Behind the artificially crafted image of a cheerful sex symbol lay the complex reality of the “Queen of Pin-Up,” Marilyn Monroe. Her life was marked by a troubled childhood, three failed marriages, three unsuccessful pregnancies, professional dissatisfaction, scandalous revelations, a fight for rights, drug addiction, and a mysterious death at the age of 36, surrounded by conspiracy theories.
The Mystery of Her Birth
Marilyn Monroe, born Norma Jeane Mortenson, entered the world on June 1, 1926, in Los Angeles. Her mother, Gladys Pearl Baker, a film editor at a Hollywood studio, registered her under this name. The world would come to know her as Marilyn Monroe—one of the 100 greatest Americans of all time and the sixth most famous star in Hollywood. In her artistic pseudonym, the actress adopted her mother’s maiden name, whose first husband was nine years older than the young bride (she married him at 15). After their divorce, he took the children to live with him in Kentucky. The boy died young, and Marilyn only met her sister when she was 18.
Gladys also divorced her second husband, whose surname was given to her younger daughter, Norma, even before her birth. As it turned out, Martin Edward Mortensen (whose name was misspelled on the birth certificate) was not her biological father. The real father was Charles Stanley Gifford, with whom her mother had an affair in 1925, and after the pregnancy, she did not pursue him. Even after learning about his daughter, Gifford ignored numerous attempts by Marilyn to establish contact. The two never met. The fact of their kinship was officially confirmed only last year when Gifford’s relatives provided DNA material after a sample of the actress’s hair was found.
Norma Jeane Mortenson as a child, in the October 1953 issue of Modern Screen.
Among Strangers
From an early age, Marilyn Monroe was raised by guardians. At just two weeks old, her mother took her to a village to live with a foster family, initially staying with her newborn daughter and leaving her only during work hours. Eventually, Gladys moved to the city, visiting her daughter only on weekends. When the girl turned eight, her mother was diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia, a condition that also afflicted her grandmother (the elderly woman once nearly suffocated her granddaughter due to her mental illness).
Growing up among strangers, the girl moved from one foster family to another. She also spent time in an orphanage, where she could have been adopted eleven times, but her mother never agreed to it. The child endured sexual harassment from her guardians and lived in fear of being sent back to a juvenile shelter.
When Norma turned nine, her mother remarried and moved to another state, but the law prevented her from taking her daughter with her. To avoid ending up in an orphanage again, Norma Jeane chose to marry young, following her mother’s example, and tied the knot at 16. Her first husband was either a neighbor or a school acquaintance, James Dougherty. A year later, he joined the merchant marine, and Norma dropped out of school to work at an aircraft factory. Later, she moved her mentally ill mother from a state psychiatric hospital to a private clinic, where she remained until Marilyn’s death, after which Gladys was taken under the care of her older daughter.
Norma Jeane Dougherty at the aircraft factory, 1945.
Chasing the Dream
In the post-war years, at Radioplane, a curly-haired beauty with chestnut locks met army photographer David Conover, who was at the company for propaganda shoots featuring women in military production. Marilyn enjoyed modeling, earning $5 an hour for her work. At 19, Norma began a new life in a modeling agency.
Her hourglass figure proved ideal for pin-up work. She straightened her hair and dyed it a bright blonde (she eventually reached her signature platinum blonde after experimenting with 14 shades). At the agency, Norma Jeane was remembered as the hardest-working and most ambitious model, landing on the covers of over thirty magazines within a year.
An early photo of Norma Jeane for a postcard, before her acting career.
Her rising popularity made it easier to sign with an acting agency, where the charming girl adopted a new look and a new name—Marilyn Monroe. At this stage, she had to divorce her first husband, who disapproved of the changes in her life. Marilyn, however, was thrilled with her new job. “Studying acting, singing, and dancing, I realized I had dreamed of this since I was five!” the actress recalled with pleasure. “I always loved pretending to be someone else and imagining a more pleasant world around me than the one I actually lived in.”
With her second husband, Joe DiMaggio, 1954.
Shy of the Camera
New roles were facilitated by romances with influential mentors, expensive plastic surgeries funded by them, and work with a personal acting coach. Natasha Lytess, the teacher and friend, remained Marilyn’s closest ally in the profession until 1955. She accompanied her to interviews and shoots, holding her hand during close-ups to calm her nerves and keep the crew in check. The coach’s advice often conflicted with the directors’ wishes, but Marilyn would not allow her to be sidelined.
It got to the point where the coach discouraged Marilyn from taking a role in Truman Capote’s iconic film “Breakfast at Tiffany’s,” convincing her that the part was inappropriate. The director himself did not approve of Audrey Hepburn for the lead role; he wanted Monroe and no one else. But unsure of her own professionalism, Marilyn relied entirely on her mentor’s guidance.
Marilyn Monroe during a studio shoot, 1947.
As one mentor followed another, Marilyn’s working style remained unchanged. Even at the peak of her form, the actress struggled with camera anxiety. Despite being an avid reader (her personal library contained 400 books), Monroe felt uncomfortable delivering lines and often forgot her dialogue. Co-stars noted her constant nervousness during performances and even observed skin rashes appearing before she entered the frame. Sometimes, filming a single scene required forty takes. Coupled with her regular tardiness, this behavior did not enhance her reputation at the studio.
A Prisoner of Her Image
Monroe’s dependence on her teachers and her abuse of barbiturates stemmed from chronic stress due to low self-esteem combined with perfectionism. Film historians blame the sexism of the bosses at 20th Century Fox for Marilyn’s struggles, where one of the most sought-after and profitable actresses was simultaneously the least paid.
In the film “The Asphalt Jungle” (1950).
This injustice prompted the iconic figure of global cinema to become a producer herself. Monroe set a precedent, showing other women the possibility of breaking free from discriminatory boundaries: the actress, who faced condescending treatment from management and could not even request a full script before deciding to take on a role, founded her own production company. Although Marylin Monroe Productions did not last long, this move strengthened the “blonde’s” position in the unfair world of Hollywood, where, as the star put it, “they pay a thousand dollars for a kiss and fifty cents for your soul.” Throughout her career, Marilyn Monroe dreamed of shedding the image of the “dumb blonde” and escaping the dictates of Fox Studios, which prevented her from showcasing her talent in dramatic roles.
In the film “Don’t Bother to Knock” (1952).
Gentlemen Prefer Blondes
In her most famous comedy, “Gentlemen Prefer Blondes,” her character delivers the iconic line: “I can be smart when it’s necessary, but most men don’t want that.” Critic Sarah Shane identified three main myths about Monroe: her perceived stupidity, weakness, and lack of talent: “If the audience believed this, then the actress performed convincingly.”
In the film “Gentlemen Prefer Blondes” (1953).
According to another analyst of the Monroe phenomenon, Thomas Harris, the “icon” of American pop culture embodied the post-war “accessible glamour”—an important social idea to meet society’s demands for joy and emotional inspiration during the Cold War: “Her lowly origins and lack of family support made Marilyn appear to men as a more accessible sexual partner compared to her aristocratic contemporary Grace Kelly—a no less attractive blonde who was considered a refined actress, unattainable for most men in the audience due to her high status.”
Marilyn Monroe’s third wedding to Arthur Miller, 1956.
A Sense of Kinship
Yet few were interested in the values of the “pop icon” of the 20th century, which also carried a democratic undertone. The star was not fond of diamonds (she rented them for appearances) and throughout her life identified, according to the testimony of the daughter of her personal psychiatrist, Joan Grinson, with the working class: “Monroe was concerned about social inequality; she was troubled by the fight for equal rights for whites and blacks, the rich and the poor.”
According to Patricia Newcomb, who was Monroe’s secretary and friend, the actress ended her last interview with a statement she insisted should be conveyed as her most important message: “The world needs a real sense of kinship. All people are brothers and sisters. This is my deep conviction.”
“I owe my career to Marilyn Monroe,” confessed the African American jazz queen Ella Fitzgerald. “She helped me get a job at the popular club Mocambo by personally asking the owner. Monroe promised to come every night with the press and reserve a table by the stage. And she did. Ultimately, she promoted both the club and the performer. Thanks to her, I became a celebrity. Marilyn was an extraordinary woman who was ahead of her time. But she didn’t know it.”
“Something’s Got to Give”
This was the title of the last film in which the actress was involved. Due to her unstable psychological state, the project remained unfinished. On August 5, 1962, the star was found dead in her Los Angeles home. Monroe was lying with a telephone receiver in her hand, surrounded by empty bottles of sleeping pills. Doctors believed that a heart failure was caused by a barbiturate overdose. The official cause of death was ruled a suicide. Among alternative theories were medical errors in prescribing incompatible medications by her personal psychotherapist and politically motivated murder (Marilyn Monroe’s name was linked to the Kennedy brothers). It is known that her home was under surveillance, and her sudden death triggered a wave of suicides in the U.S.: the so-called “Werther effect,” where hundreds of individuals ended their lives in solidarity with their idol.
During the filming of “Something’s Got to Give” (1962).
The most desired woman in Hollywood died with a poodle given to her by Frank Sinatra (the dog was later taken by his secretary). After divorcing her third husband, playwright Arthur Miller, Marilyn Monroe was rumored to be planning to reconcile with her previous partner: the reason for her divorce from Italian baseball player Joe DiMaggio was his jealousy. The athlete had been physically abusive towards her, but even after the divorce proceedings began, Monroe continued to live with him, making the prospect of rekindling their relationship seem quite plausible. Joe always cared for Marilyn and provided her with emotional support. He was the one who buried his ex-wife and sent fresh flowers to her grave until the end of his life.