PCGUIA 10/PC Guia 10.iso/database/shared.dir/01526_Field_123.cap.txt

Text File | 1996-03-14 | 4KB | 206 lines

@
Monroe's real name was Norma Jean Baker. She was illegitimate, and
her mother had psychiatric problems, so she was brought up in an
orphanage and in foster homes. She married a sailor at 15, but was
divorced four years later, by which time she had become a model
#
In the early
Fifties, Hollywood
liked its stars to
be clean and
wholesome.
Monroe's rather
sleazy history
almost brought
her short career to
a sudden halt.
But Marilyn's
artless honesty
meant her early
indiscretions
were forgiven
#
When she became
a star, Monroe's
huge appeal lay
partly in her
contradictions:
sex symbol and
serious actress,
wife to America's
most famous
sportsman and
then to its
best playwright,
Marilyn was
"bright enough to
play the dumb
blonde role to
perfection."
#
Depression and
drug dependence,
as well as
divorce, all
afflicted Monroe
towards the end
of her life. At that
time, she was
regarded as a
difficult person;
after her death
from an overdose
of barbiturates, at
the age of 36, she
became a tragic
figure, whose
unhappy life was
shrouded by the
glitz and glamor
of Hollywood

#
Thirty years after
she died, Monroe
is still a star, and
still makes news.
She was immort-
alised by Andy
Warhol, aped by
Madonna and
honoured by the
US postal service
(in 1995 she
became the first
film star to
appear on a
postage stamp).
More than 70
books have been
written about her
since her death
@
Monroe's first
glimpse of
showbiz was
as a model,
chosen by an
Army photo-
grapher in1944
to pose for
pin-up pictures.
This led to a
contract with
Twentieth-
Century Fox, in
1946. After
several minor
film roles, she
began to make an
impact in The
Asphalt Jungle
and All About
Eve, both in 1950
#
Monroe said: "Success came to me in a rush." By 1952 she was the
most popular actress of the year, chosen by American moviegoers.
The same year, alongside Jane Russell, she put her handprint on the
sidewalk of fame, outside Graumman's Theatre in Los Angeles
#
The leading role
in The Seven Year
Itch (and her
marriage to
baseball star Joe
DiMaggio) gave
Monroe worldwide
celebrity; but
Monroe sought
respect as an
actress, too.
She studied at
the Actor's Studio
 in New York, and
won critical
acclaim for her
role in the film
Bus Stop
#
Some Like It Hot and Let's Make Love, were among Marilyn's most
successful films. The latter was made with Yves Montand - shown
here with his wife, Simone Signoret and Monroe's husband, Arthur
Miller (far left)
#
Monroe was fired
from the set of
Something's Got
to Give for her
wayward
behaviour: she
had turned up for
only 12 of her 32
days' shooting.
The studio said
it was going
to sue her for
$750,000 in
damages. But
two months
later Marilyn
Monroe was dead
@
Monroe married
Joe DiMaggio
in 1954. "I
wonder if I can
take all your
crazy publicity",
he said. He
couldn't - he
particularly
objected to the
billowing-skirt
scene from The
Seven Year Itch.
Nine months
later they were
divorced, but
they remained
lifelong friends
#
Monroe's third
husband was the
famous American
playwright,
Arthur Miller.
One US paper
headlined the
announcement of
their marriage:
"Egghead weds
hourglass". Asked
what the secret
was of Miller's
appeal, Monroe
said: "Everything.
Haven't you seen
him?"
#
After her death, rumours spread that Monroe had had affairs with
both John Kennedy (centre) and his brother Robert (far left). A friend,
the actor Peter Lawford, claimed that she told him to "Say goodbye
to Jack" (President Kennedy) on the night of her death
#
The Kennedy
connection led to
speculation about
Monroe's suicide
- and to the
allegation that
she had in fact
been murdered,
to cover up her
relationship with
the president