Marilyn Monroe ...divina

Marilyn Monroe, June 1926 – 5 August 1962), born Norma Jeane Mortenson but baptized Norma Jeane Baker, was an American actress, singer, and model. After spending much of her childhood in foster homes, Monroe began a career as a model, which led to a film contract in 1946. Her early roles were minor, but her performances in The Asphalt Jungle and All About Eve (both 1950) were well received. She was praised for her comedic ability in such films as Gentlemen Prefer Blondes, How to Marry a Millionaire, and The Seven Year Itch, and became one of Hollywood's most popular and glamorous performers. The typecasting of Monroe's "dumb blonde" persona limited her career prospects, so she broadened her range. She studied at the Actors Studio and formed Marilyn Monroe Productions. Her dramatic performance in William Inge's Bus Stop was hailed by critics, and she won a Golden Globe Award for her performance in Some Like it Hot. The final years of Monroe's life were marked by illness, personal problems, and a reputation for being unreliable and difficult to work with. The circumstances of her death, from an overdose of barbiturates, have been the subject of conjecture. Though officially classified as a "probable suicide," the possibility of an accidental overdose has not been ruled out, while conspiracy theorists argue that she was murdered. In 1999, Monroe was ranked as the sixth greatest female star of all time by the American Film Institute. Family and early life Main article: Childhood of Marilyn Monroe Monroe was born in the Los Angeles County Hospital,[3] the third child born to Gladys Pearl Baker (1902–1984).[4] Monroe's birth certificate names the father as Edward Mortenson, a Norwegian,[5] with his residence stated as "unknown."[6] Gladys Baker had married a Martin E. Mortenson in 1924, but they had separated before Gladys' pregnancy.[5] Several of Monroe's biographers suggest that Gladys Baker used his name to avoid the stigma of illegitimacy.[7] When Mortenson died, at the age of 85, Monroe's birth certificate together with her parents' marriage and divorce documents were discovered. These documents showed that Mortenson filed for divorce from Gladys on March 5, 1927, and the case was finalized on October 15, 1928, thus proving that Marilyn was born legitimate.[8][9] Throughout her life, Marilyn Monroe denied that Mortenson was her father.[5] She said that when she was a child, she had been shown a photograph of a man that Gladys Baker identified as her father. She remembered that he had a thin moustache and somewhat resembled Clark Gable, and that she had amused herself by pretending that Gable was her father, but never determined her father's true identity.[5][10] Mentally unstable and financially unable to care for Norma Jeane, Gladys placed her with foster parents Albert and Ida Bolender of Hawthorne, California, where she lived until she was seven. In her autobiography My Story (co-authored with screenwriter and novelist Ben Hecht)[11] Monroe stated she believed that the Bolenders were her parents until Ida corrected her. After that Norma Jeane referred to them as Aunt & Uncle. During one of her weekly visits, Gladys told Norma Jeane that she had bought a house for them, and Norma Jeane was allowed to move in with her mother. A few months after moving in, Gladys suffered a breakdown. In My Story, Monroe recalls her mother "screaming and laughing" as she was forcibly removed to the State Hospital in Norwalk. Monroe was declared a ward of the state, and Gladys' best friend, Grace McKee, became her guardian. It was Grace who had told Monroe that someday she would become "...an important woman... a movie star." Grace was captivated by Jean Harlow, and would let Norma Jeane wear makeup and take her out to get her hair curled. They would go to the movies together, forming the basis for Norma Jeane's fascination with the cinema and the stars on screen. After Grace McKee married Ervin Silliman Goddard in 1935, the 9 year-old Monroe was sent to the Los Angeles Orphans Home (later renamed Hollygrove), and then to a succession of foster homes. Two years later Grace took Norma Jeane back to live with her, Goddard and one of Goddard's daughters from a previous marriage. When Goddard tried to molest Norma Jeane, Grace sent her to live with her great aunt, Olive Brunings. Norma Jeane was assaulted by one of Olive's sons at the age of 12 and then went on to live with Grace's aunt, Ana Lower. When Ana developed health problems, Norma Jeane went back to live with Grace and Ervin Goddard, where she met a neighbor's son, Jim Dougherty, and soon began a relationship with him. Grace and her husband were about to move East and could not take Norma Jeane. Another family wanted to adopt Norma Jeane, but Gladys would not allow it. Grace then approached a neighbor suggesting that her son, James Dougherty, could marry Norma Jeane so that she would not have to return to an orphanage or foster care, and in June 1942, they were married. Monroe would state in her autobiography that she did not feel like a wife; she enjoyed playing with the neighborhood children until her husband would call her home. The marriage lasted until 1946 when Monroe decided to pursue her career.