Marilyn Monroe

The Seven Year Itch: Monroe's character has her dress blown upwards revealing her underwear. On the left is Tom Ewell. Photograph taken by Sam Shaw, copyright Sam Shaw

Marilyn Monroe was born under the name of Norma Jeane Mortenson in the charity ward of the Los Angeles County Hospital. According to biographer Fred Lawrence Guiles, her grandmother, Della Monroe Grainger, had her baptized Norma Jeane Baker by Aimee Semple McPherson. She obtained an order from the City Court of the State of New York and legally changed her name to Marilyn Monroe on February 23, 1956.

Her Mexican born mother, Gladys Pearl Monroe (b. Piedras Negras, Mexico), had returned from Kentucky where her ex-husband Jasper Baker had kidnapped their children, Robert and Berniece. Some of Monroe's biographers portray Jasper as a vicious brute. Berniece Baker Miracle recounted in My Sister Marilyn that when Robert suffered a series of physical ailments, Baker refused to seek proper medical attention for him; the boy died in 1933.

While her husband served in the Merchant Marine during World War II, Norma Jeane Dougherty moved in with her mother-in-law, and started to work in the Radioplane Company factory (owned by Hollywood actor Reginald Denny), spraying airplane parts with fire retardant and inspecting parachutes. Army photographer David Conover scouted local factories taking photos for a YANK magazine article about women contributing to the war effort. He saw her potential as a model and she was soon signed by The Blue Book modelling agency. In his book Finding Marilyn, Conover claimed the two had an affair that lasted years. Shortly after signing with the agency Monroe began the process of having her long, curly dark blond/light brown hair cut, straightened and lightened to a golden blonde by hairstylist Sylvia Barnhart, who continued to work on Monroe's hair until 1953.

She became one of their most successful models, appearing on dozens of magazine covers. In 1946 she came to the attention of talent scout Ben Lyon. He arranged a screen test for her with 20th Century Fox. She passed and was offered a standard six-month contract with a starting salary of $125 per week.

Lyon suggested Marilyn (after Marilyn Miller) to be her stage name, since Norma Jeane wasn't considered commercial enough. She came up with her mother's maiden name, Monroe. Thus, the twenty-year old Norma Jeane Baker became Marilyn Monroe. During her first half a year at Fox, Monroe was given no work. However, after six months, Fox renewed her contract and she was given minor appearances in Scudda Hoo! Scudda Hay! and Dangerous Years, both released in 1947. In Scudda Hoo!, her part was edited out of the film except for a quick glimpse of her face when she speaks two words. Fox decided not to renew her contract again. Monroe returned to modelling and began to network and make contacts in Hollywood.

In 1948, a six-month stint at Columbia Pictures saw her star in Ladies of the Chorus, but the low-budget musical was not a success and Monroe was dropped yet again. She then met one of Hollywood's top agents, Johnny Hyde, who had Fox re-sign her after MGM had turned her down. Fox Vice-President Darryl F. Zanuck was not convinced of Monroe's potential. However, due to Hyde's persistence, she gained supporting parts in Fox's All About Eve and MGM's The Asphalt Jungle. Even though the roles were small, movie-goers as well as critics took notice. Hyde also arranged for her a minor plastic surgery on her nose and chin, adding that to prior-made teeth surgery.

The next two years were filled with inconsequential roles in standard fare such as We're Not Married! and Love Nest. However, RKO executives used her to boost box office potential of the Fritz Lang production Clash by Night. After the film performed well, Fox employed a similar tactic and she was cast as the ditzy receptionist in the Cary Grant/Ginger Rogers comedy Monkey Business. Critics no longer ignored her, and both films' success at the box office was partly attributed to Monroe's growing popularity.

Fox finally gave her a starring role in 1952 with Don't Bother to Knock, in which she portrayed a deranged babysitter who attacks the little girl in her care. It was a cheaply made B-movie, and although the reviews were mixed, many claimed that it demonstrated Monroe's ability and confirmed that she was ready for more leading roles. Her performance in the film has since been noted as one of the finest of her career by many critics.

Monroe proved she could carry a big-budget film when she received star billing for Niagara in 1953. Movie critics focused on Monroe's connection with the camera as much as on the sinister plot. She played the part of an unbalanced woman of easy virtue who is planning to murder her husband.

Around this time, nude photos of Monroe began to surface, taken by photographer Tom Kelley when she had been struggling for work. Prints were bought by Hugh Hefner and in December 1953 appeared in the first edition of Playboy. To the dismay of Fox, Monroe decided to publicly admit it was indeed her posing in the pictures. To a journalist asking what she had on during the photoshoot, she replied: "The radio." When asked what she wore in bed, she said: "Chanel No. 5."

Over the following months, Gentlemen Prefer Blondes and How to Marry a Millionaire cemented Monroe's status as an A-list actress and she became one of the world's biggest movie stars. The lavish Technicolor comedy films established Monroe's "dumb blonde" on-screen persona.

A much parodied scene from Gentlemen Prefer Blondes that defined pop culture.

In Gentlemen Prefer Blondes, Monroe's turn as the gold-digging showgirl Lorelei Lee won her rave reviews, and the scene where she sang Diamonds Are a Girl's Best Friend has inspired the likes of Madonna and Kylie Minogue. In the Los Angeles premiere of the film, Monroe and co-star Jane Russell pressed their foot- and handprints in the cemented forecourt of Grauman's Chinese Theatre.

In How to Marry a Millionaire, Monroe was teamed up with Lauren Bacall and Betty Grable. She played a short-sighted dumb blonde, and even though the role was stereotypical, critics took note of her comedic timing.

Her next two films, the western River of No Return and the musical There's No Business Like Show Business, were not successful. Monroe got tired of the roles that Zanuck assigned her. After completing work on The Seven Year Itch in early 1955, she broke her contract and fled Hollywood to study acting at The Actors Studio in New York. Fox would not accede to her contract demands and insisted she return to start work on productions she considered inappropriate, such as The Girl in Pink Tights (which was never filmed), The Girl in the Red Velvet Swing, and How to Be Very, Very Popular.The Seven Year Itch: Monroe's character has her dress blown upwards revealing her underwear. On the left is Tom Ewell. Photograph taken by Sam Shaw, copyright Sam Shaw The Seven Year Itch: Monroe's character has her dress blown upwards revealing her underwear. On the left is Tom Ewell. Photograph taken by Sam Shaw, copyright Sam Shaw

Monroe refused to appear in these films and stayed in New York. As The Seven Year Itch raced to the top of the box office in the summer of 1955, and with Fox starlets Jayne Mansfield and Sheree North failing to click with audiences, Zanuck admitted defeat and Monroe triumphantly returned to Hollywood. A new contract was drawn up, giving Monroe an approval of the director as well as the option to act in other studios' projects.

The first film to be made under the contract was Bus Stop, directed by Joshua Logan. She performed the role of Chérie, a saloon bar singer who falls in love with a cowboy. Monroe deliberately appeared badly made-up and non-glamorous.

Gentlemen Prefer Blondes
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She was nominated for a Golden Globe for the performance and praised by critics. Bosley Crowther of The New York Times proclaimed: "Hold on to your chairs, everybody, and get set for a rattling surprise. Marilyn Monroe has finally proved herself an actress." In his autobiography, Movie Stars, Real People and Me, director Joshua Logan wrote: "I found Marilyn to be one of the great talents of all time....She struck me as being a much brighter person than I had ever imagined, and I think that was the first time I learned that intelligence and, yes brilliance have nothing to do with education."

Monroe formed her own production company with friend and photographer Milton H. Greene. Marilyn Monroe Productions released its first and only film The Prince and the Showgirl in 1957 to mixed reviews. Along with executive-producing the film, she starred opposite the acclaimed British actor Laurence Olivier, who directed it.

Olivier got furious at her habit of being late to the set, as well as her dependency on her drama coach, Paula Strasberg. Monroe's performance was hailed by critics, especially in Europe, where she was handed the David di Donatello, the Italian equivalent of the Academy Award, as well as the French Crystal Star Award. She was also nominated for the British BAFTA award.

Death and Legacy

After Marilyn's death, Arthur opened a play called After the Fall with a character named Maggie who was very similar to Marilyn. The play upset all of Arthur and Marilyn's friends. Arthur's career in America was soon shattered. He now has a play in the works called Finishing the Picture which is centered around the making of The Misfits. Marilyn's character spends the play in a tranquillised haze in a hotel room, drinking and suffering a nervous breakdown.

DiMaggio never stopped loving Marilyn, and after she died, he sent fresh roses to her crypt 3 times a week for 20 years. He took over her funeral arrangements, and refused to allow her 'killers' to attend. No Hollywood figures attended, and no Kennedys were invited. Her first husband, Jim Dougherty, was working for the Los Angeles Police Department that day, and Arthur Miller did not attend.

Joe DiMaggio's last words were, "I'll finally get to see Marilyn."

Marilyn's make-up stylist, Whitey, promised Marilyn that he would make her up when she died. Marilyn even gave him a money clip with the words, "Whitey Dear, While I'm still warm, Marilyn." Joe reminded him of his promise when she died. He fulfilled that promise with the help of a bottle of whiskey.

Numerous books with photographs of Marilyn have been published over the years and once every two or three years "new, never before published" photos surface. For those interested not only in photos but in her life, Goddess, the Secret Lives of Marilyn Monroe, written by Anthony Summers is suggested reading ISBN 0451407474.

A myth that Marilyn Monroe was born with six toes resulted from the publication of photographs taken by the photographer Joseph Jasgur in March 1946. The pictures were published in the book The Birth of Marilyn: The Lost Photographs of Norma Jean (1991) by Jasgur and Jeannie Sakol. Two of the pictures can be interpreted as showing six toes, although they can also be explained as tricks of the light. Since there is no corroborating evidence from other photographs or written records, the story is commonly dismissed as an urban legend.

Marilyn Monroe is interred in the Westwood Village Memorial Park Cemetery in Westwood, California.

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