Marilyn Monroe Research Paper

Marilyn Monroe was and still is one of the most well known actresses, models, and popular sex icons of her time and in this time. She had to overcome a lot to get to where she was when she tragically died in 1962. She had no father, a crazy mother and no where to go to. Marilyn spent most of her childhood in foster care and orphanages and when she escapes the life of being in foster care she climbs the ladder of success to become Hollywood’s leading sex symbol. Marilyn Monroe overcame a rough childhood and became a well-known model and sex icon.

According to an article titled “Marilyn Monroe” on biography.com- Marilyn Monroe was born on July 1,1926 in Los Angeles, California as Norma-Jeane Mortensen to her mother Gladys. Monroe never knew her father or who he was and had only one sibling: a half sister that she only met a handful of times. Gladys developed psychiatric problems when Monroe was little and was placed in a mental institution, which left Monroe with no family and she had to spend much of her childhood in foster care and in orphanages where she was sexually assaulted on several occasions. One of Monroe's earliest memories of her mother was when she was little and her mom tried to smother her with a pillow in her crib. For 5 years Marilyn lived with the Goddards (Grace and Doc) until Docs job relocated to the

east coast and they could not afford to take her with them, which followed in her getting put back into foster care. The article doesn't really talk about how she felt about her mom trying to smother her or about the Goddards not being able to take her with them but I can imagine that she was devastated, her mother tried to kill her and the people who had came in and became her family weren't going to be there anymore.
After being placed back in foster care Monroe realized that there was a way out- to get married. So on June 19,1942 at the age of 16 she married her neighbor, a merchant marine named Jimmy Dougherty,who was later sent to the south pacific. With Jimmy gone Monroe had to work to keep the bills paid so she went to work in a munitions factory in Burbank,California. She was discovered by a photographer while she was working in the factory. She had a successful modelling career by 1946,when her husband returned and she had changed her name from Norma-Jeane Mortensen to Marilyn Monroe. (Biography.com) On marilynmonroe.com it also says that within months after the photographer took a snapshot of her in the factory she became a successful model doing dozens of magazine covers and a screentest with 20th Century Fox. The studio executives, directors and photographers immediately saw the ability she had to capture and hold the attention of anyone on the other side of the camera lens. By the end of 1946 her hair was a platinum shade of blonde.

In the article “Marilyn Monroe Remebered in 9 ways” on biography.com it says that In 1953 Hugh Hefner who was then unknown, came across and bought her nude pictures, making her the very first centerfold playmate and putting Playboy Magazine on the map.Hugh says that although he never dated her, that he would have and he also says that they might not have been close in life,they will however, be close in death because he chose the vault next to hers at the westwood village memorial park.

“I will be laid to rest in a vault next to hers. It has a completion notion to it. I will be spending the rest of my eternity with Marilyn.”

(losangeles.cbslocal.com)
On marilyncollector.com it states that:”On the night of August 4,1962 Marilyn Monroe died of a sleeping pill overdose, rumors have gone wild ever since. Affairs with the Kennedys, mafia involvement, murder, a cover up, a conspiracy. Her death was listed as a possible suicide, whatever the truth about that night,Marilyn Monroe was dead at the young age of 36 years.In the small amount of time in the Hollywood spotlight she left her everlasting mark on showbiz, fashion, music and even the centerfold.”(marilyncollector.com)
“She dies young and remains beautiful in all our minds,she was without a question the definitive sex icon of our time. Theres something unique when an iconic legendary figure is more famous fifty years after her death, than at the height of her career.”- Hugh Hefner (losangeles.cbslocal.com)
Although her life was cut way too short she is still very popular and definitely left her mark on society. Marilyn Monroe overcame a rough childhood and become a well-known model, actress and sex icon.
If she could overcome everything she had to go through and become as successful as she was, what's stopping you?