Marilyn Monroe: Celebrating the Icon on Her 100th Birthday
A Century of Marilyn Monroe
Today marks the centenary of Hollywood's golden girl, Marilyn Monroe. Renowned as the quintessential bombshell, she famously serenaded President John F. Kennedy with a sultry version of "Happy Birthday, Mr. President" in 1962. Her iconic moment, with her white skirt billowing over a subway grate in The Seven Year Itch in 1955, has become a legendary scene in popular culture. However, her glamorous life was tragically cut short at the age of 36. Monroe's journey was far from idyllic; she was born as an illegitimate child and her life story has often been likened to "Oliver Twist in girl's clothing."
Born Norma Jeane Mortenson on June 1, 1926, she was the daughter of Gladys Pearl Baker and an absent father, who reportedly passed away three years after her birth. Due to her mother's inability to care for her, Marilyn spent a significant part of her childhood moving between orphanages and foster homes, facing poverty, neglect, and instability. Reports indicate that she lived with 12 different foster families, with one even providing her empty liquor bottles to play with instead of toys.
As reported by The New York Times, "At another stage, she lived in a drought area with a family of seven. She spent two years in a Los Angeles orphanage, wearing a uniform she detested. By the time she was 9 years old, Norma Jeane had begun to stammer, an affliction rare among females." Tragically, she also suffered sexual abuse while in one of the foster homes. Her mother was diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia and institutionalized in 1934, leading family friend Grace Goddard to take care of her. In her unfinished autobiography, My Story, Marilyn reminisced about her childhood, recalling how she and Aunt Grace would stand in line for hours to buy old bread, with Grace reassuring her that she would grow up to be beautiful.
For a girl who spent her formative years in foster care, Hollywood represented an escape. In an edited excerpt from Last Talk With a Lonely Girl: Marilyn Monroe by Richard Meryman, published in Life magazine on August 17, 1962, she expressed her childhood aspirations: "When I was five, I think, that's when I started wanting to be an actress. I loved to play. I didn't like the world around me because it was kind of grim, but I loved to play house. It was like you could make your own boundaries..." Her dreams materialized as she transitioned from modeling to becoming Marilyn Monroe, the iconic pin-up model of 1946.
Her voluptuous figure, famously measuring 37-23-37, epitomized female beauty, complemented by her soft platinum blonde hair and breathy voice. By early 1946, she graced 33 magazine covers, solidifying her status as a star. The world was captivated by her, and she became known as the Goddess of Love, receiving thousands of letters weekly, many proposing marriage. Her popularity was so immense that it was reported a man in Turkey harmed himself after watching her in How to Marry a Millionaire.
As noted in an article from Time on May 14, 1956, "The Communists have angrily denounced her as a capitalist trick to make the U.S. masses forget how miserable they really are." In Moji, Japan, her infamous nude photograph was displayed in the municipal assembly building to 'rejuvenate the assemblymen.' Even in the radiation control laboratory of the world's first atomic submarine, a picture of Marilyn held a prominent place. From a troubled childhood to becoming the most recognized woman globally, Marilyn Monroe's legacy endures as the ultimate Hollywood fantasy, even a century after her birth.