Marilyn Monroe

1926-1962

Marilyn Monroe was born on June 1, 1926 in Los Angeles General Hospital to her mother, Gladys. Her birth name was actually Norma Jeane Mortenson which she kept until she began her career in Hollywood. Her father’s name was listed as unknown, and she never did find out the true identity of her father.

Norma Jeane’s mother was very mentally unstable so Norma Jeane was placed in the foster home of Albert and Ida Bolender. She lived with the Bolender’s for the first seven years of her life until 1933 when she moved in with her mother. However, this living arrangement did not last for very long. In 1934 Gladys began showing signs of mental depression again so she went to live in a rest home in Santa Monica. Norma Jeane then moved in with her mother’s good friend, Grace McKee.

Norma Jeane lived with Grace until 1935. Grace had plans to get married and she could not afford to take care of Norma Jeane anymore so she was placed in an orphanage from September of 1935 until June of 1937. Grace still continued to have contact with Norma Jeane. She took her to movies, bought her clothes, and taught her how to apply makeup.

Then, in September of 1941 Norma Jeane met Jim Dougherty while living with Grace again. He was 5 years older than her. Grace was planning on moving to the East Coast with her husband so she encouraged the relationship so that Norma Jeane would not be alone. Grace set up the marriage and they were wed on June 19, 1942.

In 1943 Dougherty joined the Merchant Marines and was sent overseas in 1944. During this time Norma Jeane worked in a factory inspecting parachutes. One day while she was working a photographer, David Conover, came to photograph the women that were contributing to the war effort by working on the assembly line. He said Norma Jeane was the “photographer’s dream” and asked to take more pictures of her and appeared on 33 covers of national magazines. This was when her path to stardom began.

When Dougherty returned home in 1946 Norma Jeane was granted a divorce. She said that they were simply not happy together. They never spoke and she was dying of boredom.

Then, on July 23, 1946 Norma Jeane signed a contract with Twentieth Century-Fox Studios. This is when she decided to take the name of her mother’s family, Monroe. From then on she was known as Marilyn Monroe. At this time she was given a small part in the movie “Scudda-Hoo! Scudda-Hay!” but then she was dismissed as a contract player. However, she was rehired in 1964 and she sang her first song in the movie, “Ladies of the Chorus.”

In 1950 Marilyn received her first serious acting job in “The Asphalt Jungle.” Her role was not a very big one but it was an important one and she received wonderful reviews from critics. Marilyn did not have a leading role until her film “Don’t Bother to Knock” which was filmed in 1952.

In the early months of 1952 Marilyn met Joe DiMaggio; he was 37 and she was 25. They fell in love and were married on January 14, 1954. However, the marriage did not last long because Joe was a very jealous man and he resented her career. She was not willing to end her career so they were separated in the fall of 1954 and they later divorced.

Marilyn returned to New York and joined the Actor’s Studio in 1955 where she met up with a past lover, Arthur Miller. She had an affair with him and then married him over a year later. However, due to her problems with drugs and the unhappiness caused by their marriage they divorced in January of 1961.

A year later Marilyn was seeing Joe DiMaggio again on a regular basis and agreed to remarry him and the date was set for August 8, 1962. During this time Marilyn was also rehired by Fox to play a role in “Somethings Got to Give” with the salary being $250,000. However, neither of these events would happen.

Marilyn was a very famous woman who suffered a very untimely death. She passed away on August 5, 1962. The cause of her death is questionable but more than likely it was a suicide caused by a drug overdose.

To view a table of Marilyn's movies and TV shows click HERE!