The Blonde Bombshell
Marilyn Monroe: From foster homes to fame
He said it was only a game. When he motioned me to come in to his room, he immediately bolted the door closed. He asked me to sit on his lap. I was scared to death, but I listened. He kissed me and started doing other things. He put his hand under my dress. Then, he let me go when his “game” was over.
“I cried all night. I just wanted to die.” -MM
Wake up, get cleaned, eat, learn, repeat. Being separated from a birth family can be a traumatic experience. Living in an orphanage and jumping from various foster homes can truly change a child, making each transition into a traditional family to have a few bumps in the road. She grew up with no father and a mother who was mentally unstable.
Her mother had to give Marilyn up to foster parents. After many attempts, she finally got Marilyn back in 1933. Then, her mother became mentally unstable, was forced to the State Hospital and Marilyn became a ward of the state. As an adult, one of Marilyn’s memories was of her mother trying to smother her in her crib with a pillow. At 7 years old, Marilyn returned to a life in foster homes, where she was on several occasions sexually assaulted. She later said that she had been raped when she was 11 years old.
“They say you soon forget the bad things in your life, and only remember the good ones. Well, maybe for others its that way, but not for me” -Marilyn Monroe
Her mothers’ best friend became her guardian. When this guardian family relocated to another state, they decided to not take Marilyn with them. After several failed attempts to find someone to watch her, Marilyn had two options: go back to the orphanage or get married. She wed her boyfriend James Dougherty in 1942, at the age of 16.
In 1944, James joined the Marines, and was sent to the South Pacific. Marilyn went to work in a factory in California, where she was discovered by a photographer. This was her chance to turn it all around.
A popular magazine photographer of the time saw Marilyn, while taking pictures of other women who were contributing to war effort. The photographer used Marilyn for one shoot, and she then began to have floods of modeling jobs sent her way. Within two years, she was a model with a great reputation. By the time her husband returned in 1946, she had already changed her name from Norma Jeane, her birth name, to Marilyn Monroe, and dyed her hair blonde in preparation for an acting career.
“I am not interested in money. I just want to be wonderful.” -MM in regards to her modeling/acting career
Marilyn began to study the work of her favorite actresses Jean Harlow and Lana Turner, and enrolled in drama classes. She was forced to make a hard choice between her marriage and her career because her husband James did not approve of other men gawking at her modeling pictures. Marilyn divorced him in 1946, and soon after, signed her first studio contract with Twentieth Century Fox.
“I believe that everything happens for a reason. People change so that you can learn to let go, things go wrong so that you appreciate them when they are right, you believe lies so you eventually learn to trust no one but yourself, and sometimes good things fall apart so better things can fall together.” -MM
Marilyn Monroe is an icon recognized not only for her beauty, but her personality as well. She was blunt about her beliefs and even though she faced many challenges, she firmly believed in a better future. Even as a movie star, she was treated like an object rather than a human, which was another obstacle she overcame. She worked through her complications and her traumatic childhood and became an inspiration to millions around the world. Females use her as a reminder that it is okay to not be the girl society expects you to be.
“This sad bitter child who grew up too fast is hardly ever out of my heart. With success all around me, I can still feel her frightened eyes looking out of mine.” -Marilyn Monroe
