Marilyn Monroe
Copyright Michael D. Robbins 2005

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Quotes
Biography
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Marilyn Monroe—Actress

(1926-1962) June 1, 1926, Los Angeles, California, 9:30 AM, PST (Source: Birth Certificate) There is the possibility that the birth took place closer to 9:00 AM, PST, which would place Chiron closer to the MC and Jupiter in closer sextile relation to the MC, as well as Venus conjunct it. Try about 9:07 AM. Died, August 5, 1962, Los Angeles, California

(Ascendant: Leo with Neptune rising in Leo, H1; MC, either late Aries or early Taurus; Sun conjunct Mercury in Gemini; Moon and Jupiter in Aquarius; Mars and Uranus in Pisces; Saturn in Scorpio, H4; Pluto and NN in Cancer)

R2 is latent here (expand this)

Norma Jeane Mortenson (on BC) Actress Monroe was the sex symbol of the century, and emotionally fragile.  Raped at eleven and passed between relatives whilst her mother endured a long stay in a mental hospital, Monroe began her career as a photographer's model, and from 1950, was appearing on film.  After her involvement with the Kennedy brothers, John and Robert, there was much speculation surrounding the cause of her death on 5 August 1962, Brentwood, California.

An actress is not a machine, but they treat you like a machine. A money machine.

Before marriage, a girl has to make love to a man to hold him. After marriage, she has to hold him to make love to him.

Being a sex symbol is a heavy load to carry, especially when one is tired, hurt and bewildered.

Fame will go by and, so long, I've had you, fame. If it goes by, I've always known it was fickle. So at least it's something I experience, but that's not where I live.

Hollywood is a place where they'll pay you a thousand dollars for a kiss and fifty cents for your soul.

I don't mind living in a man's world as long as I can be a woman in it.

I have too many fantasies to be a housewife. I guess I am a fantasy.
(Neptune in Leo in 1st house, opposition Moon & Jupiter.)

I've been on a calendar, but never on Time.
(The magazine or not punctual?)

It's not true that I had nothing on. I had the radio on.

Sometimes I've been to a party where no-one spoke to me for a whole evening. The men, frightened by their wives or sweeties...the ladies would gang up in a corner and discuss my dangerous character.

The body is meant to be seen, not all covered up.

My work is the only ground I’ve ever had to stand on. I seem to have a whole superstructure with no foundation—but I’m working on the foundation.
(Saturn in 4th house in Scorpio.)

People feel fame gives them some kind of privilege to walk up to you and say anything to you, of any kind of nature—and it won’t hurt your feelings—like it’s happening to your clothing.
(Venus conjunct Chiron & MC.)

I restore myself when I’m alone. A career is born in public—talent in privacy.
(Leo Ascendant.)

Ever notice that 'what the hell' is always the right decision?"
(Uranus & Mars in 8th house.)

"I have never quite understood this sex symbol business, but if I'm going to be a symbol of something, I'd rather have it sex than some of the other things they've got symbols for."

"The most unsatisfactory men are those who pride themselves on their virility and regard sex as if it were some form of athletics at which you can win cups. It is a woman's spirit and mood a man has to stimulate in order to make sex interesting. The real lover is the man who can thrill you just by touching your head or smiling into your eyes or by just staring into space."

"I think cheesecake helps call attention to you. Then you can follow through and prove yourself."

I never intentionally mean to hurt anyone, but you can't be too nice to people you work with, else they will trample you to death.
(Mars in Pisces. Chiron conjunct MC.)

As of today, I have absolutely no regrets. I think I am a mature person who can take things in stride. I'm grateful for people in my past. They helped me get to where I am, wherever that is. But now, I am thinking for myself and sitting in on all the business transactions.
(Saturn square Moon & Neptune, but trine Pluto (11th) & Mars (8th).)

"You know who I always depend on? Not strangers, not friends. The telephone! That's my best friend. I seldom write letters, but I love calling friends, especially late at night, when I can't sleep."
(Mercury in Gemini conjunct Gemini Sun.)

"I was a mistake. My mother didn't want to have me. I guess she never wanted me. I probably got in her way. I know I must have disgraced her. A divorced woman has enough problems getting a man, I guess, but one with an illegitimate baby.... I wish, I still wish, she had wanted me."
(Venus conjunct Chiron. Saturn in 4th house.)

"I always felt I was nobody and the only way for me to be somebody was to be... well, somebody else."
(Mercury in Gemini.)

"Well behaved women rarely make history."

"My great ambition is to have people comment on my fine dramatic performances."
(Leo Ascendant.)

"It would be wonderful to enjoy success without seeing envy in the eyes of those around you."
(Chiron conjunct MC.)

"I won't be satisfied until people want to hear me sing without looking at me."

"You can't sleep your way into being a star. It takes much, much more. But it helps a lot of actresses get their first chance that way."

"I don't understand why people aren't a little more generous with each other."
(Jupiter in 7th house. Neptune in Leo.)

"I want to grow old without face-lifts... I want to have the courage to be loyal to the face I have made. Sometimes, I think it would be easier to avoid old age, to die young, but you'd never complete your life, would you? You'd never wholly know yourself."
(North Node conjunct Pluto.)

"Men who think that a woman's past love affairs lessen her love for them are usually stupid and weak. A woman can bring new love to each man she loves, providing there aren't too many."

"I knew I belonged to the public and to the world, not because I was talented or even beautiful, but because I had never belonged to anything or anyone else."

"Fame is fickle and I know it. It has its compensations, but it also has its drawbacks and I've experienced them both."
(Chiron conjunct MC.)

"Suicide is a person's privilege. I don't believe it's a sin or a crime. It's your right if you want to, though it doesn't get you anywhere."

"I always felt insecure and in the way - but most of all I felt scared. I guess I wanted love more than anything else in the world."
(Venus conjunct Chiron.)

I used to think as I looked out on the Hollywood night, "There must be thousands of girls sitting alone like me, dreaming of becoming a movie star. But I'm not going to worry about them. I'm dreaming the hardest.
(Neptune in Leo.)

"A career is wonderful, but you can't curl up with it on a cold night."

"It's all make believe, isn't it?"
(Neptune in Leo.)

 

Marilyn Monroe (June 1, 1926 – August 5, 1962) was an American actress of the 20th century. Her sizzling screen presence, stunning good looks and mysterious death would make her a perennial sex symbol and later a pop icon.

Early life
Although she would eventually become the most celebrated actress in film history, Marilyn's beginnings were humble to say the least.

A Los Angeles native, she was born Norma Jeane Mortensen in the charity ward of Los Angeles County Hospital. Her grandmother, Della Monroe Grainger, later had her baptized Norma Jeane Baker. Biographers used to differ on whether the man listed on her birth certificate, Norwegian Martin Edward Mortensen, was not her true biological father. The most likely candidate for a while seemed to be Charles Stanley Gifford, a salesman for the studio where Marilyn's mother, Gladys Pearl Monroe Baker, worked as a film-cutter. However in later years, more and more have gone for the theory that Mortensen was in fact her true father.

Unable to persuade Della to take the baby, an overwhelmed Gladys placed Norma Jeane with Albert and Ida Bolender of Hawthorne, southwest of Downtown Los Angeles, where she lived until she was seven. The Bolenders were a religious couple who supplemented their meager income by being foster parents. In her autobiography, My Story, ghostwritten by Ben Hecht, Marilyn said she thought Wayne and Ida were her parents until Ida, rather cruelly, corrected her. After Marilyn's death, Ida claimed that she and Wayne had seriously considered adopting her, which they could not have done without Gladys's consent.

According to My Story (not always a reputable source because it was largely a publicity vehicle), Gladys visited Norma Jeane every Saturday, but never hugged or kissed her, or even smiled. One day, Gladys announced that she had bought a house for them. A few months after moving in, she suffered a breakdown. Marilyn recalled Gladys "screaming and laughing" as she was forcibly removed to the State Mental Hospital in Norwalk, where Della had died; Gladys's father, Otis, died in a mental hospital near San Bernardino.

Norma Jeane was declared a ward of the state. Gladys's best friend, Grace McKee, later Goddard, became her guardian. After Grace married in 1935, Norma Jeane was sent to Los Angeles Orphanage, then to as many as twelve foster homes, in which she was subjected to abuse and neglect. However, there is no evidence that Marilyn had actually lived in so many foster homes and that she really had been abused. In her interviews Marilyn often gave exaggerated information about her childhood. Then in September 1941, Grace took her in again. She was then introduced to a neighbor's son, James Dougherty, who would become her first husband. The Goddard family was moving to the East Coast and felt marriage would be the best solution for the teenaged Norma Jeane. Since Marilyn was underage at the time, she had to get married or otherwise she would have had to return the orphanage. Norma Jeane had come to think little of herself, yet also developed a gritty, opportunistic side and a super-human drive. She was very intelligent and more unhappy than her screen image suggested.

No other actor has reached the heights of fame that Marilyn Monroe has. Her face was certainly her fortune and to this very day - over 40 years after her mysterious death - she still generates huge interest in her life and career.

While her first husband James Dougherty was at war, the young Norma Jean began work in a factory. It was here she was spotted by photographer David Conover and he immediately saw her potential as a model. She signed with The Blue Book Modelling agency and became one of their most successful models appearing on hundreds of magazine covers. But with strong aspirations of becoming an actress, Norma Jean came to the attention of 20th Century Fox by way of talent scout Ben Lyon who arranged a screen test. She passed and was offered a standard six month contract starting at $75 a week. It was here that her name was changed. She was named after an actress called Marilyn Miller and Monroe was her mother's maiden name which Marilyn suggested herself. The year was 1946 and "Marilyn Monroe" was born.

During her first six months at Fox she didn't work at all but learned about hair, make-up, costumes, acting and lighting. Fox decided to renew her contract when it expired and in the next six months she appeared in minor roles in two movies; Scudda Hoo! Scudda Hay! and Dangerous Years (both released in 1947). But the films failed at the box office and Fox decided not to offer her a contract for a third time. Undiscouraged, Monroe threw herself into her modelling work and rapidly began to build contacts around Hollywood and she became an expert at 'networking'. A six month stint at Columbia Pictures saw her starring in one movie - Ladies of the Chorus in 1948 but once again she was dropped. At this point she met Johnny Hyde, one of Hollywood's top agents. He got her back at Fox (after MGM passed on the chance to sign her) and although studio head Darryl F. Zanuck was not convinced of her potential to become a star she slowly began to change his mind with scene stealing performances in Bette Davis's classic All About Eve in 1950 and especially with The Asphalt Jungle released the same year.

By 1952 Zanuck was nearly convinced and she played her first role as a leading lady in Don't Bother To Knock. As a deranged babysitter who attacks the little girl she is looking after in a rage, Marilyn received mixed reviews but she later stated this was one of her own favourite performances. If the critics doubted her abilities as a dramatic actress, they were left in no doubt about her sex appeal. Marilyn proved to Zanuck she could carry a big budget movie when she headlined Niagara in 1953. Her screen charisma was so powerful, movie critics seemed to forget about the plot and focused on Marilyn and her unique connection with the camera.

It was around this time that nude photos of Marilyn began to surface. Shot by Tom Kelley when she was struggling, the prints were bought by Hugh Hefner and appeared in the first edition of his new magazine, Playboy in December 1953. It was a smash hit. And when the press realised that the nubile beauty in the magazine was up and coming starlet Marilyn Monroe, the media went into overdrive. Marilyn's relaxed attitude (Journalist: "What did you have on during the photo shoot?" Marilyn: "Chanel No. 5!") quickly endeared her to the public.

Marilyn MonroeGentlemen Prefer Blondes and How to Marry a Millionaire both released in 1953 catapulted Marilyn into A list status and she quickly became the world's biggest movie star. It didn't matter that her next two films, River of No Return and There's No Business Like Show Business under performed, the public were already hooked. But Monroe grew tired of the dumb blonde roles Zanuck assigned her and after completing work on The Seven Year Itch in 1954, she broke her contract and fled Hollywood to study acting at The Actor's Studio in New York. Fox would not budge on Monroe's new contract demands and insisted she return to the studio to start work on productions she considered inappropriate (Heller In Pink Tights and How To Be Very, Very Popular being two of them). But when The Seven Year Itch raced to the top of the box office in the Summer of 1955, and with other Fox starlets Jayne Mansfield and Sheree North failing to click with audiences, Zanuck finally admitted defeat and a triumphant Monroe returned to Hollywood where a new contract was immediately drawn up.

The first film to be made was Bus Stop directed by Joshua Logan who compared Monroe to Greta Garbo. Critics immediately noted that this was a new Marilyn working hard at her craft and she gave a subtle and effective performance as Cherie the saloon singer who is whisked off her feet by an amorous cowboy.

By this time she had formed her own production company (Marilyn Monroe Productions) with photographer Milton H. Greene, in which the first film released by the company was The Prince and the Showgirl which she produced. The film was received with lukewarm reviews and the public were indifferent, but with the release of Some Like It Hot in 1959, Marilyn was back on track and Billy Wilder's production was her biggest hit. In The Misfits, released in 1961, she turned in a moving performance opposite screen stalwart Clark Gable but it was to be the last film either actor would make. Gable died of a heart attack shortly after filming was completed and although Monroe started work on a new movie, Something's Got to Give, she died during production.

Marriages
She married James Dougherty on June 19, 1942. Grace, moving with her husband, wanted Norma Jeane to marry to avoid going to an orphanage. In "The Secret Happiness of Marilyn Monroe" and "To Norma Jeane With Love, Jimmie," Dougherty claims that they were in love and would have lived happily ever after had not dreams of stardom lured her away; she always maintained theirs was a marriage of convenience fostered upon them by Grace Goddard, who paid Dougherty to take her charge out on dates. In the 2004 documentary, Marilyn's Man, he claims to have invented the "Marilyn Monroe" persona, that she was forced to divorce him by Fox, and always yearned to return to him. No biographer ever come across any evidence to support this, and there no evidence the pair stayed in contact. Indeed, Dougherty's own behavior doesn't support him: he remarried months after Monroe divorced him in 1946; the August 6, 1962 New York Times reported that, when informed of her death, he stated "I'm sorry" and continued his LAPD patrol; he didn't attend her funeral. He lives in Maine, and was married to his third wife until her death in 2003.

Monroe and Joe DiMaggio on their wedding dayIn 1951, Joe DiMaggio saw a picture of Marilyn with two Chicago White Sox players, but waited until after he retired from baseball to ask the PR man who arranged the stunt to set them up on a date. But she did not want to meet him, fearing him the stereotypical jock. Their January 14, 1954 elopement at City Hall in San Francisco was the culmination of a two-year courtship that had captivated the nation.

The union was complex, marred by his jealousy and her casual infidelity. DiMaggio wanted to settle down. Marilyn wanted to as well, but she craved fame and would do just about anything for it. DiMaggio was also said to have been disgusted by Marilyn's sloppiness and poor hygiene. DiMaggio biographer Richard Ben Cramer asserts things got violent as a result. One incident allegedly happened after the skirt blowing scene in The Seven Year Itch was filmed on New York's Lexington Avenue before hundreds of fans; director Billy Wilder recalled "the look of death" on DiMaggio's face as he watched. When she announced she would seek a divorce - just 274 days after the wedding - (on grounds of mental cruelty), she was quoted as telling 20th Century Fox "our careers just seemed to get in the way of each other." Oscar Levant quipped it proved no man could be a success in two pastimes.

Monroe and Arthur Miller on the set of The MisfitsShe married playwright Arthur Miller, whom she met in 1951, in a civil ceremony on June 29, 1956, then in a Jewish ceremony two days later. When they returned from England after she wrapped The Prince and the Showgirl, they learned she was pregnant. Sadly, she suffered from endometriosis; the pregnancy was ectopic and had to be aborted to save her life. A second pregnancy ended in miscarriage.

By 1958, Monroe was supporting them. Not only did she pay alimony to Miller's first wife, he reportedly bought a Jaguar while they were in England, shipped it to the States, and charged it to her production company. His script The Misfits was meant to be a Valentine to her. Instead, by the time filming started, the marriage was broken beyond repair. Marilyn's behavior—fueled by drugs and alcohol—was erratic. A Mexican divorce was granted on January 24, 1961.

DiMaggio re-entered her life as her marriage to Miller was ending. On February 4, 1961, she was admitted by her then-psychiatrist into Manhattan's Payne-Whitney Clinic, reportedly placed in the ward for the most seriously disturbed. He got her out six days later, and took her to the Payne Whitney Psychiatric Clinic at New York Presbyterian Hospital. After her release on March 5, she joined him in Florida where he was a batting coach for his old team, the New York Yankees. Their "just friends" claims did not stop remarriage rumors from flying. Bob Hope even "dedicated" Best Song nominee "The Second Time Around" to them at the 1960 Academy Awards. According to DiMaggio biographer Maury Allen, Joe quit his job with a military post-exchange supplier on August 1, 1962 to return to California and ask Marilyn to remarry him.

On February 17, 1962, Miller married Inge Morath, one of the Magnum photographers recording the making of The Misfits. In January 1964, his After the Fall opened, featuring a beautiful, child-like, yet devouring shrew named Maggie. It upset all of Monroe's friends. His newest Broadway-bound work, Finishing the Picture, is based on the making of The Misfits.

In May of 1962 she sang Happy Birthday, Mr. President at a televised birthday party for President John F. Kennedy. The French chiffon dress she wore that night was sold at auction by Christie's for a world-record $1.3 million. 20th Century-Fox fired her soon after the infamous event while she was working on her soon-to-be unfinished film Something's Got to Give, co-starring Dean Martin and Cyd Charisse and directed by George Cukor. But due to a clause in Dean Martin's contract giving him approval over the leading lady, Marilyn was re-hired to finish the film as Martin refused to work with any other actress.

Death and aftermath
was found dead August 5, 1962 in the bedroom of her Brentwood, California, home at age thirty-six from an overdose of barbiturates. As with the assassination of President John F. Kennedy, conspiracy theories have sprung up around the circumstances of her death. While the conspiracy theorists have tried to make their "case" for murder due to her involvement with the Kennedy family, they cannot explain why all of the President's other alleged girlfriends, with the exception of Mary Pinchot Meyer, survived him.

Marilyn's body was discovered by live-in housekeeper, Mrs. Eunice Murray, assigned to Marilyn's care by her psychiatrist, Dr. Ralph Greenson. Conspiracy theorists have also tried to make their "case" on the relationship between Murray and Greenson, and Monroe's personal publicist, Pat Newcomb. Several days after Monroe's death, Murray attempted to cash a $200.00 check made out to her by Monroe. The un-cancelled check is today on display in the Monroe exhibit at the Hollywood Entertainment Museum. In the Fall of 1962, Murray left the country for an extended European cruise on the Queen Mary; Newcomb joined the Kennedy administration in the ensuing months. Murray told her own version of that fateful night in "Marilyn, The Last Months." The book was written by a ghostwriter in the early '70s while Murray was living in Santa Monica; Pat Newcomb was a frequent visitor. In her later years, Murray moved back East, possibly to Martha's Vineyard, remarried for a short time, and survived the passing of her second husband. Murray has since passed away.

A formal investigation in 1982 by the Los Angeles County District Attorney came up with no evidence of foul play, but the stories persist. Los Angeles County coroner Dr. Thomas Noguchi, who'd performed the autopsy (and the autopsies of Robert F. Kennedy, Natalie Wood and William Holden, among other celebrities), wrote in his book Coroner that Marilyn's death had been highly likely a suicide. Yet he conceded that he could find no trace in the stomach or intestines of any of the overdose of barbiturates that had reportedly been the cause of death; some conspiracy theorists claim this proves the drug overdose had been forcibly administered to Monroe (after she'd been rendered unconscious with chloral hydrate) perhaps by intravenous injection or, more likely, by rectal suppository, leaving no marks.

A devastated DiMaggio had claimed her body and arranged her funeral. According to her half-sister, Berniece Baker Miracle, he just took over and she allowed him to do so. For 20 years, he had a dozen red roses delivered three times a week to her crypt. Unlike the other men who knew her intimately (or had claimed to), the highly private DiMaggio never publicly spoke about her nor wrote a book about his life with her.

Marilyn is interred in a crypt at Westwood Village Memorial Park Cemetery just off of Wilshire Boulevard. She had Grace Goddard interred there because Grace's aunt - who cared for Norma Jeane briefly - is there. Just as her career took off, she asked her make-up man, Whitey Snyder, to promise he would make her up when she died. Snyder joked he would if her body was brought to him while it was warm. A few days later, he received a money clip: "Whitey Dear, While I am still warm, Marilyn." He fulfilled that promise with the help of a bottle of whiskey.

When Gladys was between mental hospitals, she married her last husband, John Stewart Eley, who died in 1952. Diagnosed as schizophrenic, she walked out of a sanitarium in the early 1970s and flew to Florida, where Berniece picked her up at the airport. She died of congestive heart failure on March 11, 1984 at a nursing home. Obsessed by Christian Science, she would refuse to discuss Norma Jeane or Marilyn Monroe, perhaps unable to relive the past.

But if Marilyn's death signalled the end of a human being, it was only the beginning of an icon. Despite (or because of) the endless conspiracy theories, Marilyn still captivates the world and her image can be seen nearly everywhere. The actress who worried nobody would take her seriously has become one of the most famous and most adored women in history. There have been many imitators and wannabes but no one has surpassed Monroe for her beauty, charisma and lasting appeal. She will always be remembered as the most beloved star in Hollywood history.

Childhood pictures show that Marilyn was born a blonde, but her hair turned "mousy" brown as she grew up. She dyed her hair several different shades of blonde as an adult.

Biography

Marilyn Monroe personified Hollywood glamour with an unparalleled glow and energy that enamored the world. Although she was an alluring beauty with voluptuous curves and a generous pout, Marilyn was more than a '50s sex goddess. Her apparent vulnerability and innocence, in combination with an innate sensuality, has endeared her to the global consciousness. She dominated the age of movie stars to become, without question, the most famous woman of the 20th Century.

She was born Norma Jeane Mortenson on June 1, 1926 in Los Angeles, California, to Gladys Baker. As the identity of her father is undetermined, she was later baptized Norma Jeane Baker. Gladys had been a film cutter at RKO studios, but psychological problems prevented her from keeping the job and she was eventually committed to a mental institution.

Norma Jeane spent most of her childhood in foster homes and orphanages until 1937, when she moved in with family friend Grace McKee Goddard. Unfortunately, when Grace's husband was transferred to the East Coast in 1942, the couple couldn't afford to take 16-year-old Norma Jeane with them. Norma Jeane had two options: return to the orphanage or get married.

On June 19, 1942 she wed her 21-year-old neighbor Jimmy Dougherty, whom she had been dating for six months. "She was a sweet, generous and religious girl," Jimmy said. "She liked to be cuddled." By all accounts Norma Jeane loved Jimmy, and they were happy together until he joined the Merchant Marines and was sent to the South Pacific in 1944.

After Jimmy left, Norma Jeane took a job on the assembly line at the Radio Plane Munitions factory in Burbank, California. Several months later, photographer David Conover saw her while taking pictures of women contributing to the war effort for Yank magazine. He couldn't believe his luck. She was a "photographer's dream." Conover used her for the shoot and then began sending modeling jobs her way. The camera loved Norma Jeane, and within two years she was a reputable model with many popular magazine covers to her credit. She began studying the work of legendary actresses Jean Harlow and Lana Turner, and enrolled in drama classes with dreams of stardom. However, Jimmy's return in 1946 meant Norma Jeane had to make another choice- this time between her marriage and her career.

Norma Jeane divorced Jimmy in June of 1946, and signed her first studio contract with Twentieth Century Fox on August 26, 1946. She earned $125 a week. Soon after, Norma Jeane dyed her hair blonde and changed her name to Marilyn Monroe (borrowing her grandmother's last name). The rest, as the saying goes, is history.

Marilyn's first movie role was a bit part in 1947's The Shocking Miss Pilgrim. She played a series of inconsequential characters until 1950, when John Huston's thriller The Asphalt Jungle provided her with a small but influential role. Later that year, Marilyn's performance as Claudia Caswell in All About Eve (starring Bette Davis) earned her further praise. From then on Marilyn worked steadily in movies such as: Let's Make It Legal, As Young As You Feel, Monkey Business and Don't Bother to Knock. It was her performance in 1953's Niagara, however, that delivered her to stardom. Marilyn played Rose Loomis, a beautiful young wife who plots to kill her older, jealous husband (Joseph Cotten).

Marilyn's success in Niagara was followed with lead roles in the wildly popular Gentlemen Prefer Blondes (co-starring Jane Russell) and How to Marry a Millionaire (co-starring Lauren Bacall and Betty Grable). Photoplay magazine voted Marilyn the Best New Actress of 1953, and at 27 years old she was undeniably the best-loved blonde bombshell in Hollywood.

On January 14, 1954, Marilyn married baseball superstar Joe DiMaggio at San Francisco's City Hall. They had been a couple for two years, after Joe asked his agent to arrange a dinner date. "I don't know if I'm in love with him yet," Marilyn said when the press got word of their relationship, "but I know I like him more than any man I've ever met." During their Tokyo honeymoon, Marilyn took time to perform for the service men stationed in Korea. Her presence caused a near-riot among the troops, and Joe was clearly uncomfortable with thousands of men ogling his new bride.

Unfortunately, Marilyn's fame and sexual image became a theme that haunted their marriage. Nine months later on October 27, 1954, Marilyn and Joe divorced. They attributed the split to a "conflict of careers," and remained close friends.

Marilyn was ready to shed her "shallow blonde" image by 1955. It had gotten her into the spotlight, but now that she had the opportunity and experience, Marilyn wanted to pursue serious acting. She took a hiatus from Hollywood and moved to New York City to study under Lee Strasberg at his Actors' Studio. In 1956, Marilyn started her own motion picture company, Marilyn Monroe Productions. The company produced Bus Stop and The Prince and the Showgirl (co-starring Sir Laurence Olivier). These two films allowed her to demonstrate her talent and versatility as an actress. Marilyn received further recognition for 1959's Some Like It Hot, winning a Golden Globe for Best Actress in a Comedy.

On June 29, 1956, Marilyn wed playwright Arthur Miller. The couple met through Lee Strasberg, and friends reported she made him "giddy." While they were married, Arthur wrote the part of Roslyn Taber in 1961's The Misfits especially for Marilyn. The movie co-starred Clark Gable and Montgomery Clift. Sadly, the marriage between Marilyn and Arthur ended on January 20, 1961, and The Misfits was to be Marilyn's (and Gable's) last completed film.

At the 1962 Golden Globes, Marilyn was named female World Film Favorite, once again demonstrating her widespread appeal.

Sadly, in a shocking turn of events on the early morning of August 5, 1962, 36-year-old Marilyn died in her sleep at her Brentwood, California home. The world was stunned. Marilyn's vibrant spirit and beauty made it impossible to believe she was gone. On August 8, 1962, Marilyn's body was laid to rest in the Corridor of Memories, #24, at Westwood Memorial Park in Los Angeles, California.

During her career, Marilyn made 30 films and left one, Something's Got to Give, unfinished. She was more than just a movie star or glamour queen. A global sensation in her lifetime, Marilyn's popularity has extended beyond star status to icon. Today, the name "Marilyn Monroe" is synonymous with beauty, sensuality and effervescence. She remains an inspiration to all who strive to overcome personal obstacles for the goal of achieving greatness.