Marilyn Monroe had a fascinating, yet tragic life. Marilyn was born as Norma Jeane Mortenson in 1926 and she lived off and on in an orphanage and in foster homes where she was often sexually abused. Her mother was diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia and eventually permanently hospitalized. Norma married for the first time when she was 16 to avoid being returned to the orphanage.
During World War ll Marilyn worked in a war plant where photos were taken of the female workers to be used for morale-boosting purposes. Her photos were not used, but she decided to try modeling. Her figure made her perfect as a pin up girl rather than a clothes model, so her photos were used in magazine advertising in men’s magazines and eventually on magazine covers.
Cameras loved Norma and she became Marilyn Monroe in 1946 when she signed with 20th Century-Fox. but she had a long way to go to become an actress and then a star.
Marilyn loved the troops and the troops loved Marilyn as she visited them overseas.
Marilyn would eventually star in movies like “How to Marry a Millionaire” (1953), “The Seven Year Itch” (1955), “Some Like It Hot” (1959), and “There’s No Business Like Show Business” (1954).
Movie star Marilyn Monroe put her hands, feet and signature in cement at the Chinese Theatre.
Marilyn’s second marriage was to baseball player, Jo Di Maggio in 1954, but due to a well known movie scene, in “The Seven Year Itch”, Joe and Marilyn were divorced.
Marilyn and her lawyer announced her divorce from Joe Di Maggio in 1955 and Marilyn was single again and living in New York.
In 1956 Marilyn married playwright Arthur Miller, but they divorced in 1961 and Marilyn was alone again.
Marilyn Monroe sang at President Kennedy’s 45th Birthday and three months later Marilyn was dead. Eighteen months later President Kennedy was killed in Dallas, Texas.
Marilyn was fired from her last movie and her contract was canceled. She was rehired, but it was too late. Despair had set in and Marilyn’s life ended. Marilyn Monroe was only 36 years old when she was discovered dead at her home at 12305 Fifth Helena Drive in the Brentwood neighborhood of Los Angeles. However her end, she would forever be a star.
