Marilyn Monroe

Marilyn Monroe

Marilyn Monroe (birth name: “Norma Jeane Mortenson”) was born on June 1, 1926. She was an American model, singer and actress. Marylin became a major sex symbol, starring in a number of commercially successful motion pictures during the 1950s and early 1960s.

Childhood

Marilyn Monroe was born in the Los Angeles County Hospital. She was the third child born to mother Gladys Pearl Baker. Her certificate written father Martin E. Mortensen is said to have left Gladys before Marilyn was born.

Gladys was mentally unstable and financially unable to care for the young Norma Jeane, so she placed her with foster parents Albert and Ida Bolender of Hawthorne, California. Since then young Marilyn could not settle to one foster home and fate let her move from one parents to other.

Early Life

Gladys's best friend, Grace McKee, was one of her early foster parent and became her guardian. Grace used to motivate young Monroe that someday she would become a movie star. Grace let Norma Jeane wear makeup and got her hair curled. They used to visit movies together, forming the basis for Norma Jeane's fascination with the cinema and the stars on screen.

During 1942, Marilyn Monroe finally settled with her aunt Ana Lower. Here she met James “Jim” Dougherty and they both married soon. It was during World War II, when James was called for military duties and Marilyn stayed as housewife.

Education

In 1948, during her film projects with Columbia Pictures, the head drama coach Natasha Lytess became her acting coach for many years. Later in 1951, Monroe enrolled at University of California, Los Angeles, where she studied literature and art appreciation.

Career

While James was serving nation, Norma took a job at Radioplane Munitions Factory. Here she got a chance to appear in a photo shoot for Yank, the Army Weekly magazine. Noticing her work, she got a chance to work with The Blue Book Modeling Agency; this is where she got her brunette hairs bleached to Golden Blonde which we recognize her by now. Her on-screen work started at 20th Century Fox, this is where she got her named changed to a permanent “Marilyn Monroe”.

With 20th Century Fox Monroe appeared as side role in musical comedies – The Shocking Miss Pilgrim and You Were Meant for Me. Later she worked with Columbia Pictures where she got the major breakthrough with “Ladies of the Chorus”. But because of poor performance of this movie Monroe struggled to find work later.

During 1950, her major success came with “The Asphalt Jungle” and “All About Eve”. Later in 1952, Monroe got her sex symbol image from “Niagara”. But her success story began with her performance in “Gentlemen prefer Blondes” and “How to Marry a Millionaire. Since then she never looked back.

At the End

On August 5, 1962, Monroe was found dead at her Los Angeles home in California. Autopsy reports suggested the cause of death to be "acute barbiturate poisoning".