Today, the legendary blonde, who conquered the world with her beauty and became a symbol of femininity, would have turned 89 years old. Marilyn She was symbolically born on the first day of summer and left her mark on history forever. No matter how beauty standards change, Monroe's image remains untouchable. In memory of this great woman PEOPLETALK brings to your attention interesting facts from her biography.
The real name of the legendary blonde is Norma Jean Baker. Her mother named her after the popular actress at the time. Tallmadge norms.
Mother of the future star Gladys Monroe Baker, worked as an editor at a film studio RKO Pictures. According to documents, Monroe's biological father was Martin Mortens, however, his paternity is very doubtful. Be that as it may, Monroe never saw her father.
Childhood Marilyn passed in shelters and foster families because the mother was mentally ill and was treated in a psychiatric hospital for many years.
As a teenager, Monroe lived with her mother's friend - Grace McKee, and at the age of 16 she married a 21-year-old James Dougherty who worked at a military aircraft factory Radioplane, where Marilyn herself soon began to work. The marriage lasted only a year.
In 1935, it was at an aircraft factory that the future star was noticed by an American photographer David Conover. Having taken a series of photographs of the girl, Conover sent them to modeling agencies, and then offered her to pose for five dollars an hour, to which she agreed. From now on Norma Jean begins his modeling career and stops working at an aircraft factory.
By 1945 Marilyn was shot for 33 covers of popular glossy magazines.
When the girl’s career took off, the modeling agency workers insisted that she dye her hair from a natural brunette to a blonde. Before you come to your famous image, Monroe I tried 12 different shades of gold.
With a height of 166 cm, the volumes of her chest, waist and hips in inches were 37−23−36, respectively.
Marilyn became famous after a 1947 photo shoot for Playboy. She was the heroine of the cover of the first issue of the famous magazine.
It would seem perfect from all sides Monroe I still thought that it looked better on the right side.
In 1954 she marries a baseball player Joe DiMaggio, however, nine months later the marriage broke up due to the uncontrollable jealousy of the spouse.
In 1956, Monroe married again, this time to an American playwright. Arthur Miller. Having legalized the relationship, Marilyn also changes her religion, accepting her husband’s religion - Judaism. After living together for four and a half years, Miller and Monroe divorced. According to press reports, the reason was the completely different characters of the spouses, which made the marriage unhappy.
Marilyn dreamed of children, but for the sake of her career she had to have an abortion several times, which negatively affected her health. Subsequently, Monroe was never able to get pregnant.
There were rumors about Marilyn's whirlwind romance with the US President John Kennedy(1917-1963). During the celebration of the president's 45th birthday, she sang the Happy Birthday song for him in a rather frank and flirtatious manner, which instantly gave rise to a lot of suspicion.
Behind Marilyn The cliché of the stupid blonde stuck, and many directors complained that the actress often forgot the text and confused the words. To film one episode with her, sometimes it took about 20 takes.
One of Monroe's most famous songs is Diamonds are a Girl's Best Friends. Despite the convincing performance, the actress herself was not a fan of jewelry. She was much more attracted to luxurious stage outfits.
Marilyn more than once resorted to the services of plastic surgeons, who corrected the shape of her nose and adjusted her chin, making it more prominent.
Despite the fact that Monroe was considered stupid, the star devoted a lot of time to reading and had her own library, in which novels were discovered after her death L. N. Tolstoy, F. M. Dostoevsky, A. Camus, F. S. Fitzgerald and other literary titans.
Coefficient IQ Monroe was 168 points.
Marilyn had a strong friendship with the singer Elloy Fitzgerald(1917-1996). Because of her dark skin color, Ella was not invited to perform in prestigious places. It was Marilyn who personally called the owner of the popular nightclub Hollywood and insisted that Fitzgerald be given the opportunity to perform on daily evening shows.
Monroe suffered from drug addiction and alcohol addiction and often added illegal drugs to wine.
At the age of 36, Marilyn died, according to the official version, of a drug overdose. The legendary blonde was buried in a pale green dress by the company Pucci.
Despite the official version, the true cause of death Marilyn Monroe still raises a lot of doubts. Whether it was a drug overdose, a suicide staged by the security services, or a fatal mistake by the actress’s psychoanalyst who mixed up the drugs is still unknown.
Marilyn Monroe, also known as Norma Jean Mortenson (real name) and Norma Jean Baker (baptismal name), was born on June 1, 1926 in Los Angeles. She was an actress, singer, and also a sex symbol of the 1950s. She was desired by every man, was a role model for women, many people knew Marilyn Monroe’s filmography by heart, and various film companies invited her to act in films for huge fees.
- Real name: Norma Jeane Mortenson
- Years of life: 07/1/1926 – 08/5/1962
- Zodiac sign: Cancer
- Height: 166 centimeters
- Weight: 56 kilograms
- Waist and hips: 58 and 91 centimeters
- Shoe size: 38 (EUR)
- Eye and hair color: Blue, blonde.
As mentioned above, Norma was born in Los Angeles. The name of the girl's mother is Gladys Pearl Baker (before her marriage she bore the surname Monroe), born in Mexico and was a film editor. Gladys's parents were from Europe: her mother and grandmother Marilyn were from Ireland (Della Monroe), and her grandfather was from Scotland (Otis Monroe).
Absolutely nothing is known about Marilyn Monroe's biological father. All that can be noted is that her mother was married to Martin Edward Mortenson, which is why he was listed on the birth certificate. Gladys and Martin were a long-broken couple, but they did not officially divorce, which is why the mother of the future sex symbol had so many lovers.
In general, there is a lot of discussion about who was Marilyn Monroe's father. For example, Mortenson was actually Mortensen, and the surname was distorted due to an error in documents when Martin emigrated from Norway.
Monroe herself said that her mother once showed her a photograph of a certain Charles Stanley Gifford, who was a traveling salesman. The mother stated that this man was the girl's biological father. In addition, Marilyn Monroe reported that in appearance this man in the photograph was very similar to Clark Gable, who was a sex symbol in the 30s, and also a famous movie star (he was called the “King of Hollywood”).
In general, Monroe was not a happy child at all as a child and experienced a lot of grief. Her mother had financial as well as mental problems. Mental problems are a completely different story. Monroe's grandfather died in a psychiatric hospital. The grandmother tried to strangle Marilyn in infancy, after which she went there too.
Marilyn Monroe was Gladys' third child. Because of the problems described above, she gave two-week-old Marilyn to her grandmother's neighbors, the Bolender family. The girl lived with them until she was 7 years old. And in the fall of 1933, Gladys arrived and took her daughter to her place. But just a couple of months after the move, Marilyn’s mother began to have serious mental problems, as a result of which she was admitted to a mental hospital in 1934. According to some versions, she went crazy because her daughter was raped by her partner. However, the reality of this story has not been confirmed.
After this, Marilyn Monroe lived with Grace McKee. This woman was a friend of her mother. A little later, McKee filed for guardianship of Monroe. Together with Grace, the girl began going to cinemas and experimenting with cosmetics, and then her guardian said that someday Marilyn would become a movie star.
In 1935, Grace McKee married Erwin Goddard. Erwin worked periodically and, in the end, the family had no money left to feed Marilyn. As a result, the girl ended up in a shelter. She lived there for 2 years, after which Grace took her in again. At the time, the family was living with Erwin's daughter from his ex-wife.
The quiet life did not last long. Soon, her stepfather, who was intoxicated, attempted to rape 11-year-old Marilyn Monroe (or maybe raped him), which is why Grace had to send Marilyn to Olivia Brunings, who was her cousin. But there a repeat of the nightmare awaited the girl - Olivia’s son tried to rape her. For this reason, Marilyn had to move again in 1938. Another aunt, Ani Lowe, became her new guardian.
As Marilyn Monroe herself said, the 4-year period of life with Ani Lowe was the calmest. Unfortunately, due to her aunt's health problems, the girl had to go back to Grace in 1942.
As soon as Marilyn moved back in with Grace, they made plans to move to the East Coast as a family. Marilyn decided to choose a different path: she became the wife of James Dougherty, with whom she had an affair. Soon she moved in with him and dropped out of school. By the way, Dougherty claimed that Marilyn Monroe was still a virgin at that time, which casts doubt on all facts of rape.
A year after their marriage, Marilyn Monroe was forced to go to an aircraft factory, and her husband to the merchant marine. In 1945, a fateful event happened. At the plant where Monroe worked, an army photographer showed up, who, on behalf of the future US President, Ronald Reagan, took campaign photographs of women. After filming, the photographer offered to pose for Monroe for a fee, and she agreed. It was after this event that Marilyn decides to quit her job at the factory and become a model.
And so ended Marilyn Monroe's youth. Unfortunately, it was full of negative events. But this is precisely what led her to future worldwide fame.
Career
After Marilyn left the factory, she went to a modeling agency, and at the same time changed her image: she dyed her hair blonde (her natural color is chestnut), and also straightened her hair (Marilyn Monroe was curly in her youth). Soon after this, the girl began to gain popularity - her photographs appeared on the covers of many magazines.
And so, in 1946, she was hired as an extra by a film company. It was there that she became Monroe Marilyn. She named herself after Marilyn Miller, a film star of the 20s. Due to her desire to become an actress, she divorced her husband that same year.
Marilyn Monroe received her first role in 1947 (although she was very tiny) in the movie “Dangerous Years.” The actress received her first major role in 1948, in the film “Chorus Girls”. After that, she signed a seven-year contract with the film company "Twentieth Century Fox", and in addition one of several main roles in the film "The Asphalt Jungle".
According to some versions, she received a seven-year contract thanks to an affair with Johnny Hyde, who was a Hollywood agent. According to this version, Johnny gave Marilyn money for plastic surgery, and also convinced the film company to enter into a contract with the girl.
In addition, Marilyn did not stop working as a model. In 1949, she posed nude for the first time. It was a photo shoot for a calendar. In 1953, these photos were included in one of the first issues of Playboy magazine.
Marilyn Monroe was also given roles in “Ladies of the Corps de Ballet” in 1949, “Thunderball” in 1950, “All About Eve” in the same year, “In Hometown” in 1951, “We Are Not Married” in 1952. Complete Filmography with Marilyn Monroe totals 30 films (1947-1962).
The film company used Marilyn Monroe solely because of her appearance. She always played the roles of empty-headed but charming girls. Naturally, Marilyn did not like this, which is why she enrolled in drama school and also began taking performance lessons from Mikhail Chekhov (nephew of Anton Chekhov, the Russian writer). More than once, the movie star stated in interviews that she wanted to take part in the filming of more serious works, but, unfortunately, no attention was paid to her efforts, although many directors stated that Marilyn Monroe had undeniable talent.
In 1953, Marilyn Monroe's external image was irrevocably fixed: blond hair, pale skin, dark eyebrows in the form of arches and a spot on her left cheek. In the same image, she played in the noir “Niagara” (noir is a Hollywood crime drama of the era of the 40s and 50s, when pessimistic tendencies and oppression reigned in America after the war). There was a lot of excitement about this film: many considered the film immoral, others considered it a masterpiece. But the fact that the film was incredibly popular remains.
In the same year, the film “Gentlemen Prefer Blondes” was released, in which two sex symbols of those times played at once: Marilyn Monroe and Jane Russell. The film's budget was $7 million. The fees amounted to 12 million, that is, almost twice as much. The film was mega-popular, like the previous one.
And in the same 1953, another film starring Marilyn, “How to Marry a Millionaire,” was released. The film's budget was very modest (almost $2 million), but the box office receipts paid for the film more than fourfold (they amounted to $8 million).
Marilyn Monroe continued to play the role of seductive fools, to her disappointment. Viewers point blank do not see acting talent and skill in her. Everyone still associates her with Darling (“Only Girls in Jazz”), but this was the peak of the film actress’s creativity...
Personal life of Marilyn Monroe
The actress was not married for 8 years. Only in 1954 did she marry one of the best baseball players in history, Joe DiMaggio. However, Marilyn's new husband was very jealous and against this background he often raised his hand against the movie star. Because of all this, the marriage did not last long - they divorced in the same year (to be more precise, this marriage lasted about 9 months). But, even despite all Joe’s assault, he loved Monroe very dearly.
In 1950, Marilyn Monroe met Arthur Miller, a playwright. After a short conversation they had to part. Their new meeting took place in 1955, after which a romance broke out, and in 1956 they got married. This marriage turned out to be the longest of all the stars had, but not the happiest.
Monroe always wanted a man like Miller, but he considered her childish. On top of that, Marilyn Monroe dreamed of having children, but she either couldn’t get pregnant or the pregnancy was unsuccessful. Monroe and Miller separated in 1961.
There are also rumors of a romance between Monroe and John Kennedy, who was US President from 1961-1963. But they have no official confirmation.
Did Monroe have children?
Despite the fact that Marilyn always wanted children, her career, as well as early abortions, did not allow her such luxury. As a result, children were a sore subject for Monroe. According to rumors, this may be due to the fact that at the age of 15, Monroe gave birth to a child due to rape and handed him over to an orphanage. But this is unlikely to be true.
Moreover, in 2000, a man appeared who called himself Joseph Kennedy. He claimed to be the son of Marilyn Monroe and Kennedy. However, he was just an impostor, because he demanded all the property left after the death of his “mother.”
End of the road
It all started after Marilyn was unable to give birth to a child in her marriage to Arthur Miller. In 1959, on the set of Some Like It Hot, Monroe was completely unstuck. She was late for filming, didn’t remember the words, and had tons of unsuccessful takes. Rumors spread that the actress began to go crazy, repeating the fate of her ancestors. But in the next 2 years the situation improved a little. Unfortunately, not for long.
In 1961, after the end of her marriage to Miller, Marilyn Monroe locked herself in her home, stopped eating and constantly used sleeping pills and then drugs. The movie star began to fade. As a result, she ended up in a mental hospital in February of the same year, where she spent about a month.
The culmination of her work was the film “The Misfits”. The actress was dying before her eyes: her hair became like straw, she could not get out of bed, she was hellishly absent-minded, her condition was almost comatose. Make-up artists had to put a lot of effort into making her look like the same Marilyn Monroe.
By the way, in the film she played with Clark Gable, who was written about almost at the very beginning. This actor also did not have long to live - he abused alcohol heavily. This led to Gable's death some time after filming ended.
And Marilyn didn’t have long to live either... After filming, she again ended up in a mental hospital. Joe DiMaggio was able to get her out of there, because only he, as already said, truly loved Marilyn Monroe.
The actress needed to star in one more film, Something's Gotta Give. The film was never completed, as Monroe barely appeared on the set, and in total only 7 minutes of usable film were shot with her.
Marilyn's condition kept getting worse... The greatest sex symbol of the last century passed away in August 1962. Marilyn Monroe was found dead in her own home. She was only 36 years old. According to one version, the actress died from an overdose of sleeping pills. The causes of death are still unclear. There are 3 versions of her death: suicide, murder, and suicide by accident. And according to one version of the murder, Marilyn Monroe was eliminated by Kennedy's agents so that her connections with the US President would not be revealed.
The only one of all the husbands who came to Marilyn Monroe's funeral was Joe DiMaggio. This man was sincerely devoted to the great film actress, who will remain alive in the hearts of people for many decades to come.
Few people will disagree with me that every famous person has at least two life stories - for himself and for the press. If we take those famous people, who have already passed into another world, the situation with them is even more interesting - dozens and sometimes hundreds of versions have been written about them, describing them as happy, unhappy, lonely, dependent, self-sufficient, perverted or chaste.
Marilyn Monroe is, of course, no exception. IN book of the same name by Donald Spoto, a biographer of many film celebrities, made a truly heroic attempt to write his version of the story of her life. In the story, he relied not on assumptions and “fried facts”, but on archival data, letters, documents from film studios and testimonies of people who, without a doubt, knew Marilyn Monroe. With your book "Marilyn Monroe" he tried to dispel the romantic flair of the story of the beautiful actress and instead present a detailed study. For this, the author literally spared no paper (the Russian version of the book contains 892 pages). However, they are all read in one breath.
Which myths about Marilyn Monroe managed to debunk Donald Spoto? Very many! Judge for yourself:
- Marilyn's grandmother and mother were crazy;
Lie! By the way, the author also mentions Marilyn’s grandfather, who died not entirely in his right mind. However, his death, like the death of his grandmother (Della Monroe), was caused by ordinary physical ailment, side effect which was caused by a mental disorder. They were not classic “crazy people.” Marilyn's mother had a poor upbringing and did not learn responsibility. Staying in the hospital solved her problems and relieved her of the need to earn her daily bread, so she did not seek to prove to the doctors that she was normal. The decision to send her there belonged to her friend Grace, who, having no children, was eager to raise Marilyn in her own image and likeness. In addition, the conclusion about Marilyn’s mother’s “madness” could be made on the basis of unfortunate coincidences (such as a call from her ex-husband Mortensen, whom everyone considered dead, while his namesake was injured in the accident - the doctors decided that the woman was receiving calls “from the other world”).
- Before becoming an adult, Marilyn Monroe changed many adoptive families;
Also a lie! Marilyn Monroe did not change many families, but in foster families (for example, with the Bolenders) she lived according to strict rules (like all family members), but she did not starve or be in need. She rather gleaned her pitiful stories from the stories of her “half-sister” Bebe Goddard (daughter of Doc Goddard, Grace’s husband, who replaced her mother after Gladys Monroe was admitted to the hospital).
- Marilyn Monroe was raped as a child;
Quite a controversial fact. In general, according to Donald Spoto, Marilyn's childhood was not at all as bad as it might seem. But a not very well-known fact surfaced in the book - that, being unknown to anyone in Hollywood, the actress was engaged in prostitution. Perhaps it was only oral sex, and it seems that she did it not for money, but for dinners.
- Marilyn Monroe is a unique movie star; there were no others like her and there never will be;
Donald Spoto refutes this myth too. Objectively, her personality type, relationships with men, early death and film career are reminiscent of Jean Harlow. Even in appearance they were similar - both platinum blondes. Another thing is that it is Marilyn Monroe who remains in the memory of people of different nationalities. Apparently, there was something in her that was not and is not in other actresses - some kind of “flavor” of femininity. But to be fair, she was always being groomed to become the “new Jean Harlow.” And even their death was similar.
- Marilyn Monroe was a fool;
Well, this myth has long been debunked. Donald Spoto cites the texts of some business letters written by Marilyn Monroe, which give an idea of her intelligence. Marilyn spoke very sensibly about the area she knew (cinema). She was not a professor, but neither were many of the other people around her, who had no reputation for stupidity. As for film roles, it’s worth remembering what kind of years those were and what the idea of women was - the height of dreams was the “career” of a wife and mother. At least that's how women were portrayed in films. Supporters of the myth overlook the fact that Marilyn was the head of her own company (Marilyn Monroe Productions), and it was she who initiated the more humane treatment of film actors by studios - before that they entered into enslaving contracts with the studios.
- Marilyn Monroe was mentally ill;
To some extent, each of us is like this, because everyone has complexes and “skeletons in the closet”; it’s just that not everyone has the honor of becoming the object of as many studies as Marilyn Monroe. According to Donald Spoto's book, she was not at all abnormal, but suffered from many deep psychological problems. The contradictory upbringing she received in childhood also had an effect, when in one family (the Bolenders) the ideal was a Puritan attitude to life, and her mother and her friend Grace encouraged vanity in her, an exaggerated concern for appearance, raising her to be the new Jean Harlow. Marilyn did not receive proper lessons in communicating with men. All this made her the woman she became. The true tragedy, according to Donald Spoto, lay in Marilyn’s pliability to other people’s opinions, in the fact that she succumbed to the persuasion of not at all disinterested people to “make her happy” (but in fact, to “make money” at her expense, as they did her third husband Arthur Miller and her psychiatrist Ralph Greenson). Due to her unfortunate upbringing, she simply did not understand how people should treat each other in a healthy family. At the same time, in those areas that were really important to her, she never gave in to anyone (she didn’t stop acting and communicating with the public, studying acting).
- Marilyn Monroe ruined her last film;
Donald Spoto describes the situation as extremely controversial. Due to the expensive filming of “Cleopatra,” the studio found itself in a big deficit, and in order to eliminate it, it was decided to close down one of the projects, and even get money from the actress who allegedly violated it. Marilyn Monroe was destined for this role, but there were changes among the film bosses, and the decision was replayed. However, it took time, and then there was no one left to film.
- Marilyn Monroe had relationships with both Kennedy brothers;
Donald Spoto provides documents and evidence that refute this hypothesis. He believes that there was a one-time contact with the president - and the relationship with his brother was of a completely different nature. One-time contact did not give Marilyn the right to any marital claims. Moreover, she could not collect any dirt on the US government - for the sole reason that she spent very little time with these people.
- Marilyn Monroe had many abortions;
Donald Spoto suggests otherwise. When the actress had her appendix removed, she was very afraid that the operation would affect her fertility. The whole world went around with a letter about this, which she stuck to her stomach. The doctor was moved and invited a gynecologist to the operating room for observation. In reality, Marilyn had big problems “as a woman” - perhaps she would not have been able to get pregnant and carry a child normally. Towards the end of her life, the child would have been killed (and perhaps was) by the doses of barbiturates she took to calm her nerves.
- Marilyn Monroe had close contact with gangsters;
She had a close relationship with Frank Sinatra, a suspected gangster. However, he was very jealous and certainly would not share his woman with the mafia. Their relationship ended and they planned to star in the same film in the future. But, according to Marilyn’s acquaintances, she did not intersect with gangsters at all.
- Last days Marilyn was terribly depressed throughout her life;
This is only half true. She was angry with her psychiatrist for abandoning her in the midst of the studio's attacks. But, according to Donald Spoto, she did not want to die and be forgotten. On the contrary, she wanted to get rid of Ralph Greenson, who occupied too much of a place in her life, and the housekeeper he assigned to her, Eunice Murray. She saw an alternative to this: a remarriage to Joe DiMaggio (!), who treated her more maturely and did not expect her to quit cinema for his sake and become a housewife. Death occurred from a combination of two drugs, which her two doctors did not warn each other about. Donald Spoto's version seems plausible, especially since the body was actually discovered by Greenson and Murray, and their behavior that day was more than suspicious.
In addition to refuting many of the canards that have stuck in the teeth, Donald Spoto tells in detail what Marilyn lived and breathed, how she became who she became. In his book he gives many interesting facts and interpretations. Here are some of them:
Marilyn Monroe had very painful periods, so her later contracts stipulated that she had the right to rest during them.
In her time, women did not yet dye their hair en masse, but her mother already dyed her hair bright red.
When Marilyn (then Norma Jeane) was divorcing her first husband, she asked him for a divorce (supposedly it was necessary for her modeling career), and said that they could keep everything the same and they could date. Of course, her husband refused her.
Marilyn Monroe was a pleasant person to talk to, always ready to serve. Women from the studio said that it was impossible to point a finger at something - the next day the thing appeared at their house - that’s how Marilyn loved to give gifts.
Marilyn’s relationships with her husbands were not easy, but she communicated very warmly with their children and parents even after divorces (for example, with DiMaggio’s son, with Arthur Miller’s father).
Marilyn Monroe was not self-serving; It was she who came up with the phrase that the main thing is to shine than to earn fortunes. Many hangers-on fed on her talent (especially during the existence of Marilyn Monroe Productions).
During the filming of The Seven Year Itch, where Marilyn lifts her skirt with hot air from the subway, Marilyn was wearing closed panties. Although in many other cases she preferred no underwear at all.
Joe DiMaggio became a good friend of the actress after the divorce, but during their short marriage he raised his hand against his wife.
Marilyn Monroe's dresses, which belonged to the film studio, could later be seen in films on other actresses, although they did not become so famous.
And finally, a fairly well-known fact - Marilyn Monroe wrote poetry. Mainly in the genre vers libre(blank verse). Here is one example. This verse rhymes, but it is rarely found. Basically, another poem by Marilyn Monroe is popular.
Sometimes I’ll just sit at the table
And I’ll put my life a little into rhymes.
No one made money from this,
But this is not the first time for me, this is my lot.
Yes, you understand, damn you,
That people just don't like poetry.
I just want to be able to scream
What's knocking on my head;
The tastes of those dishes that cannot be forgotten
And the keys to the most secret desires.
Thoughts are spinning and drilling into my brain
A quiet and tireless stream.
Before I leave, let them stir things up
The sheet is white and lined with black.
Who would I recommend to read this book? Without any doubt, for those who are not indifferent to the actress’s talent. But for women who, stumbling and scraping their elbows, are trying to find their place in life, to cope with their own psychological blocks and problems, the book is a must read. This is not a psychological work about "Marilyn Monroe syndrome", but the story of a woman who allowed other people to make decisions about her life. You yourself know how it all ended. I don’t know about you, but I found myself in many of Marilyn’s character traits. Taking a look at yourself from the outside is very useful. Therefore, if someone after reading books will find the courage to express his opinion, stop giving other people the right to decide for themselves, will find people who are truly loving and caring, and who do not decide their own at the expense of others psychological problems, I will be only glad. And I think that Marilyn Monroe herself would not mind. After all, she herself, whatever one may say, dreamed of playing only serious roles. Leading others to the light is a more than serious role. Even if it was played after physical death.
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Before becoming known under the pseudonym Marilyn Monroe, Norma Jeane wandered around foster families and shelters until she ended up with the family of a friend of her mother, who was in a psychiatric hospital. At the age of 16, Norma married James Edward Dougherty and went to work at an aircraft factory, where, oddly enough, her career as a model began. In 1946, Norma divorced her then-husband, set off to conquer Hollywood and became Marilyn Monroe. Such a thorny path to fame did not prevent the actress from becoming a style icon and sex symbol of all times. Today we want to show you another side of the pop culture queen that you may not have known about.
Her first husband, James Dougherty, said that she loved animals and sympathized with the homeless. One day she tried to bring a cow into their house to shelter it from the rain.
During World War II, she worked at the Radioplane plant in California, owned by actor Reginald Denny, where she was first “discovered” by photojournalists.
In the late 1940s, Marilyn shared a room in Hollywood with actress Shelley Winters. One day, as Shelley was leaving, she asked her friend to wash the lettuce leaves for lunch. When she returned, Marilyn was scrubbing the lettuce leaves with a brush, dipping them into soapy water.
Marilyn suffered from endometriosis. In this disease, cells in the inner layer of the uterus grow beyond this layer, causing pain, bleeding, and sometimes infertility.
Few people know that Monroe stuttered. But she hid this flaw quite easily thanks to diction lessons received from studio vocal teachers.
She was reportedly pregnant twice during her marriage to Arthur Miller, in July 1957 and November 1958, but both ended in miscarriage.
In 1973, Elton John released a composition in her honor called “Candle in the Wind.” In 1997, it was recorded with new lyrics in memory of Princess Diana, becoming the second best-selling song of all time after Bing Crosby's "White Christmas".
She graced the cover of the very first issue of Playboy magazine, published in 1953.
Marilyn was not very well educated and did not even graduate from high school. For example, the first time she signed an autograph as Marilyn Monroe, she was forced to ask how to spell her own name.
But nevertheless, her personal library contained about four hundred books on art, history, psychology and philosophy, literature and religion, poetry and gardening. Many of the volumes auctioned in 1999 bore pencil marks in her handwriting.
In her memoirs, she recalls that while wandering around foster families, she was subjected to attempted rape several times.
She was found dead in her California home, lying naked on her bed, face down, with her phone in her hand.
Her ex-husband, baseball player Joe DiMaggio, brought fresh roses to her grave many years after her death.
After a re-examination of the circumstances of her death in 1982, the original conclusions remained in force - most likely, she accidentally took too large a dose of sleeping pills, or committed suicide. There was no confirmation of the murder version.
Most adult life she suffered from depression and insomnia. Towards the end, in order to be able to fall asleep and sleep longer, she often washed down her sleeping pills with champagne.
During the filming of Niagara, she continued to work under a contract as an extra and received less than her make-up artist. This was the only film where her character dies.
According to reports, the license for the name and likeness of Marilyn, owned by Curtis Management Group, generates revenue of about two million dollars a year. And for her first modeling job she was paid only $5.
In 1947, in California, she won the title of Miss Artichoke Queen - a modest, sweet title in comparison with her subsequent achievements. She will be named the sexiest woman of the century by People, Empire and Playboy.
The famous dress she wore to congratulate President Kennedy on his birthday sold for $1,267,500. It is listed in the Guinness Book of Records as the most expensive item of clothing ever sold.
Today marks the 90th anniversary of the birth of Hollywood's most famous blonde, Marilyn Monroe. On the one hand, she was a sex symbol of her era, which is why she was given the image of a dim-witted blonde beauty, which later became a label; on the other hand, she was known in high society as a very educated woman, and directors admired her talent and charisma. “365” has collected 25 interesting facts about the legendary and mysterious Marilyn.
Norma Jean Baker (Mortenson), the future Marilyn Monroe, received her name in honor of the popular actress of the 20s Norma Talmadge.
Norma's mother and grandmother suffered from serious psychological diseases, she never knew her real father. Because of this heredity, already as an adult, Marilyn-Norma was often checked by doctors, fearing that one day the disease would worsen, but this paranoia had a very negative effect on her.
Marilyn spent most of her childhood and adolescence in an orphanage - she was taken from her mother when she was only a few months old, and later she was raised alternately by guardians, relatives, and nannies.
In total, Marilyn was adopted 11 times, but each time her adoptive parents returned her back, citing the girl’s difficult character.
At the age of 16, Norma Jeane got married - and, as her relatives believed, only so that she would have a good reason to leave home. She divorced 4 years later and practically did not use the surname Dougherty.
During World War II, Ronald Reagan decided that a great morale booster for soldiers on the front lines would be posters and brochures featuring pretty female aircraft factory workers doing their part to fight the enemy. At the plant, photographer David Conover saw a 19-year-old brown-haired woman named Norma Jean Dougherty, who was checking parachutes and painting airplanes. The girl turned out to be very smiling and photogenic. After this photo shoot, Conover decided that Norma would make an excellent model... It was these first photographs from the factory in the summer of 1945 that are considered her first steps to fame.
Marilyn Monroe's real hair color is brown, however, as soon as she arrived at the “dream factory”, she was made to understand that she looked too simple and she needed to find her own zest. Before becoming a platinum blonde, the future actress, on the advice of employees of the acting agency, changed 12 shades of blonde - from light brown-gold to platinum.
In 1945, Marilyn Monroe's measurements, according to her tailor, were 90 - 60 - 85; by 1955, she recovered slightly to 95 - 58 - 90. Her height was 166.5 centimeters, weight - 54 kilograms
The actress almost every year resorted to the services of plastic surgeons, who, in due time, corrected her nose, making it thinner, changed the shape of her chin and chest, and also solved the problem with her hair, which grew in a triangular protrusion on her forehead.
In 1953, Marilyn Monroe appeared on the cover of the first issue of Playboy magazine. She received $50 for the shoot. Later, the magazine's owner, Hugh Hefner, personally bought all the negatives for $500. He also purchased a crypt located next to Monroe’s grave for a huge price.
The 20th Century Fox studio, offering Monroe her first contract, recommended that the actress choose a pseudonym from two options - Claire Norman and Marilyn Miller. Norma herself wanted to take the pseudonym Jean Adair.
Some directors who worked with Marilyn complained that it was impossible to work with her. The actress constantly confused and forgot words and was always late for filming. Sometimes it took 20-40 takes to film a single scene, which was unheard of in the days of film cinema.
Most people perceived Monroe only as a very beautiful but dim-witted actress. However, Marilyn herself devoted a lot of time to self-education and, in particular, read a lot. Her personal library at the time of her death included more than 400 volumes. The actress's taste was quite varied; her favorite authors included Freud, Tolstoy, Dostoevsky, Scott Fitzgerald, Camus, James Joyce and others.
According to some reports, Marilyn Monroe's IQ was 168.
There are 5 versions of the cause of Marilyn Monroe's death:
- murder committed by intelligence agencies on the orders of the Kennedy brothers to avoid publicity of their sexual relations;
- murder committed by the mafia;
- drug overdose;
- suicide;
- the tragic mistake of psychoanalyst Ralph Greenson, who prescribed Marilyn to take chloral hydrate shortly after she took Nembutal.
It wasn't just the directors who had a hard time with Marilyn Monroe on set. Actors Tony Curtis and Clark Gable responded extremely negatively to all journalists’ questions about their experience working with Monroe. Thus, Curtis, who played a musician in love with Monroe’s character in the film Some Like It Hot, compared a kiss with Marilyn to a kiss with Hitler ( "Kissing Marilyn is like kissing Hitler"). And Gable, upon completion of work on the film “The Misfits,” said: “I’m happy that this film is finally being completed. Monroe gave me a heart attack.". A few days later, Gable actually suffered a myocardial infarction, which led to the actor’s death.
In addition to the pseudonym Marilyn Monroe, Norma Jean Baker had another one - Zelda Zork, which was “attached” to a completely different image. When Marilyn wanted to go out as a “regular” person, she would put on a brunette wig, “transform” into Zelda, and become completely unrecognizable.
Among her close friends, Marilyn Monroe was known as an excellent cook and never missed the opportunity to feed her guests at least one home-cooked dish.
Although it was Marilyn Monroe who sang the popular song “Diamonds” best friends girls,” she herself did not really like jewelry, preferring beautiful outfits to them. She mostly rented jewelry for going out and personally owned only a few pieces, including a diamond ring and a pearl necklace given to her by her second husband, Joe DiMaggio.
During the filming of The Seven Year Itch, the relationship between Marilyn Monroe and her second husband, basketball player Joe DiMaggio (whom the actress herself, by the way, called her only one) true love, although he sometimes even beat her), became increasingly worse due to his paranoid jealousy. To remove suspicion from herself, Marilyn invited him to the shooting, but this only made things worse: Joe got on the set exactly when the legendary scene was being filmed, where the air flow from the ventilation hatch lifts Marilyn’s skirt. The journalists and photographers present in the hall screamed joyfully, began filming this action and demanding a repetition. Joe immediately announced to Marilyn that it was all over between them, later they spent a long time sorting things out in a hotel room, and a week later their nine-month marriage broke up. By the way, Joe regretted this for the rest of his life.
Marilyn asked Joe DiMaggio to make her a promise that if she died before him, he would bring flowers to her grave every week. He kept his promise, and bouquets of red roses appeared in her crypt three times a week for 20 years after her death, until Joe himself died. According to some reports, the last thing he said before his death was "Finally I'll see Marilyn again".
After Monroe married playwright Arthur Miller, she converted to Judaism. Monroe and Miller's marriage lasted 4.5 years, becoming the longest for the actress, although, according to some rumors, problems in their relationship began literally after the honeymoon. The actress did not have children during all three marriages; most often, all her attempts to get pregnant ended in miscarriages, which greatly affected the state of mind of Marilyn, who, according to friends, loved children very much and dreamed of one day becoming a mother.
Contrary to popular rumors, there is no physical evidence that Marilyn had an affair with Robert Kennedy. It is quite possible that they were just friends, and the journalists who “successfully” photographed them invented their relationship “from” to “before”.
Marilyn Monroe became one of the first female producers in Hollywood - she even created her own production company, Marylin Monroe Productions. However, only one film was released on the basis of Marilyn’s company - “The Prince and the Showgirl” (1957).
The actress's pet was the terrier Maf, who was given to her by Frank Sinatra.