Marilyn - the tragic movie legend

SHE was a star who shone brighter than any other, achieving international fame that is still as strong as ever over 40 years after her death.
Marilyn Monroe was the most glamorous and adored movie queen of all time
But despite her fame Marilyn was at heart a lonely, vulnerable and exploited woman whose life was to end tragically and - even to this day - controversially.
Born Norma Jean Mortenson on June 1, 1926, in Los Angeles to Gladys Baker she was baptised Norma Jeane Baker and spent most of her childhood in foster homes and orphanages.
Married to her 21-year-old neighbour in 1942, she later worked on an assembly line before photographer David Conover saw her and set her on the road to fame.
Norma Jean dyed her hair blonde and changed her name after signing with Twentieth Century Fox in 1946, making her first screen appearance the following year with a bit part in The Shocking Miss Pilgrim.
It was the start of a movie career which would see her became the biggest name in pictures during the 1950s - and probably the most famous woman of the 20th Century.
Marilyn died in August 1962, aged 36. In her career she made 30 films.

Written by The Editor - 12/01/2003 18:41:26

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