to a rival company asking for her contract.
Marilynn Monroe
In August 1946, Jean Norman was replaced by Marilyn Monroe, a name she selected with the executive at Paramount she had interviewed with. The first name was picked by Ben Lyon, who picked the name because she reminded him of Broadway star Marilyn Miller. Monroe was Gladys' maiden name. Soon after she divorced her husband James Dougherty, who did not want his wife to have a career.
Learning the Ropes
During the first six months of her contract, Monroe was given no roles. Instead, the studio insisted she took classes in acting, singing, and dancing. She also spent a lot of time at the movie studio picture lot, trying to promote herself to other actors and see how the film industry worked firsthand. She hoped that by being a constant presence, she would be hard to replace.
Hooked On Acting
In February 1947, her dream came true when her contract was renewed. She was finally ready to act, given small parts in films like Dangerous Years and Scudda Hoo! Scudda Hay! She was also enrolled in Actors' Laboratory Theatre by her studio. She described the acting school as "my first taste of what real acting in a real drama could be, and I was hooked".
Odd Jobs
Despite her unparalleled excitement, she was still stuck in her head. Her teachers were worried she was too shy and insecure to make a career out of acting, so she was cut from her acting contract in August 1947. To make ends meet, she returned to her lucrative modeling career. She also took on odd jobs at movie studios such as a dancer.
Working Girl
Monroe was willing to do whatever it took to get to the top, even if it meant doing some things she wasn't proud of. She frequented the offices of producers, changed up her look to be more "girl next door" and befriended gossip columnists to write about her. She also entertained male guests at Fox and became the "other woman" of Fox executive Joseph M. Schenck. She was signed to Columbia Pictures in 1948.
Johnny Hyde
Monroe began to work with Johnny Hyde, the VP of William Morris Agency. They began to sleep together and Hyde fell in love, proposing to Monroe not long after. She refused his affection. He paid for her to have cosmetic surgery on her jaw and nose, which landed her a small role in the Marx Brothers film Love Happy.
Ornament
Monroe began to pick up steam in her career, collecting many small roles in a number of films. However, none of these roles legitimately showcased her talents, as one critic described her as "essentially a sexy ornament." Despite this, she was very popular with audiences and received thousands of fan letters every week.
Dating Around
Though she preferred to keep her private life private, some rumors got out, like her alleged affair with Elia Kazan. She also allegedly dated a myriad of other powerful men, such as director Nicholas Ray and Hollywood actors Yul Brynner and Peter Lawford. Perhaps most famous was her short-lived romance with baseball player Joe DiMaggio.
Scandal Center
In 1949, Monroe posed nude for some modeling shots, but scandal broke when those photos were released in a calendar. Monroe said that those pictures were taken when she was struggling for money, which was not true. Nevertheless, the public believed her and took pity on the young starlet. Her reputation has never been better.
Sex Symbol
Monroe was at a standstill. Men saw her as a sex symbol, while women empathized with her struggle. However, neither group was seeing her as a serious actor. She wanted to show off the skills she had been working on and demonstrate her acting range. She even took mime classes to learn facial expressions better.
Worsened Reputation
Things began to take a turn for the worse once Marilynn began leaning into her role as the sex symbol of Hollywood. She began acting salacious in interviews and wearing provocative outfits. She was named the "It Girl" of the year after performing all these stunts, but Monroe herself did not love the person she was becoming in the spotlight...
Worsened Behavior
It was around this time that Monroe earned a reputation of being difficult to work with, having shown up late to sets and forgetting her lines. Sometimes she would just not bother to read them at all. She required several re-shoots until she got a take she was happy with and became an annoyance to actors and directors alike...
Beginning to Use
There were a lot of reasons for the star's dilapidated state. She was self-conscious and felt out of control on sets, unlike modeling which always gave her control. To combat this self-doubt, Monroe turned to barbiturates, amphetamines, and alcohol. Her friend Sarah Churchwell said that later in her career, issues like sexism and condescending male actors worsened her growing addiction.
Rising Star
While Marilynn began to feel worse, her career only got better. She was finally getting difficult leading roles that challenged her range as an actress. In the film noir Niagara, Monroe played a femme fatale scheming to kill her husband. It was one of her most famous roles and also featured what would become her signature look: dark, arched eyebrows, red lips, and a beauty mark.
Attracting Attention
Monroe's role in the film as a sexy murderer did not play great with audiences, but it certainly got her more press. In 1953 she won the "Fastest Rising Star" award from Photoplay, and she donned a slim skin-tight gold dress to accept it. Joan Crawford called her style "unbecoming an actress and a lady."
Gentlemen Prefer Blondes
Her next gig was in Gentlemen Prefer Blondes, in which Monroe played the comical "dumb blonde". She and actress and Jane Russell played two gold-digging showgirls. The film was a massive blockbuster success, one of the biggest of the year. It also showcased Monroe's voice with her iconic performance of "Diamonds Are a Girl's Best Friend."
Unconsenual Centerfold
As Monroe grew more famous, those naked pictures she took early in her career came back to haunt her once again. Hugh Hefner, the owner of Playboy, bought the rights to the pictures and used them for the cover and centerfold of his magazine. Monroe never consented to her likeness being used in the publication.
Studio Stalemate
The trouble really began with her 1950 contract, which hadn't been updated since she first signed to Columbia pictures. As a result, she was paid very little despite her immense success and was unable to choose her own roles. Darryll F. Zanuck, an executive, constantly thwarted her attempts to find more difficult roles due to a personal dislike of the actress.
Role Refused
In January 1954, Monroe was signed up to play another sex symbol role in The Girl in Pink Tights. She refused to take the role, causing her to be put on suspension by the studio. In order to retain her public approval in light of her "hard to work with" media coverage, Monroe married baseball boyfriend, Joe DiMaggio, honeymooning in Japan.
Contract Renegotiated
When she returned from her honeymoon, Monroe signed with Fox under a contract for $100,000. She was also cast in The Seven Year Itch, which was promoted using the famous white skirt scene. In a white dress, the starlet stands over a grate and her skirt is blown up. Over 2,000 spectators watched as photographers caught the moment for several hours.
Single Again
Though she loved the media attention, her husband did not. Joe DiMaggio was not impressed. In fact, he was livid. According to reports of his character, the husband was possessive and jealous. Marrying a world-famous sex symbol was not the best match for his personality. They were only married for nine months.
MMP
In November of 1954, Monroe moved across the country to start her own production company with photographer Milton Greene. They called it Marilyn Monroe Productions (MMP). This action might seem pretty standard today, but at the time, it was vital for the inevitable collapse of the studio production system.
Tired Of It
Monroe stated at the time that she was "tired of the same old sex roles." As Fox had breached a part of their contract to her, the contract was null and void, allowing her to leave the studio early. The studio mocked her in a movie in which Jane Mansfield played a foolish actress who runs off the start her own production company...sound familiar?
FBI Involvement
Monroe and DiMaggio continued seeing each other despite the divorce, but she was also involved with Marlon Brando and Arthur Miller. Monroe and Miller became official in October 1955, when both parties were officially ending their other relationships. Miller, a supposed communist, was under investigation by the FBI. Once their relationship was confirmed, so was Marilynn.
A Compromise
Monroe and Fox joined forces once again as they signed a seven-year contract. MMP wouldn't be financially stable alone, and Fox would pay $100,000 per film to make four films. Her new contract also allowed her to choose projects she liked, directors she liked, and cinematographers. Additionally, every film completed for Fox meant one completed for MMP.
Third Marriage
Monroe and Miller were married on June 29th, 1956. Monroe was so dedicated to her husband that she converted to Judaism, which caused all of her films to be banned in Egypt. Media headlines dubbed the marriage "Egghead Weds Hourglass" due to Miller's intellectual image and Monroe's sex symbol status.
Trouble In Paradise
Behind the scenes, all was not well with Marilynn. She grew more and more dependant on pharmaceuticals and had had a miscarriage. She and Greene were constantly fighting about how to best run MMP. Her latest flick, The Prince and the Showgirl received poor reviews from American audiences and mixed reviewed worldwide.
Time Off
Monroe decided to take a hiatus to focus on herself. In mid-1957, the actress suffered from an ectopic pregnancy as well as another miscarriage. Though she was quiet about it, it was likely due to her endometriosis. Monroe bought the shares Greene had over MMP and ran the studio all by herself, even living through an overdose.
Another Break
After filming "Some Like It Hot" Monroe took another break, and her career took a turn for the worst. Her difficult reputation had worsened and her marriage to Miller was on the rocks as both stars were having affairs behind the others' backs. Her health was faring worst of all, and she was growing sicker every day...
Sick, Not Sober
Monroe was getting sicker every second. She had significant gallstones disrupting her performance, and her addiction to drugs was increasingly severe. While under the influence of barbiturates, Monroe would fall asleep, and her makeup artists would doll her up while she was passed out. A week of filming was halted so Monroe could detox.
A Cycle
A cycle began to form in regards to Monroe's addiction and her career. She would take on new roles, promote them, and then be too sick to film them, delaying filming for long stretches of time. It eventually got too costly, and the studio had to make a choice. Monroe was valuable, but not enough to cover the costs she caused.
Helena Drive
Monroe moved back to California after her divorce from Miller. She bought a home at 12305 5th Helena Drive in the Brentwood neighborhood of Los Angeles. The couple had gotten what is known as a "Mexican divorce" which is a legal separation done in Mexico, where the case is moved along quicker.
Final Months
During the end of her life, Monroe lived alone at 12305 5th Helena Drive. One night, housekeeper Eunice Murray was sleeping over to watch the premises. At 3:00 a.m., Murray awoke with a feeling that something was amiss. A light was glowing from underneath Monroe's bedroom door. She knocked but there was no answer. The door was locked.
Final Moments
Murray, knowing something was wrong, called Monroe's psychiatrist. Dr. Ralph Greenson was quickly at the house and broke into the bedroom via a window. What he found was Monroe's dead body in her bed. Her physician, Dr. Hyman Engelberg, showed up at 3:50 a.m. and pronounced her dead. LAPD was notified at 4:25 a.m.
Addiction Takes Lives
According to reports, Monroe passed between 8:30 p.m. and 10:30 p.m. on August 4th due to acute barbiturate poisoning. On her bedside table were several empty medicine bottles. Police quickly ruled out the possibility that Monroe had accidentally overdosed because the dosages were dramatically surpassing the legal limit.
Suicide?
Monroe's doctors were not surprised that the death had been a suicide. They described her as being "prone to severe fears and frequent depressions" with "abrupt and unpredictable mood changes." They also said that this had not been the first time she purposefully overdosed, though it would be her last.
Appreciated After Death
After her death, the media had an overwhelming amount of calls for information about the star. A French artist by the name of Jean Cocteau said that her death "should serve as a terrible lesson to all those, whose chief occupation consists of spying on and tormenting film stars." She was front-page news all around the world...
Funeral Arrangements
Her funeral was held at the Westwood Village Memorial Park Cemetery on August 8. Only her closest friends and colleagues were welcomed to the service. Former husband Joe DiMaggio and Monroe's business manager Inez Melson were the ones to arrange to service. Hundreds of people came out to mourn the star.
Not Dumb
Her legacy as the dumb blonde character is not founded in truth. Monroe researcher Sarah Churchwell wrote of the actress "The biggest myth is that she was dumb. The second is that she was fragile. The third is that she couldn't act. She was far from dumb, although she was not formally educated, and she was very sensitive about that. But she was very smart indeed—and very tough."
Marilynn Today
Her memory lives on in ways young Norma Jean could have never anticipated. According to The Guide to United States Popular Culture, "as an icon of American popular culture, Monroe's few rivals in popularity include Elvis Presley and Mickey Mouse ... no other star has ever inspired such a wide range of emotions—from lust to pity, from envy to remorse."
Subjected Subject
Monroe's life has been studied and celebrated in a wide variety of media. She has been the subject of books, movies, plays, operas, and songs. Both Andy Warhol and Madonna cite her as a major influence. Even after her death, her image has been featured in ads for companies like Max Factor, Chanel, Mercedes-Benz, and Absolut Vodka.
Study In Struggle
One reason that Monroe continues to fascinate audiences is her fabulous stardom contrasted with her troubled private life. In the wake of her death, more conversations around celebrity, mass media, fame, and consumer culture have occurred. She showed the world how one can have it all and still be unhappy.
Monroe's Mother
It's said that for years, Gladys claimed that Marilyn was her daughter to other people at her hospitals. Of course, no one believed her. Since the two had a strained relationship as well, the daughter never visited to prove Gladys' story was true all along.
A Character
Many historians referred to Marilyn Monroe as a character, as did Marilyn herself. She often talked about Marilyn as a third person. Those who worked with her recalled being surprised when Monroe would edit a script with a phrase like "Marilyn would never say that."