Marilyn Monroe was born on this date in 1926. Here are 10 things you might not know about her:
Marilyn Monroe was born Norma Jeane Mortenson, later changed to Baker when her mother re-married. Her mother gave her the name Norma after the actress Norma Talmadge. So where did Marilyn Monroe come from? Monroe was her mother’s maiden name (Marilyn once claimed she was related to President James Monroe but there has never been any evidence to support that) and "Marilyn" came from a studio executive who thought she resembled Marilyn Miller. However, she had considered using the name "Jean Adair".
She married for the first time at the age of 16. The marriage was arranged, because at the age of 15, Marilyn’s mother wasn’t able to look after her so she was staying with a family friend. The family friend wanted to move to another state and couldn’t take Marilyn with her, so rather than turn her over to an orphanage, she arranged for her to marry the next door neighbour James Dougherty, aged 20. She divorced him in 1946 because he disapproved of her blossoming career.
During World War II, Marilyn worked in a factory making military drones. While in the factory, she was discovered by a photographer who recruited her to take photos that would inspire and encourage the troops.
She was almost the star of Breakfast at Tiffany's, rather than Audrey Hepburn. Truman Capote wanted her for the role and she even did a screen test. In the end, she didn't take the part because her advisor and acting coach didn't think it was the type of character she should be playing.
She had a thing for older men with brains. Her former room mate, actress Shelley Winters, told how the two women once made lists of all the men they’d like to sleep with. "There was no one under 50 on hers," Winters said. One of the men on her list was Albert Einstein.
The FBI had a file on her and her house was bugged (when the couple who bought it after she died did some remodelling they found a sophisticated, government-grade phone tapping system that extended throughout the house). This may have been because she was married to Arthur Miller, who was investigated for “un-American” activities.
After Marilyn and Arthur Miller got divorced, Miller got custody of the dog. Marilyn was devastated at losing her pet, and so Frank Sinatra gave her a Maltese terrier called “Mafia Honey,” or “Maf” for short. In 2010, author Andrew O’Hagan wrote a book called The Life and Opinions of Maf the Dog, and of his Friend Marilyn Monroe, supposedly the dog’s account of his life with her.
Monroe was only married to Joe DiMaggio for 274 days. The final straw in the breakdown of the marriage was the infamous "subway scene" in which Marlyn’s dress blows up showing her legs and underwear. DiMaggio became irate over how much she was exposing herself, and some reports suggest he might have got violent with her in the ensuing argument. Monroe filed for divorce on the grounds of "mental cruelty" not long after. That said, DiMaggio remained loyal to her and just before she died, allegedly told friends that they were going to be re-married. He arranged her funeral and banned anyone from Hollywood from attending. He had Roses delivered to her grave twice a week until he died. This was thought to be to fulfil a promise he made to Marilyn on their wedding day inspired by the fact that Jean Harlow’s fiance had done the same thing.
To avoid being recognised in public, Monroe adopted an alter ego, Zelda Zonk, by wearing a dark wig and Sunglasses.
On the occasion when she sang happy birthday to JFK, she’d had to be sewn into the dress she had on because it was so skin tight. She also wasn’t wearing underwear because she didn’t want VPL to spoil the illusion of her being nude. In 2016, Ripley's Believe It Or Not purchased the dress for $4.8 million. In 2022, the museum loaned it to Kim Kardashian, who controversially wore it at the Met Gala.
Character birthday
Scarlet Pimpernel, aka Jamie Warner, youngest son of Superwil and Electric Blue. He has the power of teleportation rather than flight.
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