Marilyn Monroe facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Marilyn Monroe
Monroe in 1953
Born	Norma Jeane Mortenson (1926-06-01)June 1, 1926 Los Angeles, California, U.S.
Died	August 4, 1962(1962-08-04) (aged 36) Los Angeles, California, U.S.
Burial place	Westwood Village Memorial Park Cemetery
Other names	Norma Jeane Baker
Occupation	Actress model singer
Years active	1945–1962
Spouse(s)	James Dougherty ​ ​ (m. 1942; div. 1946)​ Joe DiMaggio ​ ​ (m. 1954; div. 1955)​ Arthur Miller ​ ​ (m. 1956; div. 1961)​
Parent(s)	Gladys Pearl Baker (mother)
Relatives	Berniece Baker Miracle (half-sister)
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Marilyn Monroe (born Norma Jeane Mortenson; June 1, 1926 – August 4, 1962) was a famous American actress, model, and singer. She became one of the biggest stars of the 1950s and early 1960s. Her movies earned a lot of money, making her a top actress for ten years. Even after her death in 1962, Marilyn Monroe is still a major icon in pop culture.

Early Life of Marilyn Monroe

Monroe as an infant, c. 1927

Marilyn Monroe was born Norma Jeane Mortenson on June 1, 1926. Her birthplace was the Los Angeles General Hospital in Los Angeles, California. Her mother, Gladys Pearl Baker, was from a poor family in the Midwest. They moved to California around 1900. In 2022, DNA tests showed that Monroe's father was Charles Stanley Gifford. He worked with her mother, Gladys.

Gladys was not ready to raise a child on her own. So, she placed Norma Jeane with foster parents, Albert and Ida Bolender. They lived in the quiet town of Hawthorne, California. Norma Jeane was happy there for a few years. In 1933, Gladys bought a small house in Hollywood. Seven-year-old Norma Jeane moved in with her.

In 1934, Gladys faced health challenges and could not always care for her daughter. Marilyn spent much of her childhood in many different foster homes and an orphanage.

Education and Learning

In September 1938, Norma Jeane went to live with a family friend's aunt, Ana Lower. They lived in the Sawtelle area. She attended Emerson Junior High School. She also went to weekly Christian Science services with Ana.

In 1941, she started going to Van Nuys High School. She left school when she was 16 years old to get married for the first time.

Marilyn Monroe's Personal Life

1945 YANK magazine photo (colorized version) of Marilyn Monroe as Norma Jeane Dougherty

Marilyn Monroe was married three times. Her first marriage was to James Dougherty. She married him on June 19, 1942, shortly after her 16th birthday. She left high school and became a housewife. She later said she was "dying of boredom" during this marriage. They divorced in September 1946.

Monroe and Joe DiMaggio after getting married in San Francisco in January 1954

She started dating retired baseball star Joe DiMaggio in 1952. He was a very famous sports personality at the time. They got married in 1954 but divorced just one year later.

Monroe and Arthur Miller at their wedding in June 1956

Her last husband was the writer Arthur Miller. They married on June 29, 1956, in White Plains, New York. Two days later, they had a Jewish ceremony. They divorced in January 1961.

Marilyn Monroe did not have any children.

Modeling and Acting Career

During World War II, Marilyn was working in a factory. There, she met a photographer who worked for the First Motion Picture Unit. This led her to start a successful career as a pin-up model. She soon got short film contracts with 20th Century Fox and Columbia Pictures.

After playing several small roles in movies, she signed a new contract with Fox in late 1950. Over the next two years, she became a popular actress. She appeared in comedies like As Young as You Feel and Monkey Business. She also acted in dramas such as Clash by Night and Don't Bother to Knock.

By 1953, Monroe was one of the most famous stars in Hollywood. She played leading roles in the film noir movie Niagara. She also starred in comedies like Gentlemen Prefer Blondes and How to Marry a Millionaire. These roles helped create her famous "dumb blonde" image.

Monroe worked hard to manage her public image. However, she was often disappointed when she was typecast into similar roles and not paid enough by the studio. In early 1954, she was briefly suspended for not taking a film role. But she returned to star in The Seven Year Itch (1955). This movie became one of her biggest successes at the box office.

When the studio did not want to change Monroe's contract, she started her own film production company in 1954. She spent 1955 building her company. She also began studying method acting with Lee Strasberg at the Actors Studio. Later that year, Fox gave her a new contract. This contract gave her more control over her roles and a higher salary.

Her next roles included a praised performance in Bus Stop (1956). She also made her first independent film, The Prince and the Showgirl (1957). She won a Golden Globe for Best Actress for her role in Some Like It Hot (1959). This movie was loved by both critics and audiences. Her last completed movie was the drama The Misfits (1961).

Death

Monroe (third from left) with actors on a filming set during her visit to Mexico in 1962. This was one of her last public appearances.

In her final months, Monroe lived in the Brentwood neighborhood of Los Angeles. She passed away there on August 4, 1962, at the age of 36.

Filmography

Famous Quotes by Marilyn Monroe

• “Imperfection is beauty, madness is genius and it's better to be absolutely ridiculous than absolutely boring.”
• “This life is what you make it. No matter what, you're going to mess up sometimes, it's a universal truth. But the good part is you get to decide how you're going to mess it up.”
• “I don't mind living in a man's world, as long as I can be a woman in it.”
• “Keep smiling, because life is a beautiful thing and there's so much to smile about.”

Interesting Facts About Marilyn Monroe

• In school, she was good at writing and wrote for the school newspaper. Otherwise, she was an average student.
• She was shy when she was a child.
• As a model, Monroe sometimes used the fake name Jean Norman.
• She had dark, curly hair. To get more acting jobs, she straightened her hair and dyed it blonde.
• In August 1946, she and a film executive chose the stage name "Marilyn Monroe." The first name came from a Broadway star, Marilyn Miller. The last name, Monroe, was her mother's maiden name.
• She officially changed her name to Marilyn Monroe in 1956.
• When she married Arthur Miller, Monroe converted to Judaism. After this, Egypt banned all of her films.
• Monroe had two half-siblings from her mother's first marriage: Robert and Berniece. She also had two other half-siblings from her father's first marriage: Doris and Charles.
• She faced challenges with her mood and feelings.
• Many books, movies, plays, operas, and songs have been made about Monroe. She has inspired artists like Andy Warhol and Madonna.
• She appeared in advertisements for brands such as Max Factor, Chanel, and Mercedes-Benz.
• Monroe is still a cultural icon, meaning she is a very famous and important person in culture.

Images for kids

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  A photo of Monroe taken by David Conover in mid-1944 at the Radioplane Company

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  Monroe in a 1948 publicity photo

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  Monroe in The Asphalt Jungle (1950), one of her earliest performances to gain attention from film critics

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  Monroe with Keith Andes in Clash by Night (1952). The film allowed Monroe to display more of her acting range in a dramatic role.

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  Monroe in Don't Bother to Knock (1952)

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  Monroe's dramatic performance in Bus Stop (1956) marked a departure from her earlier comedies.

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  Monroe with Laurence Olivier in a publicity photo for The Prince and the Showgirl (1957)

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  Monroe with Jack Lemmon and Tony Curtis in Some Like It Hot (1959), for which she won a Golden Globe

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  Monroe, Estelle Winwood, Eli Wallach, Montgomery Clift, and Clark Gable in The Misfits (1961). It was the last completed film for Monroe and Gable, who both died within two years.

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  Monroe on the set of Something's Got to Give. She was absent for most of the production due to illness and was fired by Fox in June 1962, two months before her death.

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  Front page of the New York Mirror on August 6, 1962

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  Monroe's crypt at Westwood Village Memorial Park Cemetery in Westwood Village

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  Actress Jean Harlow in 1934; Monroe took inspiration from her to develop her star image.

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  Monroe arriving at a party celebrating Louella Parsons at Ciro's nightclub in 1953

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  Monroe in a Lustre-Creme shampoo advertisement of 1953

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  Left panel from pop artist James Gill's painting Marilyn Triptych (1962)

See Also

In Spanish: Marilyn Monroe para niños