The American actress and singer is one of the biggest film stars of the 20th century; she was the best known and most photographed woman in the world at the time. Set up by the film company “20th Century Fox”, it advanced to become an archetypal sex symbol and film icon in the 1950s. Marilyn Monroe celebrated her international breakthrough in 1953 with “How to catch a millionaire”. Her most popular films include “Blondes Preferred”, “The Seven Year Itch” and “Some Like It Hot”. In her roles, Monroe embodied the naïve and clumsy girl in a world ruled by men with femininity and sensuality. In over a dozen subsequent leading roles, she tried in vain for recognition as a character actress. Her ambivalent life in the center of the golden era of Hollywood led her to pill addiction after three failed marriages…
Marilyn Monroe, real name Norma Jeane Baker, was born on June 1, 1926 in Los Angeles to the unmarried film editor Gladys Pearl Mortenson.
The father’s identity is considered uncertain. Even as a child, she was considered difficult to train and mentally unstable. While still in elementary school, she was placed in a foster family. In her new home, Monroe was raised with a hard hand and strictly according to the Christian faith. When Monroe was seven years old, she returned to her parents’ home. In the same year her mother fell into deep depression and was committed to a sanatorium. Norma Jean was taken in by the parents of her childhood friend Grace McKee until she was nine years old. Monroe was considered an orphan and was therefore placed in a children’s home. However, the relationship with her friend Grace remained and after two years she returned to her. After being sexually abused by her new foster father, the 12-year-old Monroe found shelter with a distant family aunt. After her illness she had to go back to the foster family. In 1941, at the age of 15, Monroe graduated from high school. Since she was not yet of legal age and did not want to go to her foster family or to a home, she married James Dougherty when she was 16 years old.
When her husband was drafted into military service in 1943, she began working in a factory. She was chosen for Army propaganda photo shoots to represent American women whose husbands served in the war. She met the zeitgeist and American taste so well that a complete series of pictures followed in an army magazine. These first successes as a pin-up girl only brought her private arguments, as her husband was extremely jealous. Norma Jean Baker felt validated in her work and applied to be a model in 1945. To accommodate the agency’s wishes, she had her auburn hair dyed straw blonde. She received lessons in posing and walking. After just a few weeks, under the name Norma Jean, she became the agency’s most sought-after model and adorned numerous covers of various magazines. In 1946, Monroe’s first marriage ended in divorce. In 1948 she received her first film contract with 20th Century Fox. Since the film company didn’t think her name was star-worthy, she decided to take her mother’s maiden name, Monroe. Marilyn was chosen as the first name. However, during her two-year contract, she only made two films in which she appeared in small supporting roles.
At Columbia, Monroe landed her first starring role in 1949’s “Ladies of the Chorus,” in which she also sang. For further work and her new boyfriend Johnny Hyde, she had her nose and chin operated on. From 1951 she was back in front of the camera for 20th Century Fox with a seven-year contract. Numerous fabrics typical of that time have now been filmed with Monroe. Her first starring role came in 1953 in Niagara. That same year, Monroe made her international breakthrough with How to Make a Millionaire and Blondes Prefer, during which she became an American sex symbol. Although she starred in the lead role and the flicks made millions thanks to her involvement, her poor management earned her the lowest rate for a supporting role from 20th Century Fox. In 1954, Monroe married baseball star Joe DiMaggio, twelve years her senior, who suffered from her success and popularity. This was followed by the shooting of Billy Wilder’s hit comedy “The Seven Year Itch”, in which Monroe’s white dress was blown up by the wind in the subway shaft, which has since become one of the most famous images in film history.
Her marriage to DiMaggio ended in divorce within the first year. Monroe moved to New York from Los Angeles for a year to pursue further acting training at Actors Studios. There she met drama teacher Lee Strasberg and author Arthur Miller. Monroe then returned to Hollywood and was in front of the camera for “Bus Stop”. It was after this work that she received her first praise in film reviews. With the support of Miller, whom she married in 1956, she founded Marilyn Monroe Productions in 1957, which shortly thereafter shot The Prince and the Dancer starring Laurence Olivier. Her mood deteriorated and the second child she wanted died again in a miscarriage, so she briefly sought treatment from child psychologist Anna Freud, daughter of Sigmund Freud. In 1960 the strip “Let’s do it in love” with Yves Montand, with whom Monroe had a brief affair, was made. By this time she was already addicted to pills that would get her up in the morning and sleep at night.
The consequences were permanent mood swings, tiredness and memory loss. After Arthur Miller had admitted to having an affair with another woman, this marriage also broke up in 1960 and Monroe was committed to psychiatry by her analyst. She was built up in the following months by her second husband DiMaggio. Through her friendship with President John F. Kennedy, with whom she was also said to have a love affair, Monroe made the acquaintance of his brother Robert F. Kennedy. In 1961 she completed her last film with “Misfits – Not Socially Acceptable”. In 1962, filming began on “Somethings Got to Give” with Dean Martin. But here too, as in the previous works, she was barely able to retain her text for a few minutes, making the collaboration a nerve test for everyone involved. The production of “Something”s Got To Give” remained unfinished. On the night of August 4/5, 1962, Monroe was found unconscious by her housekeeper in Brentwood.
Marilyn Monroe was officially pronounced dead at the Los Angeles Hospital in the early hours of August 5, 1962.
Discography
1947 – “Anyone Can See I Love You”
1947 – “Every Baby Needs a Da-Da-Daddy”
1950 – “Oh! What a Forward Young Man You Are”
1953 – “Kiss” / from “Niagara”
1953 – “Diamonds Are a Girl”s Best Friend” with Jane Russell from “Gentlemen Prefer Blondes”
1953 – “Two Little Girls from Little Rock” from “Prefer Blondes”
1953 – “When Love Goes Wrong” from “Prefer Blondes”
1953 – “Bye Bye Baby” from “Prefer Blondes”
1953 – “The Jack Benny Show”
1954 – “Kiss Me Again”
1954 – “Somebody Shoots Me Up”
1954 – “Down in the Meadow” from “The River of No Return”
1954 – “I’m Gonna File My Claim” from “River of No Return”
1954 – “One Silver Dollar” from “The River of No Return”
1954 – “River of No Return” from “River of No Return”
1954 – “There’s No Business Like Show Business”
1954 – “Heat Wave” from “Rhythm in the Blood”
1954 – “Lazy” from “Rhythm in the Blood”
1954 – “After You Get What You Want You Don”t Want It” from “Rhythm in the Blood”
1954 – “A Fine Romance”
1954 – “She Acts Like a Woman Should”
1954 – “You’d Be Surprised”
1955 – “Chopsticks” from “The Seven Year Itch”
1956 – “That Old Black Magic” from “Bus Stop”
1957 – “I Found a Dream” from “The Prince and the Dancer”
1959 – “I Wanna Be Loved by You” from “Some Like It Hot”
1959 – “I’m Through with Love” from “Some Like It Hot”
1959 – “Running Wild” from “Some Like It Hot”
1960 – “My Heart Belongs to Daddy” from “Let’s Make Love”
1960 – “Incurably Romantic” from “Let’s Make Love”
1960 – “Specialization” from “Let’s Make Love”
1960 – “Let”s Make Love” from “Let’s Make It in Love”
1962 – “Happy birthday, Mr. President” Live for John F. Kennedy
Filmography
1947 – Dangerous Years
1948 – Summer Storm / Scudda Hoo! Scudda Hay!
1948 – I Dance Into Your Heart / Ladies of the Chorus
1950 – The Marx Brothers in the Theater / Love Happy
1950 – A Ticket to Tomahawk
1950 – Asphalt-Jungle / The Asphalt Jungle”
1950 – All About Eve / All About Eve
1950 – Feuerball / The Fireball
1950 – Right Hook / Right Cross
1951 – Hometown Story
1951 – As Young as You Feel
1951 – Liebesnest / Love Nest
1951 – Let’s Make It Legal
1952 – Before the New Day (””Clash by Night
1952 – We”re Not Married
1952 – Temptation on 809 / Don”t Bother to Knock
1952 – Honey I’m Getting Younger / Monkey Business
1952 – Four Pearls / O. Henry”s Full House
1953 – Niagara / Niagara
1953 – Gentlemen Prefer Blondes
1953 – How do you catch a millionaire? / How to Marry a Millionaire
1954 – River of No Return
1954 – Rhythm in the Blood / There”s No Business Like Show Business
1955 – The seven year itch
1956 – Bus Stop / Bus Stop
1957 – The Prince and the Showgirl
1959 – Some like it hot
1960 – Let’s Make Love
1961 – Misfits – Unsociable / Misfits
1962 – Something’s Got to Give
How did Marilyn Monroe die?
Marilyn Monroe died of a barbiturate overdose late in the evening of Saturday, August 4, 1962, at her 12305 Fifth Helena Drive home in Los Angeles, California. She was 36 years old.
How did Marilyn Monroe…?
After several months as a virtual recluse, Monroe died from an overdose of sleeping pills (barbiturates) in her Los Angeles home. Her death was ruled a “probable suicide,” and this finding was supported by the actress’s history of drug use and previous suicide attempts.
Did Marilyn Monroe have children?
No. Although Marilyn was married three times (first to James Dougherty, followed by baseball star Joe DiMaggio and playwright Arthur Miller), she did not have any children before her death in 1962. However, she really wanted to have a family and did have multiple documented pregnancies.
How tall was Marilyn Monroe?
1.68 m
What year did Marilyn Monroe die?
August 4, 1962
Where was Marilyn Monroe born?
Norma Jeane Mortenson—who will become better known around the world as the glamorous actress and sex symbol Marilyn Monroe—is born on June 1, 1926, in Los Angeles, California.
Where is Marilyn Monroe buried?
Date of burial: August 8, 1962
Place of burial: Pierce Brothers Westwood Village Memorial Park & Mortuary, Los Angeles, California, United States
How old was Marilyn Monroe when she died?
36 years
Who killed Marilyn Monroe?
Overdose of sleeping pills..
Why did Andy Warhol print the above images of Marilyn Monroe in this order?
It suggests the sequential images of film, the medium that made Monroe famous.
What happened to Marilyn Monroe?
On August 5, 1962, Marilyn was found dead of an apparent sleeping pill overdose in her modest Los Angeles home.
Who was Marilyn Monroe?
Marilyn Monroe was an American actress, comedienne, singer, and model. She became one of the world’s most enduring iconic figures and is remembered both for her winsome embodiment of the Hollywood sex symbol and her tragic personal and professional struggles within the film industry.
Did Marilyn Monroe have kids?
She didn’t have…
