Jenna Scheffold
Dr. Delong
English
November 8th, 2015
Research Paper When you hear the name Marilyn Monroe you think of beauty and sensuality.Monroe dominated the age of movie stars and was one of the most famous women of the 20th century. Monroe's popularity made her much more than a star but also an American icon. She was an exceptionally underrated person. Although Marilyn suffered a tragic end she had survived a traumatic childhood to become one of the most well-known actresses of all time.
Marilyn Monroe was born June 1st, 1926 in Los Angeles, California as Norma Jeane Mortenson. Her mothers name is Gladys Baker and there is a debate to whom the father is. Later Monroe was baptized by her grandmother Della Monroe as Norma Jeane Baker. Monroe was the youngest of three children. She spent most of her childhood in foster homes and orphanages because her mother went into a mental institution. In 1937 Monroe moved in with a family friend Grace Mckee Goddard. in 1942 Grace could no longer take care of 16 year old Marilyn because her husband was transferred to the east coast. Monroe had two options, either go back to the orphanage or get married. June 19th 1942 Marilyn married 21 year old Jimmy Dougherty whom she's been dating for a couple months, sadly two years later her husband joined the Marines and was sent to the south Pacific.
Since her husband was sent off to the South Pacific, Marilyn got a job at Radio Plane Munitions Factory in Burbank, California. Months later a magazine photographer noticed her while he was taking pictures. She inspired him and that’s how Monroe got her start in modeling. Within two years Monroe was a very popular model who was on numerous magazine covers. After all this happened, she started to enroll in acting classes. In 1946 Monroe had to make another hard decision. She either had to pick her husband or her new uprising career. She ended up divorcing her husband.
In 1946, was when the modeling career began in Marilyn's life. She started to refer to herself as Marilyn Monroe because of a famous stage actress name and her mother’s maiden name. The first job that she had landed that had concentrated on her looks was a photographer’s model. After, people could recognize her as the girl on the covers of men's magazines. Big names caught sight of those photos and people like Howard Hughes and the Twentieth Century-Fox Film Corporation signed her at one hundred and twenty five dollars a week for an entire year. This would be her first big modeling breakout and people around the world would really start to notice her. Scudda Doo, Scudda Hay, which was her first movie, never made it into theatres. After having a couple of appearances in those corporations’ movies, she ended up finding herself job less. Marilyn went back to modeling for photographers. But, one movie that she was called to play in named, “The Asphalt Jungle”, started her career all over again. “Her Reputation as a Blonde bombshell had begun to establish” (McHenry) Monroe met Joe DiMaggio in early 1952, she was 25 and he was 37. DiMaggio, recently retired from baseball, had expressed a desire to meet this famous star. By February the romance was in full bloom. "I was surprised to be so crazy about Joe. I expected a flashy New York sports type, and instead I met this reserved guy who didn't make a pass at me right away! He treated me like something special. Joe is a very decent man, and he makes other people feel decent, too"(Monroe). Later Monroe and Joe DiMaggio divorced. Her final husband was Arthur Miller who was an author. All these marriages ended up into divorces. Over the following years, Marilyn was in dozens of movies, including Niagara, Some like It Hot and Gentlemen Prefer Blondes. These were only a few of the thirty films she made during her career as an actress. Her success wouldn’t have been so great if she had not put in effort. In 1953, she flew to Korea to sing to the military troops stationed over there. She entertained over 60,000 soldiers, many who had never seen a Monroe film...having been in the service during her rise to stardom... most had seen still photos of her in many magazines and newspapers. She was a huge success. Joe did not accompany her on this trip...explaining, "Joe hates crowds and glamour."( Monroe) This time period was the high point of her career. Her nude photos were discovered and put on the front of Playboy Magazine. That same year Monroe had been voted the top star by American film distributors. She also received Recognition for 1959’s Some Like It Hot, winning a Golden Globe for Best Actress in a Comedy. She wanted to be more than sex appeal though. Her glamour was never questioned, despite turbulence in her life involving love, drugs, and sex scandals. Monroe’s abilities helped her shine through and become a star, impacting the lives of others along the way. Marilyn returned to Hollywood in February 1956, after over a years absence, to film "Bus Stop". After completing the film she returned to New York in June. “Bus Stop" opened in London in October 1956. A Times review said "Miss Monroe is a talented comedienne, and her sense of timing never forsake her. She gives a complete portrait, sensitively and sometimes even brilliantly conceived. There is about her a waif-life quality, an underlying note of pathos which can be strangely moving." Marilyn Monroe did not return to Hollywood until 1958 to make "Some Like It Hot" with Jack Lemmon and Tony Curtis. Her health began to deteriorate due to increased dependency on drugs and involvement in an unhappy marriage. She often came to the set late and was unable to remember her lines. Early in 1960, Marilyn was consulting with Dr. Ralph Greenson, a prominent psychoanalyst to Hollywood stars. As common during this period, he relied heavily on drug therapy and routinely prescribing barbiturates and tranquilizers in addition to his psychotherapy. In 1961 Marilyn purchased a house in the Brentwood section of Los Angeles. At the urging of her psychoanalyst, Dr Greenson, she hired Eunice Murray as housekeeper. Murray, calling herself a nurse had neither the training or credentials. It is suspected that she was a "spy" for Dr. Greenson who continued to have more and more control over Marilyn's life, seeing her almost daily when she was in Los Angeles. At the end of 1961 a reported affair with John F. Kennedy began. At the President's gala birthday celebration in Madison Square Garden on May 19, 1962, Marilyn sang her now famous "Happy Birthday" tribute to JFK. The Attorney General, Bobby Kennedy was also reported to have had an affair with Marilyn shortly before her death. Filming her latest project, Monroe’s lateness and addictions led her dismissal after a month. She was briefly committed to a mental hospital and she was also suppose to return to the film, but never resumed filming. Two Months later, in the early morning of August 5 1962, Marilyn died in her sleep at her Brentwood, California home. She was 36 years old. “Now she is dead and how do we say goodbye?” (Monroe/Barris ). The American public did not know how to respond. She had impacted them so deeply that they were in shock. Monroe had brought to our country a young beauty that was rarely found. Her lifestyle only served to enhance her beauty and sexuality. Even today, she is gone but not forgotten. In a Playboy Magazine poll, taken in 1999, Marilyn was “voted the sexiest woman of the century” (“Monroe Named” n pag.). This shows the impact that she still has on the world. How could we forget this wonderful, talented, gorgeous woman? She has left her imprint for all of us to look back at all the time. Monroe is forever remembered as the subject of a Pop-Art image created by artist Andy Warhol. I believe Marilyn Monroe is a big part of our history and a very significant part to. When you think about Hollywood/actors/actress you think of the glamour and sex appeal and glitzy life, and that picture was always Marilyn Monroe. She just became an icon for Hollywood, regardless of her personal life, she was an actress and given the right parts proved to be an amazing one and great role models to the people out there that love her.