Diamonds Are a Girl's Best Friend

Norma Jeane Mortenson was born on June first, 1926. She was a Golden Globe-winning actress, singer, model and pop icon.

She was born in the charity ward at the Los Angeles County Hospital. Her grandmother had her baptised Norma Jeane Baker after her birth. On February twenty-third, 1956, she officially changed her name to Marilyn Monroe. Though her birth certificate had her mother’s second husband, Martin Edward Mortenson, as Norma Jeane’s father, many biographers really believe that her true father was Charles Stanley Gifford.

When Monroe’s mother, Gladys, could no longer pursue her grandmother to care for Marilyn, the girl was sent to foster parents Albert and Ida Bolender. In her autobiography, Monroe states that she thought Albert was a girl.

After Gladys suffered a breakdown and was removed to an asylum, Norma Jeane was declared a ward of state and went to live with her mother’s best friend, Grace McKee (later Goddard). When McKee married in 1935, the nine-year-old girl was sent to the Los Angeles Orphans’ Home and was later sent to a succession of foster homes.

When the Goddards moved to the east coast, they could not take Marilyn. Grace approached the mother of James Dougherty and proposed that the boy marry her so that she would not have to return to a foster home. They married two weeks after the girl’s sixteenth birthday.

While her husband was in the Merchant Marine during World War II, Marilyn (now Norma Jeane Dougherty) moved in with her mother-in-law and began work at the Radioplane Company factory, spraying fire retardant on airplane parts and inspecting parachutes. As army photographer David Conover was scouting local factories, taking photos of women contributing to the war effort, he realized her model potential and she was soon signed by the Blue Book modeling agency.

After playing minor roles in a few movies, Monroe finally appeared in a large-budget movie - Niagara - in 1953. Around this time, nude photos of Norma Jeane began to surface. Prints were bought by Hugh Hefner and appeared in the first ever edition of Playboy. Monroe publicly admitted that these were her photos, and when asked in an interview what she wore to bed, she stated “Chanel No. 5”, and when asked what she had on during the photo shoot, she replied “the radio”.

Her next big movie hit was Gentlemen Prefer Blondes, where Monroe played the dumb blond role of Lorelei Lee. The scene in which she sings Diamonds Are A Girl’s Best Friend has inspired the likes of Madonna and Kylie Minogue.

After Gentlemen Prefer Blondes, Marilyn’s next role was another dumb blond in How To Marry A Millionaire.

After completing The Seven Year Itch, Monroe fled Hollywood for New York, where she stayed until her agent changed her contract so that she would be able to approve the directors and would also be able to work under other studios’ projects.

The first film to be made under this new contract was Bus Stop, where she played Chérie, a saloon bar singer who falls in love with a cowboy. Monroe deliberately appeared badly made up and unglamorous.

In 1959, Marilyn scored her biggest hit with Some Like It Hot, alongside Tony Curtis and Jack Lemmon. Her acting in this film earned her a Golden Globe for best actress in a musical or comedy.

In May of 1962, Marilyn Monroe made her last significant public appearance, where she sang Happy Birthday, Mr. President for President John F. Kennedy.

In January of 1954, Marilyn and Joe DiMaggio (a baseball player for the New York Yankees) eloped. They divorced two hundred and fifty-four days after their marriage.

June 29, 1956 - Marilyn Monroe marries Arthur Miller, a playwright. They divorced in 1961 after an ectopic pregnancy and miscarriage.

On August fifth, 1962, Monroe was found by her housekeeper dead in her bed. Her death was ruled as an overdose on sleeping pills, though many conspirators believe that her death had something to do with brothers John and Robert Kennedy.

It’s all make-believe, isn’t it? - Norma Jeane Baker aka Marilyn Monroe