LYCOS RETRIEVER 
Marilyn Monroe
built 192 days ago
Marilyn Monroe (June 1, 1926 – August 5, 1962) was an American actress, singer and model. Marilyn Monroe was born under the name of Norma Jeanne Mortenson (or sometimes cited as Norma Jean Baker). Her mother was a film-cutter at RKO who, widowed and insane, abandoned her to sequence of foster homes. She was almost smothered to death at two, nearly raped at six. At nine the LA Orphans' Home paid her a nickel a month for kitchen work while taking back a penny every Sunday for church. At sixteen she worked in an aircraft plant and married a man she called Daddy; he went into the military, she modeled, and they divorced in 1946.
Source:
Marilyn Monroe was born Norma Jeane Mortenson in the charity ward of the Los Angeles County Hospital. Her grandmother, Della Monroe Grainger, had her baptized Norma Jeane Baker. Her mother was Gladys Pearl Monroe. For many years it was believed that Gladys's second husband Martin Edward Mortenson was Marilyn's father and name is even listed on her birth certificate. However Marilyn herself believed a salesman named Charles Stanley Gifford was her father. In either case, she had no father figure in the practical sense.
Source:
Marilyn Monroe's sex appeal, talent and untimely death combined to make her an enduring star and one of Hollywood's most recognizable icons. Early in her film career she starred as a dumb blonde in movies like How to Marry a Millionaire (1953). Her va-va-voom beauty made her an international celebrity, and she won acclaim as a talented actress in the films Bus Stop (1956) and Some Like It Hot (1959, with Jack Lemmon). Her personal life was famously untidy; her husbands included baseball star Joe DiMaggio (1954) and playwright Arthur Miller (1956-61). Her last film was Miller's drama The Misfits (1961, co-starring Clark Gable). She was found dead in 1962 of an overdose of sleeping pills, and her death was officially ruled a probable suicide.
Source:
Marilyn Monroe personified Hollywood glamour with an unparalleled glow and energy that enamored the world. Although she was an alluring beauty with voluptuous curves and a generous pout, Marilyn was more than a '50s sex goddess. Her apparent vulnerability and innocence, in combination with an innate sensuality, has endeared her to the global consciousness. She dominated the age of movie stars to become, without question, the most famous woman of the 20th Century. She was born Norma Jeane Mortenson on June 1, 1926 in Los Angeles, California, to Gladys Baker. As the identity of her father is undetermined, she was later baptized Norma Jeane Baker.
Source:
Marilyn Monroe, whose name was Norma Jean Baker in childhood, was born to Gladys Mortenson, a film technician, whose husband, Edward Mortenson, deserted the family. Norma Jean's natural father may have actually been another studio employee, C. Stanley Gifford. Gladys' mental illness surfaced shortly after her daughter's birth, and she was institutionalized much of Norma Jean's growing years. Norma Jean was placed in a series of twelve foster homes, and once in an orphanage. She attended Van Nuys High School in Los Angeles, California.
Source:
The private life of Marilyn Monroe was surrounded by rumor and gossip. Tales of drugs, abortions and affairs with famous people and a President are all well documented. The press would not leave Marilyn Monroe alone, and every part of her life seemed fair game to the media. In 1962, Marilyn Monroe died in her sleep at the age of 36. At the time, she was the most famous actress in the world.
Source:
MORE ABOUT
Marilyn Monroe