History Of Marilyn Monroe

Norma Jeane Mortenson formally know as Marilyn Monroe was born on June 1st, 1926 and unfortunately died from an overdoes of sleeping pills on August 5th, 1962 aged only 36 years of age. As an adult, Monroe would maintain that one of her earliest memories was of her mother trying to smother her crib with a pillow. Growing up, Monroe spent mush of her time in foster care and in an orphanage. In 1937, a family friend and her husband, Grace and Doc Goddard, took care of Monroe for a few years. Monroe’s mother to raise her paid the Goddard’s weekly. The couple was deeply religious and followed fundamentalist doctrines; among other prohibited activities, Monroe was not allowed to go to the movies. But when Doc’s job was transferred in 1942 to the East Coast, the couple could not afford to bring Monroe with them. At 7 years old, Monroe returned to a life in foster homes, where she was on several occasions sexually assaulted; she later said that she has been raped when she was 11 years old. But she had one way out-get married.

She wed her boyfriend Jimmy Dougherty on June 19, 1942 at the age of 16. By that time, Monroe had dropped out of high school (age 15). A merchant marine, Dougherty was later sent to the South Pacific. Monroe went to work in a munitions factory in Burbank, California, where she was discovered by a successful career as a model, and had changed her name to Marilyn Monroe in preparation for an acting career. She dreamt of becoming an actress like Jean Harlow and Lana Turner.

Monroe’s marriage to Dougherty fizzled out as she focused more on her career. The couple divorced in 1946-the same year that Monroe signed her first movie contract. With the movie contract came a new name and image; she began calling herself “Marilyn Monroe” and dyed her hair blonde, but her acting career didn’t really take off until the 1950’s. Her small part in John Huston’s crime drama The Asphalt Jungle (1950) garnered her a lot of attention. That same year, she impressed audience and critics alike with her performance as Claudia Caswell in All About Eve, starring Bette Davis. She would soon become on of Hollywood’s most, about Monroe’s relationship with Sir Laurance Oliver in 1957’s The Prince and the Showgirl.

Monroe would soon become one of Hollywood’s most famous actresses; though she wasn’t initially considered to be a star acting material, she later proved her skill by winning various honours and attracting large audiences to her films. In 1953, Monroe made a star-making turn in Niagara, starring as a young married woman out to hill her husband with help from her lover. The emerging sex symbol was paired with another bombshell, Jane Russell, for her musical comedy Gentlemen Prefer Blondes (1953). The film was a hit and Monroe continued to find success in a string of light comedic fare, such as How To Marry a Millionaire with Betty Grable and Lauren Bacall, There’s No Business like Show Business (1954) with Ethel Merman and Donald O’Connor, and The Seven Year Itch (1955).

With her breathy voice and hourglass figure, Monroe became a much-admired international star, despite her chronic insecurities regarding her acting abilities. Monroe suffered from pre-performance anxiety that sometimes made her physically ill and was often the root cause of her legendary tardiness on film sets, which was so extreme that it often infuriated her co-stars and crew. “She would be the greatest if she ran like a watch,” director Billy Wilder once said of her. “I have an aunt Minnie who’s very punctual, but who would pay to see Aunt Minnie?” throughout her career, Monroe was signed and released from several contracts with film studios.

During her career, Marilyn Monroe’s films grossed more than $200 million. Today, she is still considered the world’s most popular icon of sex appeal and beauty, and is remembered for her idiosyncratic sense of humour and sly wit; once asked by a reporter what she wore to be, she replied “Chanel Number 5”. On another occasion she was asked what she thought of Hollywood “if I close my eyes and think of Hollywood, all I see is one big varicose vein,” she replied. Monroe is also remembered for her romantic relationships with Marlon Brando, Frank Sinatra, Yves Montand and director Elia Kazan, in addition to her three marriages.

Monroe has been imitated over the years by a number of celebrities, including Madonna, Lady Gaga and Gwen Stefani. Actress Michelle Williams portrayed Monroe in a 2001 film, My Week with Marilyn, about Monroe’s relationship with Sir Laurance Olivier in 1957’s The Prince and the Showgirl.

In 2011, famed photography Sam Shaw published several rarely seen photos of Marilyn Monroe in a book of photographs. August 5th, 2012 marked the 50th anniversary of Monroe’s death. Now more than a half century later, the world is still fascinated by her beauty and talent.