Born on the 1st of June, 1926, Norma Jeane Mortenson knew instability right from the beginning of her life. Baptized Norma Jeane Baker by her mother who spent her life in an out of mental institutions, the girl who has to become one of the most famous and beloved female stars of all time began her life in orphanages and foster homes.
Married to a craft worker James Dougherty at 16 but divorced at 20, Norma Jeane began modeling and bleached her hair. She also started using the name Marilyn Monroe though she didn’t legally change it until 1956.
The young star had rose through the ranks with small but notable parts in films like The Asphalt Jungle, All about Eve and The Monkey Business. These led to starring roles in Niagara, The River of No Return and Gentlemen Prefer Blonde which consolidated her image as the “Dumb blonde sex bomb.”
Marilyn became a magnet to photographers and an overwhelming success with the movie going public. She received 2,000 to 3,000 fan letters a week which resulted in better movie roles. She became part of the group known as the Three Ms. The other team members were Jane Maxfield and—Darryl Zanuck, president of 20th Century Fox once said, “That no one was that of Marilyn. She had her own way to stun.”
In 1949, she had a first taste of notoriety when she posed nude for a calendar. She was unapologetic saying she needed the $50.00 to get her car out of hack. And later joke that she did have something on when Tom Kelley took the photo, The Radio. Three years later—used the infamous shot on the cover of his first issue of Playboy. Marilyn was dubbed, “Sweetheart of the Month” and her style was on the rise. The life became public property and she was mobbed wherever she went.
The biggest sex symbol on the planet further cemented her fame when she began dating America’s most celebrated baseball player, Joe DiMaggio. They wed in January 1954 and traveled to Japan for their honeymoon, but cracks on their marriage began to show early especially when Marilyn left Joe to entertain troops in Korea.
The mad Joe may not have been very happy with the interruption to his honeymoon. Marilyn’s audiences were thrilled, over four freezing cold days she performed 10 shows to her rapturous response from over a 100,000 service men. She sent Joe a touching letter telling him how much she miss him and her hopes that they would have children together. Sadly, this was not to be.
Marilyn and Joe returned to the U.S. and later that year she began working on the Billy Wild comedy, The Seven Year Itch. With Marilyn having trouble remembering her lines, the shooting of the legendary subway great scene was arduous.
It was also witnessed by loud and appreciative crowd something that enraged the magical further. The couple fault, enticing mental cruelty Marilyn filed for divorce just 274 days after their wedding. With her next marriage, she flew right off to Milan, Marilyn converted to Judaism.
In 1956, the couple traveled to England so Marilyn can work with British actor Laurence Olivier, on The Prince and the Showgirl where she was hot with Marilyn’s well known untidiness and troubled with lines causing delay and friction. But Marilyn had won French and Italian awards for Best Foreign Actress although their work was once again—
While in England, the famous couple was invited to attend a Royal command performers where the Queen complimented Marilyn on a party, little Norma Jeane had come a long way.
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