Wednesday, April 15, 2015

M is for Marilyn Monroe



Born: June 1, 1926

Died: August 4, 1962

Aged: 36 years from overdose-accidental, suicide or murder-I think murder

Real Name: Norma Jean Mortensen(Baker)

Marriages: 3-2nd to Joe DiMaggio, 3rd-Arthur Miller

Affairs: Johnny Hyde, Andre Des Diennes, Yves Montand, JFK, Robert Kennedy etc..

Friends: Judy Garland, Ella Fitzgerald

A world icon, sex symbol extraordinaire. More books have been written about her than any other actor/actress. Her family history seems to be riddled with mental instability. Her mother worked as a film cutter but was in and out of mental institutions which meant she could not care for her daughter. (Marilyn had a half brother who died before she was born and she has a half sister). Marilyn ended up in orphanages and foster homes. In one of these homes she was raped when she was just a child. As soon as she could, she married so she would not have to go to another foster home but her heart belonged to becoming an actress. Her idol was Clark Gable. When her first marriage crumbled, she started being in the movies but didn't make much of a splash. To be able to get her car out of the pound, she did a nude spread. Later, when she was famous, she was going to be blackmailed but she decided to reveal it herself to the press and it worked to her advantage.  Johnny Hyde was an agent who helped her get small roles where she was noticed.  As she climbed up the ladder to stardom her insecurities plagued her and she started taking more pills. She could not sleep so she made sure the phone was placed outside her door so the ringing would not wake her if she did fall asleep. Her issues with showing up late on the set or not showing up at all started to rear its ugly head. When she finally made it to stardom she said, "Thank God, that's the last C$#! I will have to suck." She was famous for the casting couch. She went to Korea  for the soldiers. When Ella had trouble getting bookings, Marilyn helped out and would sit in the front row-Ella always appreciated the help. Marilyn wanted to be known as an actress so she left the studio and showed up in New York to study under the famed Lee Strasburg method style of acting. She often brought his daughter to the set and it was of a great annoyance to the director and others never mind being always late...by hours!. During the filming of "Some Like It Hot" she had to do over 70 takes just asking where the bourbon (or whiskey, I forget-watch the movie:)) was. They finally had to write it on a paper and place it in the drawer. These antics made Tony Curtis say "Kissing her was like kissing Hitler." He later claimed he slept with her but I doubt it.  Billy Wilder liked working with her because of what she brought to the screen which one could not see when you saw her in person.  Photographers loved her and one night Andre Des Diennes got a call from Marilyn at 2am. She could not sleep & was depressed and wanted pictures of her in the most desolate of places to capture her mood. He took these pictures-without makeup or anything else, just the headlights from the car.  After she said " You usually write captions for your photographs, you can put-The end of everything, underneath these."

When she was found dead, the police were not called initially. Peter Lawford, who lived behind her, was at the house (he was married to Pat Kennedy), a doctor and some others were there. She was found naked with her hand on the telephone which was strange since she didn't want the phone in her room and the phone records went missing later. There was no water or cup found in her room so how did she take the pills? The pill bottles were there on the table. The big thing is that they found drugs in her blood stream but nothing was found in her stomach! They also found a small puncture wound between her toes!! Whatever happened these are questions left unanswered. It is quick to say she took an overdose due to her history but things don't add up. Regardless she is bigger now than ever. DiMaggio was heartbroken as it seemed they may have been seeing each other just before she died. He made sure red roses were at her burial crypt every week.

Films: "The Asphalt Jungle", "The Lady Eve", "Niagara", "Gentlemen Prefer Blondes", "How To Marry A Millionaire", "The Seven Year Itch", "Bus Stop", "Some Like It Hot", "The Misfits"

Quote: " "I want to be a big star more than anything. It's something precious."





76 comments:

  1. It's tragic that Marilyn Monroe died so young. I never heard about the puncture wound between her toes, and the phone misplacement. You're like a forensic scientist now, Birgit. Some Like It Hot was my favorite MM movie!

    Julie

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    1. I had seen a detailed documentary about her and JFK and it was not sensationalised. I have read and heard about the puncture wound more than once but it is not talked about openly. I love that movie!

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  2. I am learning so much Birgit reading your blog each day...I remember the day Marilyn died I was at girl guide camp.....xxxxxx

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    1. Oh wow-It must have been a day that one never forgets

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  3. Very interesting article. Thank you for writing it. I learned a lot about Marilyn.

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  4. After her death I won a contest by answering questions about her career. I still have the album of hers that I won.

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  5. The shadiness surrounding her death has been gossip fodder forever, and for good reason (FOUL PLAY!)...UGH, I love her so much...such a great actress who was underrated because of her looks, which is a shame...since she's still so underrated!

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    1. She is and she is quite good. She is still an icon but more about her beauty and sex appeal than her acting

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  6. How could M now be for Marilyn Monroe. I love her! Her life was a hard one. Her death is still so sad. She died young and with a lot of potential. Could you imagine how much bigger she could've got in her career if she hadn't died?

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    1. Oh there are what if? I wonder if she would be as big an icon actually. She may have finally gotten the help at the Betty Ford centre when it opened in the 70's. She could have finally won an Oscar. Then again, she could have gained weight and been happily married

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  7. I knew you'd have Marilyn today! All those questions about her death will never be answered, and the speculation will probably go on and on. She's another screen personality who will be forever young, forever glamorous, forever tragic.

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    1. Yes-she is not one of my favourites but I know one person from last year who read my post was hoping i would talk about Marilyn. No one will ever truly know what happened but there is enough evidence for everyone to at least ponder-sad actually. I would rather be old and wrinkly than be forever young and glamourous since that would mean I am dead

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  8. Some Like It Hot is definitely my favorite film that she's done. :)

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  9. Not my favorite actress, but what an icon. And what she said about beauty and society being ugly I think is absolutely wonderful.

    Good luck with the A to Z Challenge!
    A to Z Co-Host S. L. Hennessy
    http://pensuasion.blogspot.com/

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    1. She is not my fav either but she is an icon and should get a mention

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    1. With all the people he has kissed I wouldn't doubt it. I am amazed his lips didn't fall off

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  11. Just the best! So beautiful, and so sad (again).
    Anabel's Travel Blog

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    1. I know...Tomorrow is just as sad...sorry but then it perks up:)

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  12. I remember reading about the flowers placed at her crypt for all those years. I have to agree with you, murder over suicide. Seems like a cover up for sure with it all. Sad life she had.

    betty

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    1. Whatever happened between her and Joe I think they did love each other. I do think there was a cover up and it was easy to do with her since she was so mixed up

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  13. Sounds like murder to me.
    And Al's comment is priceless.

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    1. I think so and yes Al's comment is hilarious:)

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  14. Never knew about the wound between her toes. Sounds like something fishy went on there.

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    1. Yes-there was a great documentary about this and they showed the report plus I had read it in more than one book

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  15. A lot of people think she was murdered. Amazing how much more people are worth dead than alive.

    Stephen Tremp
    A to Z Cohost
    M is for Movies

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  16. Didn't know a lot of this info toward the end of your post. So very sad. I think it is hard for anyone to handle stardom in such doses and not have it change who you are or turn you into someone you never thought you'd be. Looking at Mel Gibson, John Travolta, Tom Cruise to name a few. Women too, Judy Garland, Brittney Murphy, and others. So very sad there doesn't seem to be many who can help folks deal in real ways with this kind of pressure (the way Crosby did with Drew Barrymore). One reason I always admired Paul Newman. He seemed to be able to keep his wits about him from beginning to end... not to mention Gregory Peck, one of my all time favs... Lisa, co-host AtoZ 2015, @ http://www.lisabuiecollard.com

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    1. They so needed help back then and did not have everything out there stars have today. Paul Newman, James Stewart, John Wayne, James Cagney, Hugh Jackman and yes Gregory Peck...hmmm I wonder what i will have for the letter "P" :)

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  17. I didn't know most of this information in this post. I've always thought it's such a shame that she died so young, I guess we'll never really know what happened there.

    Cait @ Click's Clan

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  18. Happy halfway day! I can't believe you didn't do Marilyn Monroe last year. I'm impressed you were able to save her til now! What a classic actress, icon, sex symbol, everything. Is anyone from that era more recognizable?

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    1. She is not my favourite but she deserves a spot and I think she is the most recognizable around the world

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  19. What a tragic childhood she had. She was amazingly strong to get through it and to go as far as she did. I liked her acting the most in the movie with Lauren Bacall and Ginger Rogers. If the world didn't demand that she show herself as a sexpot, I think she would've shown herself as versatile an actor as Meryl Streep.

    When she was still Norma Jean Baker, she was crowned the first Artichoke Queen of Castroville, which is about 30 miles from my town.

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    1. That is great! I did not know that she was Artichoke Queen. "How To Marry A Millionaire was with Bacall and Betty Grable:)

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  20. I didn't know most of that. What a dreadful childhood. Amazing she made it to the top. I had heard about problems with turning up on sets and being drunk. Odd about the puncture mark. I had often wondered about her death but kind of accepted the suicide version. Now I think differently. There was a Mafia connection through JFK.

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    1. Yes she was often late on the set and it was more pills than anything else. She was scared to death of the camera.

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  21. Marilyn Monroe will never age on grow old in living memory. Why someone wanted her fixed is beyond me but she did mix with powerful people. I'm guessing she saw or heard something in the wrong place at the wrong time. I didn't know about the red roses. She really made a lasting impression.

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    1. Yes she is the most known person all around the world I think. She was talking about having a press conference and there was one scheduled but she died a couple days before she was going to hold one. She said she was going to blow the roof off something...what? we will never know

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  22. Although I know of Marilyn Monroe and have seen many pictures and clips of her- I have never seen any of the movie she was in. She was certainly beautiful and she sounds like she had a very tough life. Thanks for sharing all those interesting facts. :)
    ~Jess

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    1. Oh you have to see a couple of her films. She was a good comedian

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  23. I've seen a bunch of her films. Tragic life. There's something about that drive to be famous...

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  24. Such a tragic ending. And, murder, yes.

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  25. Given the stature of her famous lover and his family's connections and particularly those of his father, I've always thought it was murder.

    It's sad that no matter how famous she became it didn't satisfy or appease her inner self. But then, many who reach that step find that to be true.

    Sia McKye Over Coffee

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    1. How true! She got what she wanted and the wanted to fly away from it

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  26. Yeah, there definitely was something bigger going on there. It's fascinating, the things people got away with back then. Not as much so now. The death (murder?) of Natalie Wood has always fascinated me. She was SOOO beautiful and I think Robert Wagner's going to get away with it. There just isn't enough proof and too much time has passed.

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    1. I agree! Natalie was phobic about the water. There is no way she would be close to that water. I am phobic about heights-you won't see me up high anywhere trying to get away on my own-it doesn't happen. It might have been a mistake that Wagner then covered up and Walkin is a part of this

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  27. Wow, what a great tidbits about Marilyn Monroe. I didn't really know anything about her other than she was and is still admired by so many. very sad what happened to her.

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    1. It is sad about her life and with all the movies about her and books we will never truly know her

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  28. I do wonder what happened. She was surrounded by some pretty big name-folks at the end. Her horrid childhood is so unforgivable. Hearing about it, I feel bad no one could save or help her...and appeared to take advantage of her. To her credit, I think it's commendable she wanted to be remembered as an actress and had studied acting.
    Inventions by Women A-Z
    Shells–Tales–Sails

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    1. She had a horrific childhood but she did rise above it and so many now just want to love her

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  29. Marilyn!!

    Fascinating, beautiful, tragic, funny - she really had it all. It was a shame that she seemed to struggle with her private life, particularly her relationships. She is the perfect "M" choice for your theme.

    Great post, Birgit!

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    1. Thank you:) It seems many women struggle with relationships when they have had a bad childhood. I think her wish for fame also got in the way

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  30. Marilyn, so pretty and she had such a tragic life. I wouldn't be surprised if she was murdered either, but of course, we'll never really know.

    Sunni

    http://sunni-survivinglife.blogspot.com/

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    1. No we won't but there is too much evidence to say just a suicide and I do think she was murdered despite her health struggles

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  31. It makes you want to really hurt parents for messing their kids up like they did. So much beauty and potential. Had she had a semblance of stability during childhood, she could've done even more, without the torment.

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    1. Yes but her mom was quite unstable and there seems to be a family history. She may never have gone into movies either so we will never know

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  32. It is tragic what happened to her.

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  33. She had so much to offer, fun and beautiful... sadly sad. Thank you for the solid post.

    Jeremy [Retro]
    AtoZ Challenge Co-Host [2015]

    There's no earthly way of knowing.
    Which direction we are going!

    HOLLYWOOD NUTS!
    Come Visit: You know you want to know if me or Hollywood... is Nuts?

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  34. I believe murder too and I have my own ideas why. I remember when she died, it was the biggest news of the day. The camera just loved her.

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    1. OOh I would love to hear your ideas. I think , if one was alive back then, one remembers where they were when they heard the news

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  35. It's amazing to think she was only 36 when she died. Gone so much longer than she ever lived but still as famous as ever. Everything about her story is so tragic.

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    1. I know-I am 14 years older than she was when she passed away. Weird that she would be 89 if she were alive today

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  36. Thank you for featuring MM. The seven year itch was a movie i loved to watch.

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    1. I remembered! That movie is great and my fav-Some Like It Hot:)

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  37. Thank you for featuring MM. The seven year itch was a movie i loved to watch.

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