She successfully filed for divorce and sole custody in 1923, but Baker kidnapped the children soon after and moved with them to his native Kentucky.
In 1924, she married Martin Edward Mortensen, but they separated only some months later and divorced in 1928.
Marilyn Monroe (; born Norma Jeane Mortenson; June 1, 1926 – August 4, 1962) was an American actress, model, and singer.
Her death was ruled a probable suicide, although several conspiracy theories have been proposed in the decades following her death. ==Life and career== ===1926–1943: Childhood and first marriage=== Monroe was born Norma Jeane Mortenson at the Los Angeles County Hospital in Los Angeles, California, on June 1, 1926.
In 1924, she married Martin Edward Mortensen, but they separated only some months later and divorced in 1928.
In addition to Grable, she was often compared to another iconic blonde, 1930s film star Jean Harlow.
In the summer of 1933, Gladys bought a small house in Hollywood with a loan from the Home Owners' Loan Corporation and moved seven-year-old Monroe in with her.
In January 1934, Gladys had a mental breakdown and was diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia.
In the summer of 1935, she briefly stayed with Grace and her husband Erwin "Doc" Goddard and two other families, and in September, Grace placed her in the Los Angeles Orphans Home.
The orphanage was "a model institution" and was described in positive terms by her peers, but Monroe felt abandoned. Encouraged by the orphanage staff who thought that Monroe would be happier living in a family, Grace became her legal guardian in 1936, but did not take her out of the orphanage until the summer of 1937.
The orphanage was "a model institution" and was described in positive terms by her peers, but Monroe felt abandoned. Encouraged by the orphanage staff who thought that Monroe would be happier living in a family, Grace became her legal guardian in 1936, but did not take her out of the orphanage until the summer of 1937.
Up in front, there with the screen so big, a little kid all alone, and I loved it." Monroe found a more permanent home in September 1938, when she began living with Grace's aunt, Ana Lower, in Sawtelle.
Monroe's role was originally intended for Betty Grable, who had been 20th Century-Fox's most popular "blonde bombshell" in the 1940s; Monroe was fast eclipsing her as a star who could appeal to both male and female audiences.
No evidence of foul play was found. ==Screen persona and reception== The 1940s had been the heyday for actresses who were perceived as tough and smart—such as Katharine Hepburn and Barbara Stanwyck—who had appealed to women-dominated audiences during the war years.
20th Century-Fox wanted Monroe to be a star of the new decade who would draw men to movie theaters, and saw her as a replacement for the aging Betty Grable, their most popular "blonde bombshell" of the 1940s.
By appearing vulnerable and unaware of her sex appeal, Monroe was the first sex symbol to present sex as natural and without danger, in contrast to the 1940s femme fatales.
Due to the elderly Lower's health problems, Monroe returned to live with the Goddards in Van Nuys in around early 1941.
In 1942, the company that employed Doc Goddard relocated him to West Virginia.
As a solution, she married their neighbors' 21-year-old son, factory worker James Dougherty, on June 19, 1942, just after her 16th birthday.
In 1943, Dougherty enlisted in the Merchant Marine and was stationed on Santa Catalina Island, where Monroe moved with him. ===1944–1948: Modeling and first film roles=== In April 1944, Dougherty was shipped out to the Pacific, and he would remain there for most of the next two years.
In 1943, Dougherty enlisted in the Merchant Marine and was stationed on Santa Catalina Island, where Monroe moved with him. ===1944–1948: Modeling and first film roles=== In April 1944, Dougherty was shipped out to the Pacific, and he would remain there for most of the next two years.
In late 1944, she met photographer David Conover, who had been sent by the U.S.
Although none of her pictures were used, she quit working at the factory in January 1945 and began modeling for Conover and his friends.
Defying her deployed husband, she moved on her own and signed a contract with the Blue Book Model Agency in August 1945. The agency deemed Monroe's figure more suitable for pin-up than high fashion modeling, and she was featured mostly in advertisements and men's magazines.
According to Emmeline Snively, the agency's owner, Monroe quickly became one of its most ambitious and hard-working models; by early 1946, she had appeared on 33 magazine covers for publications such as Pageant, U.S.
As a model, Monroe occasionally used the pseudonym Jean Norman. Through Snively, Monroe signed a contract with an acting agency in June 1946.
Monroe's contract began in August 1946, and she and Lyon selected the stage name "Marilyn Monroe".
In September 1946, she divorced Dougherty, who was against her career. Monroe spent her first six months at Fox in learning acting, singing, and dancing, and in observing the film-making process.
Her contract was renewed in February 1947, and she was given her first film roles, bit parts in Dangerous Years (1947) and Scudda Hoo! Scudda Hay! (1948).
Despite her enthusiasm, her teachers thought her too shy and insecure to have a future in acting, and Fox did not renew her contract in August 1947.
Schenck, who persuaded his friend Harry Cohn, the head executive of Columbia Pictures, to sign her in March 1948. At Columbia, Monroe's look was modeled after Rita Hayworth and her hair was bleached platinum blonde.
She also screen-tested for the lead role in Born Yesterday (1950), but her contract was not renewed in September 1948.
In early 1952, she began a highly publicized romance with retired New York Yankees baseball star Joe DiMaggio, one of the most famous sports personalities of the era. Monroe found herself at the center of a scandal in March 1952, when she revealed publicly that she had posed for a nude calendar in 1949.
The cover image was a photograph taken of her at the Miss America Pageant parade in 1952, and the centerfold featured one of her 1949 nude photographs. ===1954–1955: Conflicts with 20th Century-Fox and marriage to Joe DiMaggio=== Monroe had become one of 20th Century-Fox's biggest stars, but her contract had not changed since 1950, meaning that she was paid far less than other stars of her stature and could not choose her projects.
For example, when she was asked what she had on in the 1949 nude photo shoot, she replied, "I had the radio on". In her films, Monroe usually played "the girl", who is defined solely by her gender.
Famous for playing comedic "blonde bombshell" characters, she became one of the most popular sex symbols of the 1950s and early 1960s and was emblematic of the era's sexual revolution.
After a series of minor film roles, she signed a new contract with Fox in late 1950.
In December 1950, Hyde negotiated a seven-year contract for Monroe with 20th Century-Fox.
The cover image was a photograph taken of her at the Miss America Pageant parade in 1952, and the centerfold featured one of her 1949 nude photographs. ===1954–1955: Conflicts with 20th Century-Fox and marriage to Joe DiMaggio=== Monroe had become one of 20th Century-Fox's biggest stars, but her contract had not changed since 1950, meaning that she was paid far less than other stars of her stature and could not choose her projects.
She had first been introduced to Miller by Elia Kazan in the early 1950s.
Banner calls her the symbol of populuxe, a star whose joyful and glamorous public image "helped the nation cope with its paranoia in the 1950s about the Cold War, the atom bomb, and the totalitarian communist Soviet Union".
Hyde died of a heart attack only days later, which left Monroe devastated. In 1951, Monroe had supporting roles in three moderately successful Fox comedies: As Young as You Feel, Love Nest, and Let's Make It Legal.
Her popularity with audiences was also growing: she received several thousand fan letters a week, and was declared "Miss Cheesecake of 1951" by the army newspaper Stars and Stripes, reflecting the preferences of soldiers in the Korean War.
According to Banner, she sometimes challenged prevailing racial norms in her publicity photographs; for example, in an image featured in Look in 1951, she was shown in revealing clothes while practicing with African-American singing coach Phil Moore. Monroe was perceived as a specifically American star, "a national institution as well known as hot dogs, apple pie, or baseball" according to Photoplay.
In February 1952, the Hollywood Foreign Press Association named Monroe the "best young box office personality".
In early 1952, she began a highly publicized romance with retired New York Yankees baseball star Joe DiMaggio, one of the most famous sports personalities of the era. Monroe found herself at the center of a scandal in March 1952, when she revealed publicly that she had posed for a nude calendar in 1949.
It received mixed reviews from critics, with Crowther deeming her too inexperienced for the difficult role, and Variety blaming the script for the film's problems. Monroe's three other films in 1952 continued with her typecasting in comic roles that focused on her sex appeal.
By the end of the year, gossip columnist Florabel Muir named Monroe the "it girl" of 1952. During this period, Monroe gained a reputation for being difficult to work with, which would worsen as her career progressed.
The cover image was a photograph taken of her at the Miss America Pageant parade in 1952, and the centerfold featured one of her 1949 nude photographs. ===1954–1955: Conflicts with 20th Century-Fox and marriage to Joe DiMaggio=== Monroe had become one of 20th Century-Fox's biggest stars, but her contract had not changed since 1950, meaning that she was paid far less than other stars of her stature and could not choose her projects.
She faced a scandal when it was revealed that she had posed for nude photos before she became a star, but the story did not damage her career and instead resulted in increased interest in her films. By 1953, Monroe was one of the most marketable Hollywood stars; she had leading roles in the film noir Niagara, which focused on her sex appeal, and the comedies Gentlemen Prefer Blondes and How to Marry a Millionaire, which established her star image as a "dumb blonde".
Similarly, biographer Lois Banner has stated that she was bullied by many of her directors. ===1953: Rising star=== Monroe starred in three movies that were released in 1953 and emerged as a major sex symbol and one of Hollywood's most bankable performers.
Niagara's most famous scene is a 30-second long shot behind Monroe where she is seen walking with her hips swaying, which was used heavily in the film's marketing. When Niagara was released in January 1953, women's clubs protested it as immoral, but it proved popular with audiences.
she can be seductive—even when she walks". Monroe continued to attract attention by wearing revealing outfits, most famously at the Photoplay awards in January 1953, where she won the "Fastest Rising Star" award.
She wore a skin-tight gold lamé dress, which prompted veteran star Joan Crawford to publicly call her behavior "unbecoming an actress and a lady". While Niagara made Monroe a sex symbol and established her "look", her second film of 1953, the satirical musical comedy Gentlemen Prefer Blondes, cemented her screen persona as a "dumb blonde".
Despite mixed reviews, the film was Monroe's biggest box office success at that point in her career. Monroe was listed in the annual Top Ten Money Making Stars Poll in both 1953 and 1954, and according to Fox historian Aubrey Solomon became the studio's "greatest asset" alongside CinemaScope.
Monroe's position as a leading sex symbol was confirmed in December 1953, when Hugh Hefner featured her on the cover and as centerfold in the first issue of Playboy; Monroe did not consent to the publication.
Based on a 1953 stage play by Terence Rattigan, it was to be directed and co-produced by, and to co-star, Laurence Olivier.
She was briefly suspended in early 1954 for refusing a film project but returned to star in The Seven Year Itch (1955), one of the biggest box office successes of her career. When the studio was still reluctant to change Monroe's contract, she founded her own film production company in 1954.
Despite mixed reviews, the film was Monroe's biggest box office success at that point in her career. Monroe was listed in the annual Top Ten Money Making Stars Poll in both 1953 and 1954, and according to Fox historian Aubrey Solomon became the studio's "greatest asset" alongside CinemaScope.
In January 1954, he suspended Monroe when she refused to begin shooting yet another musical comedy, The Girl in Pink Tights. This was front-page news, and Monroe immediately took action to counter negative publicity.
Monroe settled with Fox in March, with the promise of a new contract, a bonus of $100,000, and a starring role in the film adaptation of the Broadway success The Seven Year Itch. In April 1954, Otto Preminger's western River of No Return, the last film that Monroe had filmed prior to the suspension, was released.
It was unsuccessful upon its release in late 1954, with Monroe's performance considered vulgar by many critics. In September 1954, Monroe began filming Billy Wilder's comedy The Seven Year Itch, starring opposite Tom Ewell as a woman who becomes the object of her married neighbor's sexual fantasies.
After returning from NYC to Hollywood in October 1954, Monroe filed for divorce, after only nine months of marriage. After filming for The Seven Year Itch wrapped up in November 1954, Monroe left Hollywood for the East Coast, where she and photographer Milton Greene founded their own production company, Marilyn Monroe Productions (MMP)—an action that has later been called "instrumental" in the collapse of the studio system.
She dedicated 1955 to building the company and began studying method acting under Lee Strasberg at the Actors Studio.
She began working with the studio's head drama coach, Natasha Lytess, who would remain her mentor until 1955.
The "subway grate scene" became one of Monroe's most famous and The Seven Year Itch became one of the biggest commercial successes of the year after its release in June 1955. The publicity stunt placed Monroe on international front pages, and it also marked the end of her marriage to DiMaggio, who was infuriated by it.
This began a year-long legal battle between her and Fox in January 1955.
The press largely ridiculed Monroe and she was parodied in the Broadway play Will Success Spoil Rock Hunter? (1955), in which her lookalike Jayne Mansfield played a dumb actress who starts her own production company. After founding MMP, Monroe moved to Manhattan and spent 1955 studying acting.
The affair between Monroe and Miller became increasingly serious after October 1955, when her divorce was finalized and he separated from his wife.
To alleviate her anxiety and chronic insomnia, she began to use barbiturates, amphetamines, and alcohol, which also exacerbated her problems, although she did not become severely addicted until 1956.
She would also be free to make one film with MMP per each completed film for Fox. ===1956–1959: Critical acclaim and marriage to Arthur Miller=== Monroe began 1956 by announcing her win over 20th Century-Fox.
Due to Monroe's status as a sex symbol and Miller's image as an intellectual, the media saw the union as a mismatch, as evidenced by Variety's headline, "Egghead Weds Hourglass". Bus Stop was released in August 1956 and became critical and commercial success.
Despite the difficulties, filming was completed on schedule by the end of 1956.
The Prince and the Showgirl was released to mixed reviews in June 1957 and proved unpopular with American audiences.
As she and Greene could not settle their disagreements over MMP, Monroe bought his share of the company. Monroe returned to Hollywood in July 1958 to act opposite Jack Lemmon and Tony Curtis in Billy Wilder's comedy on gender roles, Some Like It Hot.
She angered him by asking to alter many of her scenes, which in turn made her stage fright worse, and it is suggested that she deliberately ruined several scenes to act them her way. In the end, Wilder was happy with Monroe's performance and stated: "Anyone can remember lines, but it takes a real artist to come on the set and not know her lines and yet give the performance she did!" Some Like It Hot became a critical and commercial success when it was released in March 1959.
It has been voted one of the best films ever made in polls by the BBC, the American Film Institute, and Sight & Sound. ===1960–1962: Career decline and personal difficulties=== After Some Like It Hot, Monroe took another hiatus until late 1959, when she starred in the musical comedy Let's Make Love.
Famous for playing comedic "blonde bombshell" characters, she became one of the most popular sex symbols of the 1950s and early 1960s and was emblematic of the era's sexual revolution.
Let's Make Love was unsuccessful upon its release in September 1960; Crowther described Monroe as appearing "rather untidy" and "lacking ...
The filming in the Nevada desert between July and November 1960 was again difficult.
She would go deep down within herself and find it and bring it up into consciousness." Monroe and Miller separated after filming wrapped, and she obtained a Mexican divorce in January 1961.
Instead of working, she spent the first six months of 1961 preoccupied by health problems.
Monroe also moved permanently back to California in 1961, purchasing a house at 12305 Fifth Helena Drive in Brentwood, Los Angeles in early 1962. Monroe returned to the public eye in the spring of 1962; she received a "World Film Favorite" Golden Globe Award and began to shoot a film for Fox, Something's Got to Give, a remake of My Favorite Wife (1940).
Marilyn Monroe (; born Norma Jeane Mortenson; June 1, 1926 – August 4, 1962) was an American actress, model, and singer.
She was a top-billed actress for only a decade, but her films grossed $200 million (equivalent to $ billion in ) by the time of her death in 1962.
On August 4, 1962, she died at age 36 from an overdose of barbiturates at her home in Los Angeles.
Monroe also moved permanently back to California in 1961, purchasing a house at 12305 Fifth Helena Drive in Brentwood, Los Angeles in early 1962. Monroe returned to the public eye in the spring of 1962; she received a "World Film Favorite" Golden Globe Award and began to shoot a film for Fox, Something's Got to Give, a remake of My Favorite Wife (1940).
Her housekeeper Eunice Murray was staying overnight at the home on the evening of August 4, 1962.
The speculation that Monroe had been murdered first gained mainstream attention with the publication of Norman Mailer's A Biography in 1973, and in the following years became widespread enough for the Los Angeles County District Attorney John Van de Kamp to conduct a "threshold investigation" in 1982 to see whether a criminal investigation should be opened.
The speculation that Monroe had been murdered first gained mainstream attention with the publication of Norman Mailer's A Biography in 1973, and in the following years became widespread enough for the Los Angeles County District Attorney John Van de Kamp to conduct a "threshold investigation" in 1982 to see whether a criminal investigation should be opened.
In 1999, the American Film Institute ranked Monroe sixth on its list of the greatest female screen legends from the Golden Age of Hollywood. Born and raised in Los Angeles, Monroe spent most of her childhood in foster homes and an orphanage and married at age 16.
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