Marilyn Monroe once said, “Imperfection is beauty, madness is genius, and it’s better to be absolutely ridiculous than absolutely boring.” Marilyn was a mighty woman of her time who inspired many and will always be remembered as an American icon. Many know her as an actress and model, but most know her as America’s sex symbol. However, Marilyn was much more than her popularized “dumb blonde” stereotype. Marilyn was an ambitious woman determined to create a better life for herself. She represented femininity and strived for independence.
Marilyn was born June 1, 1926, in Los Angeles, California, and died at 36 in August 1962. She has had three siblings and three husbands throughout her life. Marilyn is her stage name, but her real name is Norma Jeane. Marilyn had a very traumatic and depressing childhood. Growing up, her mother was regularly confined to an asylum. Twelve different sets of foster parents reared Marilyn, and she was in an orphanage for some time.
1946, Norma started modeling and signed a short-term contract with Twentieth Century Fox, taking her stage name Marilyn Monroe. She made a few minor movie appearances with the company but eventually became unemployed again, so she returned to modeling to make a living. She ended up appearing in more movies and having more significant roles. As her fame increased, she began to star in more important films. Some films included “Gentleman’s Prefer Blondes” and “There’s No Business Like Show Business”. In 1954, she married the famous baseball player Joe DiMaggio, but their marriage only lasted for a year, and after their divorce, her career began to decline.
Marilyn studied with Lee Strasberg at the Actors’ Studios afterward and became recognized as a talented comedian. She appeared in many significant movies after that, some of the most popular including “Some Like It Hot” and her last film “The Misfits.”
In 1962, Marilyn was in the process of filming a comedy but was often absent from the set due to illnesses. She later traveled to New York to sing the famous Happy Birthday song to John F. Kennedy, with whom she was rumored to be having an affair. Not long after she returned from New York she was fired from the film. After she was fired she became a recluse and wasn’t ever often seen by the public eye. Monroe shortly died from an overdose of sleeping pills in her home in Los Angeles. Her death was ruled as a possible suicide which was supported by her history of drug use and previous suicide attempts. However, some believe that she could have been killed after threatening to reveal her alleged affairs with the Kennedy brothers.
Marilyn Monroe was a true icon and surpassed any other entertainer of her time. Her movies grossed more than 200 million dollars. Her perceived image of being the “dumb blonde” stereotype was shown to be only a little bit of the story. Marilyn will always be remembered as an American Cultural Icon who sadly couldn’t take the trauma of her past and the pressure of Hollywood.
