Marilyn Monroe Essay, Research Paper

Many people said that Marilyn Monroe was a great

inspiration in their lives, but through my research, I found

out that she was everything but an inspiration. Throughout

my report, I will give you many facts about marilyn s rough

life and what she did to handle them.

Marilyn Monroe, AKA Norma Jean Mortenson/Baker,

was born at Los Angeles General Hospital at 9:39 am on

June 1st, 1926. The hospital in which she was born is

now the County University of Southern California Medical

Center. Marilyn was born an illegitimate child whose father

(Edward Mortenson) had deserted her mother (Gladys

Baker). However, her real father was Stanley Gifford who

left Gladys when he found out she was pregnant.

Her mother worked at the Consolidated Film Industries

lab as a cutter of negative film. She worked long hours, at

low pay, at a boring and tedious eyestraining job. Since she

was at her job most of the time, she had to pay others to

look after Marilyn. Sometimes she would only get to see her

mother only early in the morning or at night. It was enough

for any mom to have a nervous breakdown. All Marilyn

remembered was her mother being in and out of hospitals.

Marilyn s mother was working long hours at the film lab

just to make ends meet. She became very tired and nervous;

life became difficult for her. She had been sent to the

Norwalk State hospital for Mental Diseases for a rest when

Marilyn was only five years old. That was what caused her

to have a nervous breakdown and that is what caused

Marilyn to spend her childhood in and out of foster homes.

When Gladys first went to the hospital, Marilyn moved in

with her mother s best friend.

When her mom s best friend remarried, she told Marilyn that

her house was too small and someone had to go. Marilyn

was only nine years old then. So one day, she packed

Marilyn s clothes in a suitcase and they got in her car. They

drove and drove for a long time without telling Marilyn

where she was going. They finally arrived at a three-story

red-brick building. Marilyn looked up at the sign and it said

LOS ANGELES ORPHANS HOME. Marilyn told her, Please

don t let me stay here. I m not an orphan, my mother s not

dead. Her mom s friend had to drag her inside the

orphanage. Her mother s girlfriend had promised her that

she would take good care of her. She promised Marilyn that

she would come back often and visit her. She also promised

her that she would get her out of the orphanage as soon as

she was able to. Marilyn didn t believe her though. She

later found out that her mom s best friend was Grace

Goddard. She was her aunt Grace. While in the orphanage,

Marilyn was sexually abused. Two years later, her Aunt

Grace finally took her out of the orphanage. When they

returned from the orphanage, Aunt Grace took Marilyn to

live with her aunt. She lived in Van Nuys, a very poor

neighborhood on the outskirts of Los Angeles. Her name

was Edith Ana Atchison Lower, a sixty-two-year-old spinster.

Her home was a rundown bungalow, and the people in the

neighborhood were mostly poor and on relief. Although she

was poor, Aunt Ana became the greatest influence in

Marilyn s life. She said she was such an influence because

she taught Marilyn to appreciate the simple things in life.

She taught Marilyn what was important in life.

Marilyn commented about her Aunt Ana, She didn t believe

in sickness, disease, or death. She didn t believe in a person

being a failure, either. She did believe the mind could

achieve anything it wished to achieve.

Marilyn had problems with her diction when she went

to High School. She also stuttered a lot. No one really

knew, but her mother bought her a piano that belonged to

the famous actor Fredric March.

Marilyn Monroe always looked older than her age.

When she was only ten, she shot up to her full height 5 5 ,

except she was skinny and looked boyish. At thirteen

everyone said that she looked eighteen, and the boys in their

twenties were trying to date her.

Just three weeks after her sixteenth birthday, she was

married to the boy next door, Jim Dougherty. He was

tweny-one going on twenty-two. They dated for several

months to get to know each other better. And just three

weeks after her birthday, they had their double-ring

ceremony. In those days, she would be considered a child

bride. Wouldn t she be considered a child bride now?

Marilyn s Aunt Ana designed her wedding gown. Marilyn

was listed as her niece on the marriage certificate. At this

wedding she had six mothers claim her and all wheeping

when she marched down the aisle. The mothers all

considered her their daughter because they were her foster

mother s at one time or another.

In 1944, during World War II, Jim listed in the U.S.

Merchant Marine. After his boot training he was stationed

at Catalina Island, not far from where we had been living in

Los Angeles. He was a physical training instructor there, and

Marilyn enjoyed the fact that she was able to join him there.

marilyn remembered it as being a world of men, all sailors

with their wives and families. She said that Jim became

jealous because all of the men would whistle at her as she

passed by. He would lecture her on the type of clothes she

would wear. Marilyn told him that he didn t have to worry

because she would always stay faithful to him. Not many

people believed her though- especially him.

When Jim was shipped to Shanghai, Marilyn went back

to Van Nuys to live with his family. She got a job at the

Radio Plane plant in Burbank {a defense plant}. They

started her there as a parachute inspector, and later she was

promoted to the dope room, where she would spray this

liquid dope, which is made by mixing banana oil and glue, on

the planes fuselages. These were miniature planes used for

target practice. The dope was sprayed on to give it strength.

She worked in overalls and kept her head covered most of

the time so that the dope wouldn t get into her hair, since it

was messy and difficult to wash out.

One day and army photographer came to the plant. He

was from the army s pictorial center in Hollywood. His

assignment was to take pictures for the army newspapers

and magazines of people working in defense plants, showing

them doing their share in the war effort. He called them

morale-booster photos. Marilyn was later told that these

were photos of pretty girls at work.

So when this army photographer, David Conover,

passed by where Marilyn was working, he told her that she

was a real morale booster and told her that he wanted to

take a picture of her for the boys in the army to keep their

morale high.

Those pictures that he took were the first that ever

appeared in a publication. They appeared in hundreds of

army camp newspapers, including the army s famous Yank

magazine and Stars and Stripes.

When David phoned Marilyn a few weeks later, he said

he had shown her pictures to a commercial photographer

friend in Los Angeles and told her that if she was interested

in modeling he would like to see her. She soon called the

photographer, Potter Hueth, and made an appointment to see

him. At his studio he explained to Marilyn that he couldn t

pay for modeling right now, but if she wanted to speculate

with him he would take pictures of her and when he sold

them to the magazines he would pay her. He told her that

the fee was usually five to ten dollars an hour, which was a

lot of money in those days. She agreed to model for him,

but only at night because she did not want to put her other

job in jeopardy.

Marilyn s modeling career started when Potter Hueth

showed the pictures he took of her to Miss Snively, who

then ran the largest model agency in Los Angeles. Marilyn

was quite excited when she agreed to see her. When her

appointment was made, she couldn t sleep that night. If she

didn t like her, that would be the end of her modeling

career-before it started.

Marilyn, calling in sick, took the day off to go see Miss

Snively. She was then nineteen, her marriage was strained,

and she was thinking of divorce. When she wrote to her

husband, she explained that she didn t love him anymore,

that she had a chance for a career as a model, and that she

wanted freedom to pursue her career. She wanted a divorce.

When Jim received the letter, he asked her if she would

wait until he returned from overseas to see if they could

patch things up and make a go for their marriage. But

Marilyn knew the marriage was over. A career was more

important to her. She wanted to become an actress more

than ever. She figured that modeling would give her a

break.

At the appointed hour-11:00 am-Marilyn entered Miss

Snively s office. In there, she told Marilyn that she would

need to go through some modeling classes and that the

tuition was $100.00. Marilyn told her that she didn t

have any money and Miss Snively told her that she could

just pay her with the money she makes working for her.

Marilyn s first modeling job was being a hostess at an

aluminum exhibit at the Los Angeles Home Show in the Pan

Pacific Auditorium. She received $10.00 a day for ten

days, which all went to paying for her modeling lessons.

Marilyn s second modeling job didn t go so well. She

was fired because she wasn t sexy enough. Right after they

told her that, she quit her job at the plant and devoted all

her time to modeling. She wasn t going to let anything or

anyone else stand in her way. They then started putting her

in bathing suits, and all of the sudden she became popular.

In those days, she was a brunette. Miss Snively kept

insisting that she become a blonde. But, Marilyn refused to

bleach her hair. Miss Snively then told her. Norma Jean, if

you expect to go places, you ve got to be a blonde. She

finally agreed to bleach her hair. Photographer Raphael

Wolff agreed to pay for the bleaching. Marilyn had long

hair and they cut it short and styled it in an upsweep. She

didn t really like the look at first-but she knew it got the

attention she needed.

Her first screen test at Fox was a silent test. There

was no dialogue. Mr. Leon Shamroy was the motion picture

cameraman who they said was the best in the business. He

would photograph her screen test.

Secretly one morning around 5:30, Mr. Shamroy and

Marilyn sneaked on the set. She made up in a portable

dressing room that Mr. Lyon sneaked out of wardrobe. The

dress was lovely, a sequined evening gown for her wear for

her big scene. They rehearsed Marilyn s first big scene and

then she began the scene and prayed silently that this was

her big start, the beginning of becoming a motion picture

actress.

Mr. Zanuck saw her screening and loved it! Mr. Lyon

gave her a contract to take home for her legal guardian

Aunt Grace to sign. Mr. Lyon suggested that her first name

be Marilyn and her Aunt Grace told her to use her mother s

maiden name-Monroe. So that is how she got her name.

Later that year, Jim and Marilyn finally divorced in

Reno, Nevada. This occurred just six weeks before she

signed her movie contracts with one of the largest motion

picture studios, Twentieth Century-Fox. And she was only

twenty years old.

After this, Marilyn s life would only just begin to get

better-or so she thought. The money kept pouring in, but

her marriages weren t lasting. Marilyn began to throw

herself to men. She slept with every producer she had ever

had. She starred in thirty movies (one uncompleted). She

married Joe DiMaggio in 1953 and they divorced in 1954.

Then, she married Arthur Miller in 1956 then later

divorced. This is what made her further prey to alcohol and

pills.

Marilyn then moved to 12305 Fifth Elena Drive,

Brentwood. The house is in a cul-de-sac. Frank Sinatra gave

marilyn Monroe a white poodle. His name was Maf. From

this point on, Marilyn downsided. She became very

depressed. She wanted children or a man to live with.

When she would go on her photo shoots, she would become

very down on herself. She had thirteen abortions. Marilyn

had affairs with John F. Kennedy, Robert Kennedy, Marlon

Brando, Jose Bolanos, and Frank Sinatra are just some of

the men.

In 1961, she received a Golden Globe Award for Some Like

It Hot. She sang Happy Birthday to John F. Kennedy in

1962.

Marilyn Monroe loved posing on the Santa Monica

beach. She was late for one of her last photo shoots, but

George Barris rescheduled for the next day. That next day,

around 7:30 PM on July 13, 1962, was the day that the

last picture of her on Santa Monica beach was taken, and

was to be her last. Her good friend and photographer

George Barris, lost his shoe on the beach right before their

departure from there, so Marilyn told him that the ocean

apparently needed it more than he did, so they both threw

their shoes in the ocean and left Santa Monica beach forever.

Marilyn Monroe was found dead in her Brentwood

home, on August 5, 1962 officially a victim of barbiturate

overdose. Marilyn was 36. At 36, she made a statement-

I m thirty-six and I m just getting started. She overdosed

on sleeping pills. Marilyn was in the process of making a

movie Something s Got to Give , but was dropped from the

movie because of chronic lateness and drug dependency. She

died four months after she was fired.

Marilyn s funeral was on Wednesday, August 8,1962.

Marilyn s coffin is in a marble wall-crypt to which a bronze

plaque is attached: Marilyn Monroe

1926-1962

May she rest in peace. She should have turned to God

rather than drugs. Popularity is no excuse to throw your life

away. What was the priority in Marilyn Monroe s life?

How could she even begin to inspire a living person???

Many people said that Marilyn Monroe was a great

inspiration in their lives, but through my research, I found

out that she was everything but an inspiration. Throughout

my report, I will give you many facts about marilyn s rough

life and what she did to handle them.

Marilyn Monroe, AKA Norma Jean Mortenson/Baker,

was born at Los Angeles General Hospital at 9:39 am on

June 1st, 1926. The hospital in which she was born is

now the County University of Southern California Medical

Center. Marilyn was born an illegitimate child whose father

(Edward Mortenson) had deserted her mother (Gladys

Baker). However, her real father was Stanley Gifford who

left Gladys when he found out she was pregnant.

Her mother worked at the Consolidated Film Industries

lab as a cutter of negative film. She worked long hours, at

low pay, at a boring and tedious eyestraining job. Since she

was at her job most of the time, she had to pay others to

look after Marilyn. Sometimes she would only get to see her

mother only early in the morning or at night. It was enough

for any mom to have a nervous breakdown. All Marilyn

remembered was her mother being in and out of hospitals.

Marilyn s mother was working long hours at the film lab

just to make ends meet. She became very tired and nervous;

life became difficult for her. She had been sent to the

Norwalk State hospital for Mental Diseases for a rest when

Marilyn was only five years old. That was what caused her

to have a nervous breakdown and that is what caused

Marilyn to spend her childhood in and out of foster homes.

When Gladys first went to the hospital, Marilyn moved in

with her mother s best friend.

When her mom s best friend remarried, she told Marilyn that

her house was too small and someone had to go. Marilyn

was only nine years old then. So one day, she packed

Marilyn s clothes in a suitcase and they got in her car. They

drove and drove for a long time without telling Marilyn

where she was going. They finally arrived at a three-story

red-brick building. Marilyn looked up at the sign and it said

LOS ANGELES ORPHANS HOME. Marilyn told her, Please

don t let me stay here. I m not an orphan, my mother s not

dead. Her mom s friend had to drag her inside the

orphanage. Her mother s girlfriend had promised her that

she would take good care of her. She promised Marilyn that

she would come back often and visit her. She also promised

her that she would get her out of the orphanage as soon as

she was able to. Marilyn didn t believe her though. She

later found out that her mom s best friend was Grace

Goddard. She was her aunt Grace. While in the orphanage,

Marilyn was sexually abused. Two years later, her Aunt

Grace finally took her out of the orphanage. When they

returned from the orphanage, Aunt Grace took Marilyn to

live with her aunt. She lived in Van Nuys, a very poor

neighborhood on the outskirts of Los Angeles. Her name

was Edith Ana Atchison Lower, a sixty-two-year-old spinster.

Her home was a rundown bungalow, and the people in the

neighborhood were mostly poor and on relief. Although she

was poor, Aunt Ana became the greatest influence in

Marilyn s life. She said she was such an influence because

she taught Marilyn to appreciate the simple things in life.

She taught Marilyn what was important in life.

Marilyn commented about her Aunt Ana, She didn t believe

in sickness, disease, or death. She didn t believe in a person

being a failure, either. She did believe the mind could

achieve anything it wished to achieve.

Marilyn had problems with her diction when she went

to High School. She also stuttered a lot. No one really

knew, but her mother bought her a piano that belonged to

the famous actor Fredric March.

Marilyn Monroe always looked older than her age.

When she was only ten, she shot up to her full height 5 5 ,

except she was skinny and looked boyish. At thirteen

everyone said that she looked eighteen, and the boys in their

twenties were trying to date her.

Just three weeks after her sixteenth birthday, she was

married to the boy next door, Jim Dougherty. He was

tweny-one going on twenty-two. They dated for several

months to get to know each other better. And just three

weeks after her birthday, they had their double-ring

ceremony. In those days, she would be considered a child

bride. Wouldn t she be considered a child bride now?

Marilyn s Aunt Ana designed her wedding gown. Marilyn

was listed as her niece on the marriage certificate. At this

wedding she had six mothers claim her and all wheeping

when she marched down the aisle. The mothers all

considered her their daughter because they were her foster

mother s at one time or another.

In 1944, during World War II, Jim listed in the U.S.

Merchant Marine. After his boot training he was stationed

at Catalina Island, not far from where we had been living in

Los Angeles. He was a physical training instructor there, and

Marilyn enjoyed the fact that she was able to join him there.

marilyn remembered it as being a world of men, all sailors

with their wives and families. She said that Jim became

jealous because all of the men would whistle at her as she

passed by. He would lecture her on the type of clothes she

would wear. Marilyn told him that he didn t have to worry

because she would always stay faithful to him. Not many

people believed her though- especially him.

When Jim was shipped to Shanghai, Marilyn went back

to Van Nuys to live with his family. She got a job at the

Radio Plane plant in Burbank {a defense plant}. They

started her there as a parachute inspector, and later she was

promoted to the dope room, where she would spray this

liquid dope, which is made by mixing banana oil and glue, on

the planes fuselages. These were miniature planes used for

target practice. The dope was sprayed on to give it strength.

She worked in overalls and kept her head covered most of

the time so that the dope wouldn t get into her hair, since it

was messy and difficult to wash out.

One day and army photographer came to the plant. He

was from the army s pictorial center in Hollywood. His

assignment was to take pictures for the army newspapers

and magazines of people working in defense plants, showing

them doing their share in the war effort. He called them

morale-booster photos. Marilyn was later told that these

were photos of pretty girls at work.

So when this army photographer, David Conover,

passed by where Marilyn was working, he told her that she

was a real morale booster and told her that he wanted to

take a picture of her for the boys in the army to keep their

morale high.

Those pictures that he took were the first that ever

appeared in a publication. They appeared in hundreds of

army camp newspapers, including the army s famous Yank

magazine and Stars and Stripes.

When David phoned Marilyn a few weeks later, he said

he had shown her pictures to a commercial photographer

friend in Los Angeles and told her that if she was interested

in modeling he would like to see her. She soon called the

photographer, Potter Hueth, and made an appointment to see

him. At his studio he explained to Marilyn that he couldn t

pay for modeling right now, but if she wanted to speculate

with him he would take pictures of her and when he sold

them to the magazines he would pay her. He told her that

the fee was usually five to ten dollars an hour, which was a

lot of money in those days. She agreed to model for him,

but only at night because she did not want to put her other

job in jeopardy.

Marilyn s modeling career started when Potter Hueth

showed the pictures he took of her to Miss Snively, who

then ran the largest model agency in Los Angeles. Marilyn

was quite excited when she agreed to see her. When her

appointment was made, she couldn t sleep that night. If she

didn t like her, that would be the end of her modeling

career-before it started.

Marilyn, calling in sick, took the day off to go see Miss

Snively. She was then nineteen, her marriage was strained,

and she was thinking of divorce. When she wrote to her

husband, she explained that she didn t love him anymore,

that she had a chance for a career as a model, and that she

wanted freedom to pursue her career. She wanted a divorce.

When Jim received the letter, he asked her if she would

wait until he returned from overseas to see if they could

patch things up and make a go for their marriage. But

Marilyn knew the marriage was over. A career was more

important to her. She wanted to become an actress more

than ever. She figured that modeling would give her a

break.

At the appointed hour-11:00 am-Marilyn entered Miss

Snively s office. In there, she told Marilyn that she would

need to go through some modeling classes and that the

tuition was $100.00. Marilyn told her that she didn t

have any money and Miss Snively told her that she could

just pay her with the money she makes working for her.

Marilyn s first modeling job was being a hostess at an

aluminum exhibit at the Los Angeles Home Show in the Pan

Pacific Auditorium. She received $10.00 a day for ten

days, which all went to paying for her modeling lessons.

Marilyn s second modeling job didn t go so well. She

was fired because she wasn t sexy enough. Right after they

told her that, she quit her job at the plant and devoted all

her time to modeling. She wasn t going to let anything or

anyone else stand in her way. They then started putting her

in bathing suits, and all of the sudden she became popular.

In those days, she was a brunette. Miss Snively kept

insisting that she become a blonde. But, Marilyn refused to

bleach her hair. Miss Snively then told her. Norma Jean, if

you expect to go places, you ve got to be a blonde. She

finally agreed to bleach her hair. Photographer Raphael

Wolff agreed to pay for the bleaching. Marilyn had long

hair and they cut it short and styled it in an upsweep. She

didn t really like the look at first-but she knew it got the

attention she needed.

Her first screen test at Fox was a silent test. There

was no dialogue. Mr. Leon Shamroy was the motion picture

cameraman who they said was the best in the business. He

would photograph her screen test.

Secretly one morning around 5:30, Mr. Shamroy and

Marilyn sneaked on the set. She made up in a portable

dressing room that Mr. Lyon sneaked out of wardrobe. The

dress was lovely, a sequined evening gown for her wear for

her big scene. They rehearsed Marilyn s first big scene and

then she began the scene and prayed silently that this was

her big start, the beginning of becoming a motion picture

actress.

Mr. Zanuck saw her screening and loved it! Mr. Lyon

gave her a contract to take home for her legal guardian

Aunt Grace to sign. Mr. Lyon suggested that her first name

be Marilyn and her Aunt Grace told her to use her mother s

maiden name-Monroe. So that is how she got her name.

Later that year, Jim and Marilyn finally divorced in

Reno, Nevada. This occurred just six weeks before she

signed her movie contracts with one of the largest motion

picture studios, Twentieth Century-Fox. And she was only

twenty years old.

After this, Marilyn s life would only just begin to get

better-or so she thought. The money kept pouring in, but

her marriages weren t lasting. Marilyn began to throw

herself to men. She slept with every producer she had ever

had. She starred in thirty movies (one uncompleted). She

married Joe DiMaggio in 1953 and they divorced in 1954.

Then, she married Arthur Miller in 1956 then later

divorced. This is what made her further prey to alcohol and

pills.

Marilyn then moved to 12305 Fifth Elena Drive,

Brentwood. The house is in a cul-de-sac. Frank Sinatra gave

marilyn Monroe a white poodle. His name was Maf. From

this point on, Marilyn downsided. She became very

depressed. She wanted children or a man to live with.

When she would go on her photo shoots, she would become

very down on herself. She had thirteen abortions. Marilyn

had affairs with John F. Kennedy, Robert Kennedy, Marlon

Brando, Jose Bolanos, and Frank Sinatra are just some of

the men.

In 1961, she received a Golden Globe Award for Some Like

It Hot. She sang Happy Birthday to John F. Kennedy in

1962.

Marilyn Monroe loved posing on the Santa Monica

beach. She was late for one of her last photo shoots, but

George Barris rescheduled for the next day. That next day,

around 7:30 PM on July 13, 1962, was the day that the

last picture of her on Santa Monica beach was taken, and

was to be her last. Her good friend and photographer

George Barris, lost his shoe on the beach right before their

departure from there, so Marilyn told him that the ocean

apparently needed it more than he did, so they both threw

their shoes in the ocean and left Santa Monica beach forever.

Marilyn Monroe was found dead in her Brentwood

home, on August 5, 1962 officially a victim of barbiturate

overdose. Marilyn was 36. At 36, she made a statement-

I m thirty-six and I m just getting started. She overdosed

on sleeping pills. Marilyn was in the process of making a

movie Something s Got to Give , but was dropped from the

movie because of chronic lateness and drug dependency. She

died four months after she was fired.

Marilyn s funeral was on Wednesday, August 8,1962.

Marilyn s coffin is in a marble wall-crypt to which a bronze

plaque is attached: Marilyn Monroe

1926-1962

May she rest in peace. She should have turned to God

rather than drugs. Popularity is no excuse to throw your life

away. What was the priority in Marilyn Monroe s life?

How could she even begin to inspire a living person???