Old Time Radio

Marilyn Monroe was more than just an actress and model. She is a legend that has changed Hollywood forever. She is a very inspirational person starring in her own rags to riches story.

Born as Norma Jean Mortenson on June 1, 1926 in Los Angeles, California to Gladys Baker, with her father’s identity unknown, Marilyn spent most of her early life in orphanages and foster homes, since her mother was admitted into a mental institution. Until, one day in 1937 Grace McKee Goddard a family friend decided to take her in. One day in 1942 Grace McKee Goddard could not afford to keep sixteen year old Marilyn anymore, so Marilyn either had to get married or return to an orphanage.

Marilyn chose to marry her 21 year old neighbor James Dougherty who she had been dating for just six months on July 19, 1942. After only two years of marriage James joined Merchant Marines and was sent to the South Pacific, while Marilyn took a job on the assembly line at the Radio Plane Munitions Factory. It was then, while Marilyn was working, she was discovered. Photographer David Conover from Yank Magazine saw her while taking pictures of women contributing to the war effort. He used her for the shoot, and then began sending modeling jobs her way. Within two years Marilyn was a reputable model, had begun drama classes, and career had started to take place. So after being married to Jimmy for just under four years, she divorced him.

It was then Marilyn signed her first studio contract with Twentieth Century Fox. At that time, Marilyn dyed her hair blonde and legally changed her name to Marilyn Monroe. The Shocking Miss Pilgrim in 1947 was Marilyn’s first movie role and from then on Marilyn just had minor parts in movies. It was 1953’s movie Niagara when Marilyn hit her big break, and Photoplay Magazine voted Marilyn Best New Actress Of 1953.

On January 14, 1954 at San Francisco City Hall, Marilyn married for a second time to baseball player Joe DiMaggio, this time dating for just under two years. But sadly on October 27, 1954 after being married only nine months they divorced, but still remained good friends.

In 1955 the pressures of Hollywood started building up on Marilyn, so she took a break and went to New York where she studied at Lee Strasberg’s acting school. by 1956 Marilyn was ready to go back to Hollywood, and she opened her own motion picture company called Marilyn Monroe Productions. She starred in two of the movies the company produced.

Marilyn got married for a third time on June 29, 1956 this time to playwright Arthur Miller. He wrote a role in The Misfits just for her, and this was Marilyn’s last completed movie. Unfortunately the marriage between them didn’t last, and they got divorced on January 20, 1961.

On May 19, 1962 Marilyn sang happy birthday to the president, who at the time was John F. Kennedy at Madison Square Garden. After her performance, there were lots of claims that Marilyn had an affair with John F. Kennedy, but it is not confirmed.

Sadly, on August 5, 1962 at the age of 36, Marilyn was found dead in her Brentwood, California home. The official cause of her death is acute barbiturate poisoning caused by an overdose of sleeping pills, but many wonder if it was an accident, suicide, or a murder. A close friend of Marilyn’s, June DiMaggio claims that Marilyn was supposed to remarry Joe DiMaggio just three days after her death and Marilyn would never take her own life. Many others think that an order was sent from John F. Kennedy, to prevent a scandal to occur. What raises questions about her death is that a complete autopsy was not done. Marilyn was laid to rest at Westwood Village Memorial Park Cemetery.

Marilyn Monroe lived a life filled with glamour and excitement, but friends say she was a normal person. In Marilyn’s short life she managed to complete thirty movies, and leave one movie unfinished. Marilyn Monroe completed more in 36 years, than many do in a life time. Although no one knows for sure how Marilyn died, there is one thing for sure: Marilyn will always be a Hollywood icon.

Asked by::):)