Marilyn Monroe
The perfect woman. The original blond bombshell. Hollywood's queen. The Helen of the modern age. A legendary pop icon.
Model, actress, singer, film producer, performer, Marilyn Monroe is probably one of the most recognizable and famous celebrities of all time. Elton John wrote a song about her, "Candle in the Wind." President JFK is rumored to have had an affair with her. She was named "Sexiest Woman of the Century" in 1999 by People Magazine.
Marilyn Monroe is one of the big stars with an original "ragsriches" story and tragic ending.
Before Marilyn
Marilyn was born Norma Jeane to mother Gladys Baker on June 1, 1926 in Los Angeles, California. Marilyn's father's identity is still contested, but it is believed that it is Martin Edward Mortensen. In any case, Marilyn's father abandoned his small family and left Gladys to take care of Norma alone. Gladys, in turn, abandoned her daughter after being admitted to a mental institution for psychological problems. Marilyn was sent to an orphanage and various foster homes until she moved in with a family friend, Grace McKee Goddard, in 1937. However, when the Goddards moved to the East Coast in 1942, the 16old Marilyn was unable to follow them as they did not have enough money. With the option of either returning to an orphanage or getting married, Marilyn chose the latter and married her first husband, Jimmy Dougherty.
She was discovered by photographer David Conover while working on Radio Plane Munition's factory's assembly line in Burbank, California. This accidental encounter jump-started Marilyn's modeling career as she began appearing on the cover of several popular magazines. With stardom in her dreams, Marilyn chose to divorce Dougherty and sign a studio contract with Twentieth Century Fox in 1946. It is then that she shed the ordinary Norma Jeane to become the blond Marilyn Monroe we know today.
Marilyn starred in 30 films, and below we've provided you with her most famous ones:
First Films
Career enhancing movies
Marilyn Monroe Productions Years
An Abrupt Ending
Marilyn was found dead on August 5, 1962 by her psychiatrist Dr. Ralph Greenson. Her autopsy testified that she had "8 milligram percent of Chloral Hydrate and 4.5 milligram percent of Nembutal" in her system. She was cited as dying of "acute barbiturate poisoning, " from a "probable suicide." There are conspiracies saying that her death might have been murder and not suicide.
She is buried at Corridor of Memories #24 at the Westwood Village Memorial Park Cemetery in Westwood, Los Angeles, California.
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