Marilyn Monroe
Marilyn Monroe
Marilyn Monroe was born in Los Angeles, California on June 1, 1926. Monroe is famous for being an American actress, model, and singer. She is also renowned for playing the stereotypical blondes. For example, Marilyn Monroe would play blonde characters that are to be described as “dumb blondes” and more desirable, but less intelligent than brunettes. Because of her beauty, she became one of the most popular sex symbols from the 1950s to the early 1960s. Marilyn Monroe was a top-billed actress for 10 years! On top of that, her films earned her millions of dollars. To be exact, she had 200 million dollars by the time of her death, which would be 2 billion dollars today! Even after her death, Marilyn Monroe remains a major pop culture icon. In the year 1999, the American Film Institute ranked her in sixth place on their list called The Greatest Female Screen Legends from the Golden Age of Hollywood.
Marilyn Monroe was raised in Los Angeles, California, and spent most of her childhood in 12 foster homes and an orphanage before marrying James Dougherty at the age of 16 years old. She worked at a factory during World War II, which is where she met a photographer from the First Motion Picture Unit. This resulted in her having a successful pin-up modeling career, which also led to a short-lived contract with 20th Century Fox as well as Columbia Picture. Following a series of small, minor films, she signed a new contract with Fox in the late 1950s. After two years, she became a popular actress in some comedies such as “As Young as You Feel” and “Monkey Business.” However, Marilyn Monroe met head-on with a scandal when someone revealed she posed for nude photographs previously to become a star. Despite this, it did not affect her or her career in any negative way, instead, the interest in her films actually increased!
By the year 1953, Marilyn Monroe was known as the most marketable Hollywood star. This is because of her leading roles in “Niagara,” a film noir. She also took the leading roles in comedy films such as “How to Marry a Millionaire,” and “Gentlemen Prefer Blondes,” which demonstrated the typical “dumb blonde” stereotype. Later on, her nude images were used as the cover and centerfold of the first issue of Playboy. She played a noteworthy role in the management and creation of her public image but was often disappointed when she was typecasted and underpaid by the studio. Marilyn Monroe was momentarily suspended for refusing a film project, but made a comeback and starred in “The Seven Year Itch,” which became one of the biggest box office successes of her entire career!
Due to the studio refusing to change Marilyn Monroe’s contract, she founded her own film production company in the year 1954. She has dedicated next year to building the company and studied method acting under Lee Strasberg at Actors Studio. Somewhere later in the year, Fox proposed a new contract that would reward her with more control and a larger salary. With this, Marilyn signed the contract. Over the next few years, Marilyn Monroe was awarded the Golden Globe for Best Actress for her role in “Some Like It Hot,” which became a critical success. Adding on, her last completed film was the drama called “The Misfits.”
Marilyn Monroe struggled with addiction and mood disorders. This part of Monroe’s troubled life received a lot of attention from the public. Her marriages to a man named Joe DiMaggio, a retired baseball star, and Arthur Miller, a playwright, were highly publicized. However, these two marriages ended in a divorce. On August 4, 1962, just a year after the film “The Misfits,” she was found dead at the age of 36 in Los Angeles at her home. People have investigated that she died of an overdose of barbiturates. (Barbiturates are a class of depressant drugs. It is effective when it is used medically, however, they have psychological and physical addiction potential, which could lead to an overdose). Marilyn Monroe’s death was later ruled as a probable suicide.