Marilyn Monroe Research Paper

Have you ever considered what it would be like to go from being a tossed around orphan to being covergirl worthy and a dazzling actress swimming in money? Taking a look at the life of Marilyn Monroe would explain this perfectly. Marilyn went from being an unlucky orphan to being one of America’s biggest icons. Her story- from her tragic childhood all the way to stardom and even the very last few years of her life- is truly inspiring. Marilyn Monroe lived a tragic childhood. She was born Norma Jean Mortenson on June 1, 1926 in Los Angeles to Gladys Baker (Owings 14). Just twelve days after her birth, her mother put her in foster care (Owings 16). Norma Jean was in and out of foster care, and at the age of eight, she was raped in one of her

In spring of 1944, Dougherty was sent overseas and Norma Jean moved in with her mother-in-law. Her mother-in-law helped her get a job at a wartime factory. That fall, she met a photographer named David Conover who was taking pictures of the women working at the factory. Conover and many other people encouraged her to quit her job and get into modeling. In January 1945, she started pursuing modeling. By spring of 1946, she was on the covers of more than 30 magazines and began having aspirations of an acting career. Her nude photos from 1949 are what really got people’s attention. Norma’s husband Jim did not like the sexual work that she did and therefore she decided to divorce him later that year (Petersen 2). Norma Jean became a 20th Century Fox star in August of 1946, changed her name to Marilyn Monroe, and dyed her hair blonde. Norma Jean was not a star name, and that is why she changed it (Owings 33). Her career was moving pretty slow, and Fox dropped her after her first year (Owings 36). Marilyn was still casted in movies, but was not signed to anyone. In 1954, though, Fox saw Marilyn and what she had done and renewed the contract with her (Petersen 3). Most of the time, Marilyn Monroe was casted as the dumb blonde bombshell. That is what she was best known for (Owings 44). On January 14, 1954, Marilyn Monroe got married to a famous baseball player, Joe DiMaggio (Owings 54). At this point, Marilyn was living a

In 1955, she had to see a psychoanalyst to help her professionally and personally, since her rely on sleeping pills was making her acting deteriorate. Marilyn was using these pills more heavily (Owings 63). Even through working on balancing her mental health and her career, Marilyn managed to find another husband. In 1956, Marilyn married a man named Arthur Miller (Owings 69). Monroe and Miller had tried for children multiple times but they did not succeed. Marilyn had a miscarriage in 1956 and another in 1958 (Owings 71). They never had children. By 1960, Marilyn was heavily abusing prescription drugs and alcohol. It was hard for her to stop (Owings 76). Marilyn was still a very busy woman and was flying around the world to perform. There were rumors going around that she had affairs with John and Robert Kennedy. This caused her marriage to become rocky and tense. In January 1961 during the filming of The Misfits, the marriage broke apart and Marilyn was single yet again (“Marilyn” 2). Marilyn fell into a depression, most likely because she was lonely and so busy all the time. In February, she began to have thoughts of suicide and was admitted to Payne Whitney Clinic, a psychiatric ward. DiMaggio heard about this and decided to get her out of there to up his status (Owings 78). Marilyn was still depressed, and it was not helping her that she was abusing drugs and alcohol. On August 5, 1962, Marilyn Monroe