Marilyn Monroe

THE LEGEND:

There is no greater figure in the realm of classic Hollywood than that of Marilyn Monroe. Her rise from humble beginnings to the dizziest heights of superstardom is the essence of the American dream. Her tragic, lonely ending can only be described as anything but. Monroe's life provided her with a narrative the entire world would come to know and a persona the entire world come would to love.

EARLY YEARS:

Norma Jean Mortensen came into this world on June 1, 1926, in the city of angels, Los Angeles. From the very beginning, her life was not an easy one. She never knew her father, and after seeing a picture of him, clung to the notion that it might be Clark Gable due to their shared pencil thin mustache. Her mother, Gladys, was extraordinarily unstable in matters of both mental health and finance, sending the toddler Monroe off to live with foster parents. She would later regain custody of Monroe, only to suffer a series of mental breakdowns that would ultimately lead to Monroe's forcible removal by the state. From there, Monroe spent much of her teen years being bounced around from foster home to orphanage, from relative to relative, and on several occasions suffered from sexual assault and rape. With matrimony her only escape, Monroe wed her boyfriend, Jim Dougherty on June 19th, 1942 at the age of 16. The two would relocate to southern California after Dougherty's enlistment in the Merchant Marines. Originally stationed in Santa Catalina Island, he would quickly be shipped off to the Pacific. With her husband off to war, Monroe took work at a munitions factory, where a photographer suggested she apply to The Blue Book Modeling Agency. She quickly became one of the most popular models at the agency, appearing in dozens of national publications.

HOLLYWOOD:

It wasn't long before Hollywood started taking notice of the photogenic young model, and in 1946, Monroe signed her first movie contract with 20th Century Fox, gaining a new name and new image in the process. She dyed her dark hair to its now trademark blonde and took on a new name: Marilyn Monroe. During the first few months, she saw neither lights nor cameras, but instead was put through a parade of speech, vocal, dancing and etiquette classes. Although she appeared in a few films, her roles were small and she was released from her contact in 1947. The next year she signed with Columbia Pictures, where she would meet the woman who was to become her acting coach, Natasha Lytess. She would star in one picture, 1948's Ladies of The Chorus, before being dropped by Columbia. Although she would appear in a few films at the end of the decade, it would not be until 1950, in John Huston's The Asphalt Jungle, that Monroe would gain national attention. After receiving good notices for the role as a mistress of an aging criminal, she was cast in the Joseph Mankiewicz classic All About Eve. For her successes, she was awarded with a seven-year contract to 20th Century Fox. Despite her popularity, her first years back at the studio resembled her first tenure at 20th Century Fox: a lot of dedication for subpar parts in B-comedies. It would not be until 1952, when she was loaned out to RKO for the lead in the Barbara Stanwyck vehicle, Clash by Night, that her studio took notice of her talents.

NIAGARA / GENTLEMAN PREFER BLONDES: