From Norma Jean Baker to Marilyn Monroe — How Did She Become a Star?
By Jennifer TisdaleSep. 29 2022, Published 11:22 p.m. ET
Marilyn Monroe in 1950
The legacy of Marilyn Monroe lives on in an endless quantity of kitschy memorabilia, books, documentaries, half biopics like Netflix's Blonde, and naturally her movies. On the one hand, the driven actress desperate to be observed and beloved would more than likely be happy with how she's remembered. On the opposite, the starlet plagued through unsuccessful relationships and habit would almost definitely quite fade into obscurity. It's as if each side of her, Norma Jean Baker and Marilyn Monroe, are working in opposition to the opposite.
In Blonde, we first meet Marilyn when she's nonetheless Norma Jean. She used to be born and raised in Los Angeles, Calif., bouncing between foster homes and orphanages. Her mom struggled with mental illness and spent maximum of her lifestyles committed while her father was completely out of the picture.
How did she manage to shed the confines of Norma Jean in order to transform the famous Marilyn Monroe?
Marilyn Monroe in 1948
How did Marilyn Monroe get famous?
The Even the Rich podcast did an impressive deep dive into the early years of Norma Jean Baker, the place the principle takeaway is tenacity. In 1942, a then 16-year-old Norma Jean made up our minds to marry 21-year-old Jim Dougherty so as to get herself out of the foster care machine. Two years later, when the country was once thrust into the middle of World War II, Jim joined the Army, so Norma Jean went to paintings.
While Marilyn used to be folding parachutes at the Radioplane airplane plant in Burbank, Calif, an Army photographer arrived to take pictures of women operating on the meeting strains. He took realize of the vivacious 18-year-old Norma Jean and could not stop taking photos of her.
Jim Dougherty and Norma Jean Baker
This led to a chain of modeling jobs and mag covers, one in all which Jim saw while stationed overseas. He was once not satisfied about it and demanded she prevent in an instant. She refused. Norma Jean chose to dye her hair strawberry blonde, which got her 5 magazine covers in a single month. She filed for divorce from Jim in 1946.
The similar 12 months as her divorce, Norma Jean confirmed up uninvited to the workplace of Ben Lyon, Fox's head of casting. Ben should have observed something in her because he arranged a screen check with twentieth Century Fox. Unfortunately, all choices have been left to Darryl Zanuck, the studio boss. He found out Shirley Temple and may just make or ruin any person. Although he didn't fairly see what Ben saw in Norma Jean, Darryl gave her a six-month contract with two caveats: She needed to dye her hair more blonde and alter her title. It used to be then that Marilyn Monroe was born.
Marilyn knew she had so much to turn out so she determined to benefit from each elegance introduced to actors through the studio. From dancing to diction, she used to be determined to learn it all. Her arduous paintings resulted in small parts in two very forgettable motion pictures, which wasn't sufficient for a freelance renewal.
Marilyn Monroe and Adele Jergens in 'Ladies of the Chorus' in 1948
Then, within the fall of 1947, Marilyn met 69-year-old Joe Schenck, a well-connected studio executive who placed a call to go of Columbia Studios, Harry Cohn. And identical to that, she had every other six-month contract.
Harry Cohn solid Marilyn as one of the leads in Ladies of the Chorus and summoned her to his place of job, the place he propositioned her. After turning him down, she used to be again out on the streets and not using a studio contract.
On May 27, 1949, 22-year-old Marilyn Monroe posed nude for the now notorious calendar because she was down on her luck and short of cash. At some level, Marilyn decided to get plastic surgery on her nose and chin, which labored out in her want as casting directors began paying more consideration to her.
Marilyn Monroe within the background of 'All About Eve'
After landing a small but memorable role in All About Eve, Fox's Darryl Zanuck came sniffing round once more and introduced Marilyn $500 every week. (About $6,000 a week in as of late's cash.) But in fact, in early 1952, the nude calendar got here again to hang-out Marilyn, so Darryl tried to get forward of it. The plan was once to deny the woman in the picture was her. To do this, they organized an interview with reporter Alin Mosby. But Marilyn told the reality. Marilyn was once in a position to tell her precisely why she did it, and when this was once included in Alin's profile, Marilyn blew up. People have been obsessed.
Marilyn would receive kind of 3,500 letters per week and whilst Darryl still did not see what the entire fuss was once about, he knew enough to listen to the enthusiasts. She was once immediately solid as the lead in Niagara followed by means of her breakout position in Gentlemen Prefer Blondes. This is when her celebrity was once born, although it could, of course, fall quickly enough.
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