Norma Jeane Mortenson, known today as Marilyn Monroe, was one of the most beautiful, talented actresses in the 1920’s. She was born on June 1, 1926 in Los Angeles, California. She struggled so much throughout her life and it only got worse. As a child she was always being passed from family to family due to her father’s disappearance and her mother’s suffering from many mental illnesses. At age 2, Norma was almost smothered to death and at age 6 she was nearly raped. She had to put up with so much as a child, which had a huge impact on her later in life. She was then put into a foster home that she hated so much, all she wanted was to be out of there. The LA Orphans’ Home paid her a nickel a month for kitchen work but that was nothing at all. She did find a way out though. At age 16, she escaped the home and her aunt arranged her to marry 20 year old James Dougherty. It didn’t last very long though because soon her husband was sent to the Pacific with the Merchant Marines in 1946. Norma then took a job at the airline plant which got her farther than she would have thought. The government came in one day with cameras to take pictures of all the women working. Norma was so good in front of the camera that she followed up with a modeling course. She had no intention of being a model but it just came to her so easily. In 1945 her modeling became more serious, she became a very successful model securing dozens of magazine covers and screen test with 20th century Fox. She was one to capture everyone’s attention. She realized people loved the way she looked and the way she would pose for the camera, so she continued with this job. Studio executives, directors and even photographers immediately recognized her ability to capture and hold the attention of anyone opposite the camera lens. Everything started to begin for Norma. She then changed her name to Marilyn Monroe and dyed her hair platinum blonde. She was a whole new person but was it really for the better?
Marilyn was the definition of a sizzling superstar. She became the worlds biggest and most enduring sex symbol. She was known as being very seductive but it did her good. Her big dream was to become an actress and she would do anything to make it happen. In 1946 she signed her first movie contract, but her acting career didn’t really take off until the 1950’s. That year she appeared in a part of “The Asphalt Jungle”, and though her name wasn’t even mentioned in the credits, her appearance generated a huge amount of fan mail. Her reputation as a blonde bombshell had begun to be established. She was then signed to a new contract by Twentieth Century-Fox which lasted for seven years. After that she began to star in all different films. As this was all happening she didn’t want this contract anymore so she broke it and moved to New York to study at the actors studio with Lee Strasberg for a year.
Problems started to begin for Marilyn. She found her own company with Milton Greene, Marilyn Monroe Productions, and signed a new contract. She then starred in an amazing movie call “Bus Stop” which wowed the critics. Sadly she began to lose herself to self-doubt, depression, drugs and alcohol. It wasn’t very surprising though since her mother and grandparents had all suffered with mental illness and had been institutionalized. She began to take sleeping pills for her insomnia but it just lead to worse things. Marilyn started to drink heavy and had a habit of showing up to work late and sometimes not even going at all. She knew she needed a change in her life so she decided to marry Arthur Miller and convert to Judaism. Marilyn and her husband then lived quietly for two years. Arthur wrote her “The Misfits” which she performed well in the final production. During this time she was often under the influence of pills and alcohol. She was always late to the set. In 1961, Marilyn Monroe and Arthur Miller divorced. During this time she was bothered by many rumors of affairs with John F. Kennedy and his brother Robert F. Kennedy. Nobody really knows if these accusations were true though.
In Marilyn’s last months she started to film her next project, titled “Something’s Got to Give.” She never got to finish it though, her lateness and addictions led to her dismissal after a month. She was then committed to a mental hospital. After a while she was approved to return to the film she had been working on, but never continued filming. Two months later Marilyn was found dead by her housekeeper with an empty bottle of sleeping pills next to her. Doctors then found out her death was caused by an overdose of barbiturates, and pronounced it to be a possible suicide. The date of her death was on August 5, 1962, at age 36. Her funeral was planned by a man named Joe DiMaggio and Lee Strasberg delivered the eulogy.