Ultimate Fan
Station
Marlyn Monroe
June 1, 1926 August 5, 1962
Actress Marilyn Monroe overcame a difficult childhood to become one of the world's biggest and most enduring sex symbols. She died of a drug overdose in 1962.
Marilyn Monroe was born as Norma Jeane Mortensen (later baptized as Norma Jeane Baker) on June 1, 1926, in Los Angeles, California. During her all-too-brief life, Marilyn Monroe overcame a difficult childhood to become one of the world's biggest and most enduring sex symbols. She never knew her father, and once thought Clark Gable to be her father—a story repeated, however, there's no evidence that Gable ever met or knew Monroe's mother, Gladys,
Growing up, Monroe spent much 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.
At 7 years old, Monroe returned to a life in foster homes, she had one way out—get married. She wed her boyfriend Jimmy Dougherty on June 19, 1942, at the age of 16. Monroe went to work in a munitions factory in Burbank, California, where she was discovered by a photographer. By 1946, Monroe had 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.
Famed Career
Monroe's marriage to Dougherty fizzled out as she focused more on her career. The couple divorced in 1946 — Monroe signed her first movie contract, she began calling herself "Marilyn Monroe" and dyed her hair blonde. But her acting career didn't really take off until the 1950s. Her part in The Asphalt Jungle (1950) gained her a lot of attention. That same year, she impressed audiences and critics alike with her performance as Claudia in All About Eve, starring Bette Davis. She would soon become one of Hollywood's most , about Monroe's relationship with Sir Laurence Olivier in 1957's The Prince and the Showgirl.
She would soon become one of Hollywood's most famous actresses; by winning various honors 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 kill her husband with help from her lover. The emerging sex symbol was paired with, Jane Russell, in the 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).
In her personal life, she had a string of unsuccessful marriages and relationships. Her 1954 marriage to baseball great Joe DiMaggio only lasted nine months (she wed playwright Arthur Miller from 1956 to 1961).
On May 19, 1962, Monroe made her now-famous performance at John F. Kennedy's birthday celebration, singing "Happy Birthday, Mr. President."
Death and Legacy
On August 5, 1962, at only 36 years old, Marilyn Monroe died at her Los Angeles home. An empty bottle of sleeping pills was found by her bed. There has been some speculation over the years that she may have been murdered, but the cause of her death was officially ruled as a drug overdose.
With her hourglass figure, Monroe became a admired international star, Throughout her career, Monroe was signed and released from several contracts with film studios.Tired of bubbly, dumb blonde roles, Monroe moved to New York City to study acting with Lee Strasberg at the Actors' Studio. She returned to the screen in the dramatic comedy Bus Stop (1956), playing a saloon singer. In 1959, Monroe returned to comedy in the movie Some Like It Hot, with Jack Lemmon and Tony Curtis. She played Sugar Kane Kowalczyk, a singer who hopes to marry a millionaire Her work on the film earned her the honor of
"Best Actress in a Comedy" in 1959, at the Golden Globe Awards.
Monroe starred opposite Clark Gable and Montgomery Clift in The Misfits (1961). This was her last completed film.