Biography
Norma Jeane Mortenson (later baptized Norma Jeane Baker) was born on June 1, 1926 in the Los Angeles General Hospital. She was placed in the foster home of Albert and Ida Bolender due to the mental instability of her mother, Gladys Baker, and because she was not married at the time. Norma's father had abandoned the family and headed to San Francisco. During the first seven years of Norma's life, she lived with her foster family. In 1933, she went back to briefly living with her mother. However, Gladys was admitted to a rest home in Santa Monica in 1934 after showing signs of mental illness. Grace McKee, a close friend of her mother took care of Norma. It was she who always told Norma she would because a big movie star.
At the age of 16, Norma Jeane married James Dougherty, a 21-year-old aircraft plant worker, on June 19, 1942. She was later quoted saying that Grace had arranged the marriage and that she had no choice but to marry Dougherty. While he joined the Merchant Marins in 1943, Norma began inspecting parachutes at the Radio Plane Munitions factory in Burbank California. It was here where she was photographed as a promotion to show the women on the assembly line. The photographer described Norma as a "photographer's dream." By spring of 1945, she had appeared on 33 covers of national magazines. She enrolled herself in drama classes with the dreams of becoming a star. However, she had to make a choice between her career and her marriage.
Norma and James were divorced in 1946. At this time, her photos made their way to the eye of Howard Hughes, the head of RKO Pictures. Marilyn was offered a screen test, but she declined finding that Twentieth Century-Fox would be a better choice. On July 23, 1946, Norma Jean Baker signed the contract with Twentieth Century-Fox and used her mother's family name of Monroe. She now earned $125 a week, dyed her hair bleach blonde and changed her name to Marilyn Monroe.
Marilyn played a few small roles in films until 1950 with The Asphalt Jungle. She recieved more influential roles, but it was her performance in Niagra (1953) that drove Marilyn to the top. Following the film were lead roles in the popular Gentlemen Prefer Blondes and How to Marry a Millionaire. At 27, she was the biggest blonde bombshell to hit Hollywood.
After two years of dating baseball star Joe DiMaggio, they were married on January 14, 1954 at San Francisco's City Hall. For their honeymoon in tokyo, Marilyn took some time to perform for the soldiers stationed in Korea. Joe was clearly uncomfortable with her presence causing a riot among the men. It is said that her fame and sexual image was the center of a downward spiral between the couple. On October 27, 1954, nine months after their marriage, the couple divorced.
Soon after their split, Marilyn decided to leave Hollywood for New York City. She began studying under the instruction of Lee Strasberg in attempt to shed her "shallow blonde" image and be taken seriously. In 1956, she started her own motion picture company called Marilyn Monroe Productions. The two films under her company (The Prince and the Showgirl and Bus Stop) showed her versatility as an actress. Her role in 1959's Some Like It Hot earned her a Golden Globe for Best Actress in a Comedy.
In her love life, Marilyn and playwright Arthur Miller married on June 29, 1956. While married, Arthur wrote The Misfits in 1961 with the part of Roslyn Taber specifically for Marilyn. The same year, their marriage ended.
In the year 1962, Marilyn Monroe was named female World Film Favorite at the Golden Globes. Sadly, on the morning of August 5, the 36-year-old actress died at her home in Brentwood, California. The cause of death was unclear. Many believed she died in her sleep while others thought it was a drug overdose. On August 8 her body was laid to rest in the Corridor of Memories at Westwood Memorial Park in Los Angeles.