Marilyn Monroe – life and facts

Interesting facts from the life of Marilyn Monroe

Real name

On June 1, 1926, Norma Jean Mortensen, a future actress, singer, and icon of popular culture, appeared in the world in Los Angeles. She entered the world of film very slowly. Initially, film studios such as Paramount Pictures and 20th Cenutry Fox refused to hire her, until she finally signed her first six-month contract. It was then that she chose Marilyn Monroe as her nickname. Her first name referred to the star Marilyn Miller and her surname was her mother’s maiden name. The official name and surname change took place in March 1956.

Other nicknames

However, Marilyn Monroe is not the only nickname of the star. Jean Norman and Mona Monroe introduced themselves while working as a model. She booked the hotel room under the name of Zelda Zonk. Staying in a psychiatric clinic, she was admitted as Faye Miller.

Worship to Lincoln

The actress herself admitted that she was quite a poor student. During her education, she was to be awarded only once. At age 13, Norma wrote an essay on the presidency of Abraham Lincoln. Her English teacher was about to cry while reading. Moreover, she was so impressed that she asked the girl to read the essay in front of the class. Years later, Marilyn admitted that it was one of the few moments in her childhood where she felt important. In her adult life, the woman had a photo of the president in each of her apartments. She once admitted that she was with her third husband because he reminded her of Lincoln.

Unnatural blonde

One of the hallmarks of Marilyn was her blonde hair. However, she was actually a brown-haired girl. She began to dye them with the beginning of her career. Her lover and film agent Johnny Hyde convinced her to do so. People from her background mentioned that she was obsessed with them. In 1956, while filming “The Bus Stop,” Marilyn was about to get hysterical when she noticed Hope Lange’s fair hair. This started an argument with the director and the threat that he would not return to the set until young Lange changed her hair color.

Marriage

At sixteen, Marilyn stepped on the carpet and said “yes to James Dougherty. She soon revealed to him that she wanted to become pregnant. Together, they agreed that they would try to have a child when James returns from the army. However, during this time, the life of the young woman changed quite a bit. She stopped being a factory worker and became a model. She decided to ask her husband for a divorce. She had become pregnant many times in her life, but each time she believed that it was not the right time for motherhood. In one interview, she admitted that she was to give birth to a son at the age of 15. According to the decision of her legal guardian, the boy was to be put up for adoption. It is not known whether Marilyn did not make up this story by accident.

A poorly paid actress

Although she gained immense popularity, she was not one of the well-paid Hollywood actresses. She received around $ 1,000 for her first appearances. Producers paid her $ 1,500 a week for her role in the film “Straw Widower,” in which she was the main character. The star got the biggest salary for the production of “Half a joke, half seriously”. Her account was then credited with $ 300,000. For comparison, Elizabeth Taylor received a million dollars for her role in the movie “Cleopatra”. Currently, Monroe generates a profit of $ 5 million each year.

Resting place

Marilyn Monroe was interred at Westwood Memorial Park Cemetery in Los Angeles. The graves near Monroe have automatically increased in value. Hugh Hefner himself thought about his tombstone when he was alive and bought a place at Monroe for 50,000 dollars.

Girl of the month

At 27, she became the first Girl of the Month in Playboy magazine. The then rising star received $ 50 for the session.

Marilyn Monroe quotes:

 “(…) I hear a little girl crying in the corridor and it seems to me that children sometimes display extraordinary perceptiveness and insight, as well as certain deeply human qualities that they lose in the process of growing up”.

 “ I think it’s best to love bravely and accept – as much as you can bear”.

“ You can’t capture beauty or death because it’s something Inexpressible. Only a myth can comprehend it, although it does not necessarily have to be ancient – only its nature matters: it happens that it is born in the present, because myth exists beyond time”.

***INTERSETING FACTS***

• If she were alive today, she would be 92 years old.

• The dress worn by Marilyn in Divided with Life sold for $ 66,000 at an auction in New York.

• With the development of her film career, Marylin decided to operate on her nose, chin and change her teeth.

• Marilyn arranged for Ella Fitzgerald’s first major appearance at a hip club in Los Angeles. In 1955, when English was in force.  Yet racial segregation, Monroe persuaded managers to let Fitzgerald sing, promising to sit alone in the front row for a whole week.

• As a child, she constantly changed her place of residence. She grew up in orphanages and numerous foster families.

• She cooked well. Even so, she was still on a diet! Therefore, she could not enjoy what she prepared. Her signature dish is the bouillabaisse fish soup.

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• She stuttered in childhood. It is true that the problem disappeared when she started growing up, but in stressful situations she sometimes stuttered also in adulthood.

• The actress did not have a good memory. She had great difficulty learning even short lines. The shot from “Half Joking”, where Monroe says …“It’s me, Sugar” was recorded 60 times.

• Monroe’s image rights are currently held by Authentic Brand Groups. The company purchased them in January 2011 for $ 30 million.

• Marilyn sang the famous song “Diamonds are a girl’s best friend”, but she did not collect expensive jewelry herself. The most valuable gem put up at Christie’s 1999 auction was a ring with 35 diamonds, donated to her by Joe DiMaggio. The baseball player also bought her a 40 cm string of Akoya pearls, which was returned to Paula Strasberg. The remaining valuables were merely props from the set.

• There were riots during her funeral. Hundreds of fans of the actress broke into the cemetery after the service and stole flowers from the wreaths and bouquets sent.

• The New York Times reported a record number of suicides in New York City in the week after Monroe’s death – twelve in a single day. One of the people who took their own lives wrote in a farewell letter: “If the most wonderful, most beautiful creature in the world did not want to live anymore, then I also have no need for it”.

• During the filming of The Prince and the Actress, Monroe’s weight fluctuated so rapidly that costume designer Beatrice Dawson had to prepare identical dresses in different sizes. “I had two ulcers in this movie,” Dawson said later. “And they both had the initials MM sewn on.”

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• Marilyn practically did not part with the acting instructors. The first, Natasha Lytess, worked with her for six years, on 22 films. Lytess often argued with the directors, undermining their authority, and with the studio bosses from whom she was paid (Marilyn also paid her and settled her debt to the dentist for £ 11,000). Later, she was replaced by Paula Strasberg, who, unlike Lytess – trying to steer Marilyn’s every move from behind the camera – advised Monroe between takes. For her work on The Prince and the Actresses, Strasberg received $ 25,000, more than some actors.

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• For 20 years after Marilyn’s death, Joe DiMaggio sent roses to her grave three times a week.

• In January 2011, Authentic Brand Groups purchased the image rights to Marilyn Monroe for which it paid approximately $ 30 million. “I believe that with modern technology, Marilyn has a great career ahead of him in the media and entertainment industry,” said ABG CEO Jamie Salter.

• In 1999, an auction of the actress’s personal belongings was held. Her white salon piano was bought by singer Mariah Carey for $ 662,500 (organizers valued it at $ 10,000 to $ 15,000). The instrument belonged to Monroe’s mother, who sold it after she had a nervous breakdown. Marilyn, however, found and retrieved the piano, and kept it at home for the rest of her life.

• The coffin at Marilyn’s memorial service was open. The deceased wore a green Pucci tight dress made of nylon and a platinum wig (her hair was partially shaved during an autopsy).

• It was said that Monroe planned to remarry Joe DiMaggio before her death. Following the collapse of their first marriage, DiMaggio underwent therapy, stopped drinking, and began to pursue other passions besides baseball – reportedly even reading poetry with Marilyn in the last years of her life.

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• The beaded Jean Louis gown in which Marilyn sang “Happy Birthday” to President Kennedy was purchased in 1999 for £ 820,000. It was a record price for a single creation – until the actress’s famous, flowing white dress from “The Straw Widower” was put up for auction by Debbie Reynolds in 2011 and sold for £ 2.8 million.

• In 1999, an auction of Monroe’s personal effects was held. A salon piano valued at around $ 15,000 was a real hit. The instrument itself has a longer history. It belonged to the actress’s mother, who sold it during a nervous breakdown. After some time, Marilyn tried to find it and buy it. She kept it in her living room for the rest of her life. It is now on the Mariah Carey estate, who paid $ 662,500 for it. At the same auction, a gown in which the actress sings “’Happy Birthday” to President Kennedy was put up. Its future owner offered £ 820,000. However, in 2011, this record for a single creation was broken. The fluttering white gown in a scene from “The Widowmaker” sold for $ 2.8 million.

• When she was a child, she stuttered. In adulthood, it ceased to be a problem.

• Even though she sang that diamonds were a woman’s best friend, she did not like them at all. She considered pearls the most beautiful.

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• Her IQ was 168.

• She underwent plastic surgery. She treated herself with a chin implant and corrected the tip of her nose. On the agent’s advice, she also adjusted her breasts.

• She had a higher IQ than Albert Einstein, Stephen Hawking, and Bill Gates. Her IQ was 168. Hawking, Gates, and Einstein were 6 points less.
• She was buried in her favorite dress. The green nylon dress by Pucci was the star’s beloved garment.

• For 20 years she had fresh flowers on her grave. The artist’s husband, Joe DiMaggio, sent them. He did this three times a week.

• It was related to, inter alia, with Frank Sinatra, Nicholas Ray, Yves Montand, Peter Lawford, Elia Kazan and Charles Chaplin.

• In 2009, she was named the sexiest woman of all time by TV Guide Network.

• Marilyn Monroe was a relatively underpaid actress. Her on-screen partner in “Men Prefer Blondes,” Jane Russell, received about ten times the salary. Monroe’s fee for her latest unfinished film, Something’s Got to Give, was $ 100,000. By comparison, Elizabeth Taylor cashed a round million for “Cleopatra” and Dean Martin won half a million for his role opposite Marilyn in “Something …”. Monroe’s current image rights holders earn about five million dollars a year.

• Nevertheless, shortly before her death, the actress “joined” the Hollywood club of millionaires. In 1962, she was dropped by 20th Century Fox from the cast of “Something’s Got to Give” because she was notoriously late or did not appear on the set (she did not come even once during the first two weeks of shooting). However, on August 1, four days before her death, she was offered a new deal, and Marilyn signed a million-dollar contract to make two films.

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• In 1953, Marilyn became Playboy’s First Girl of the Month (later called the Playmate). Monroe received $ 50 for posing for photos, taken back in 1949. Hugh Hefner later bought them back for ten times the amount.

• Several sites adjacent to Marilyn Monroe’s grave at Westwood Memorial Park Cemetery in Los Angeles have been bought up for a lot of money. When Elsie Poncher, the widow of a man buried in the columbarium just above the actress, put the place up for sale on eBay, she got dozens of offers, including one for £ 2.8 million.

• Another grave next to Marilyn was bought in 1992 by Hugh Hefner for 50,000 pounds.

• The actress used many surnames. According to her birth certificate, her name was Norma Jeane Mortenson, and her baptismal records were Norma Jeane Baker. As a model, she used the names Jean Norman and Mona Monroe; initially she also wanted to adopt the stage name Jean Adair. In hotels, she introduced herself as Zelda Zonk, and a certain Faye Miller was admitted to a psychiatric clinic. She officially changed her name to Marilyn Monroe in March 1956, already as a star.

• When her mother, Gladys, was placed in an asylum, little Marilyn was placed in eleven different foster homes. She also spent a year at the Children’s Aid Society Orphanage in Los Angeles.

• Her favorite artist was Goya “I know him very well, we have the same dreams, since I was a child I dream about the same things he did”  she said.

• At the age of 18, Marilyn entered the Christian Science Association. Later she was interested in unconventional spiritual currents, including Rudolf Steiner anthroposophy. In 1956, shortly before her marriage to Arthur Miller, she converted to Judaism.

• Marilyn had many dogs, the last one being a Maltese dog given to her by Frank Sinatra, which she called Maf (short for “beloved mafioso”). Two Polaroid photos of Mafa sold in 1999 at an auction in Christie’s for £ 220,000.

• Monroe bequeathed 75 percent of her fortune to the Strasbergs; now it is owned by Anna, the third wife of Lee Strasberg. She is opposed to the use of any photos in which Marilyn is dressed in fur, explaining that the actress loved animals very much.

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• The remaining 25 percent of Monroe’s inheritance belongs to the Anna Freud Center, a children’s clinic in Hampstead, North London. The institution received this portion of the property from Dr. Marianne Kris, one of Marilyn’s therapists, designated as the heir in her will.

• The actress married Joe DiMaggio and later Arthur Miller, but her first husband was James Dougherty. She was 16 when they got married. Dougherty’s second wife, who later became a Los Angeles Police Detective, forbade him from watching Monroe movies.

• Marilyn whitened her skin using a cream with hormones; one of his side effects was the light fluff growing on her face. Monroe did not remove it, because it made her skin look softer in the camera lens.

• The actress was never nominated for an Oscar but won the “Girl with Vigor” competition at Emerson Junior High in 1941, was crowned the first “Queen of Artichoke” in Castroville in 1948 and was elected “Miss Cheesecake” by the magazine “Stars and Stripes” in 1950.

• In 1953, she also received the title of “World’s Most Popular Advertising Girl” from the Advertising Association of the West. Marilyn has lent its image to numerous brands including American Airlines, Kyron Way Diet Pills, Pabst Beer, Tan-Tan Suntan Lotion and Royal Triton Oil.

• The actress’s agent, Johnny Hyde, financed her in 1950 two plastic surgeries: correction of the tip of the nose (by changing the shape of the cartilage) and a chin implant.

• Monroe was one of the entertainment industry’s first yoga enthusiasts. She studied with Indra Devi, a Swedish-Russian Bollywood star who also gave lessons to Greta Garbo and Gloria Swanson.

• Monroe was only the second woman (after Mary Pickford) to run her own film production company.

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• Marilyn was obsessed with Clark Gable, who starred with her in Fighting Life. As a child, she often dreamed that he was her father. When he died, the actress cried for two days.

• She felt good naked. Surrounded by women working on the set – stylists, hairdressers, and make-up artists – she often walked without clothes. She has given interviews in nude and has often appeared in public wearing nothing but the black mink fur coat that Joe DiMaggio had given her.

• The writers loved Marilyn. Jean-Paul Sartre wanted her to play the hysterical patient in Freud, for which he had sketched the script; and Truman Capote saw her originally as Holly Golightly in Breakfast at Tiffany’s.

• Marilyn’s death was classified as “probable suicide”,  even though only her liver was subjected to toxicological testing. When the deputy court expert, Thomas Noguchi, wanted to examine the rest of her organs, he heard that they had already been disposed of.

• Actress Veronica Hamel, who bought Marilyn’s house in 1972, claimed that she discovered an extensive listening system in it during renovation.

• Marilyn’s hero and idol was Abraham Lincoln. “I read everything I found about him”, she revealed in her autobiography “My Story” (written with the help of a hired author). “He was the only famous American who looked a little like me, especially during my childhood”.

• Just before her death, Monroe read the book “To Kill a Mockingbird” by Harper Lee and the novel “Captain Newman MD” by Leo Rosten, based on the biography of her psychiatrist, Ralph Greenson.

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• It is unknown who the real biological father of Marilyn was, although two different men confessed to it on their deathbeds. The actress herself, like her mother, believed that Stanley Gifford was him, and he did not want to keep in touch with her. The second man, Edward Mortensen, was married to Gladys at the time of her daughter’s birth, and it is his name (misspelled) that appears on the birth certificate.

• Monroe was very athletic. When she lived on Catalina Island as a young woman in the early 1940s, she trained in weightlifting with former Olympic champion Howard Corrington. She later surfed in tandem with her boyfriend, Tommy Zahn, balancing on his shoulders as they skimmed the waves.

• She was a talented producer. Marilyn Monroe Productions, a company she founded in 1955 with photographer Milton Greene, had only produced one film, The Prince, and the Actress. Marilyn did a great job finding a writer: she arranged a meeting with the writer Terent Rattigan, who was stopping in New York on his way to Hollywood, where he was to discuss the script with director William Wyler. Monroe lured Rattigan from the airport to a downtown bar, and when Wyler did not propose a specific offer, the writer accepted the actress’s proposal.

• Many of her friends thought she had been murdered. Among the suspects were Robert Kennedy (with whom she had an affair), his brother John (as above), gangster Sam Giancana, the FBI, the CIA, and her psychiatrist Ralph Greenson.

• Marilyn’s frequent absences from the set of “Let’s Love Each Other” forced the filming period to be extended by 28 days and the film’s budget increased by one million dollars.

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• Marilyn was “discovered” by photographer David Conover while she was working on the assembly line at the Radioplane defense plant.

• It is widely believed that Arthur Miller’s play “After the Fall” is fraught with allusions to his marriage to Marilyn. Writer James Baldwin left the premiere, believing that the character of Maggie, modeled on Monroe, had been treated too cruelly.

• Monroe owned only one home: the one where she died, at 12305 Fifth Helena Drive in Brentwood.

• When the actress met Nikita Khrushchev, they talked about “The Karamazov Brothers”. Marilyn dreamed of playing the role of Grushenka in the film adaptation of the novel.

• She had a soft spot for intellectuals. When she lived with actress Shelley Winters in 1951, together they made a list of the men they considered the most attractive. Arthur Miller (whom she had met before) and Albert Einstein were included in the Marilyn rankings.

• She was an excellent cook, and her signature dish was the bouillabaisse fish soup. When New York Times journalists tried to prepare the stuffing according to its recipe, they were surprised to discover that it was an extremely complicated undertaking – it took them two hours.