Marilyn+Monroe



Famous for her bodacious body and blonde locks, Marilyn Monroe, unknown to most, rose to fame on account of the Second World War. Growing up as Norma Jean Mortensun, she moved from home to home living with different families as she did not have one of her own. Life was rough as it is, and when the second war came around she didn’t have much hope for herself in the means of a future. During the war she worked in a munitions factory in Burbank California, contributing to the war efforts by spraying fire retardant on airplane parts and inspecting parachutes to be sent to soldiers. . By chance, photographer for Yank Magazine, David Conover, was working on a piece called “women in the workforce” and happened to snap a photo of Norma that changed her life forever. Stating the she was a “dream” to photograph, Conover started to hire her for other modeling jobs, and the rest is history.

=//Transformation//=

At the time, Norma was married to James Dougherty who was then off fighting in the South Pacific with the merchant marines. When he returned home in 1946, she divorced him and signed a contract with 20th century fox. It was then when she revolutionized her look, dying her formerly brown hair platinum blonde and re naming herself Marilyn Monroe. Oozing in sex, she attained real star status after acting in the 1950’s John Huston’s thriller, “The Asphalt Jungle”. Her success was instantaneous, leading her to land roles in films like “Monkey Business”, “As young as you feel” and “Niagra”. The critics and fans loved her, playing a part in her winning the “Best new actress of the year” award in 1953 by Photoplay magazine. At this time she was both acting and modeling while also doing a bit of singing here and there, especially in her films.

=//Time in the East//=

It was in 1954 when Marilynn took to the chapel once again to wed baseball player, Joe DiMaggio, much to the dismay of all American males, thought they divorced that same year. After the nuptials, she took time out of her busy schedule to perform for the American troops in Korea and injured servicemen in the military hospitals in Japan. Now this was a time when technology and gossip didn’t link continents together. These troops had been overseas when her films were released as they were during the war. The men she was performing for had never uttered nor even heard her name, quite opposite to her fame in the West as she was such a bombshell and well known persona. It was to be a testament to her sex appeal, an ordeal easily defining her status as a celebrity. However, her sexiness and charm did not fail as the once group of respected, hard working men turned crazed, deprived monkeys in her presence. As she shook and shimmied her stuff around the stage, Journalist Hanso Baldwin from the New York Times noted that the men acted wildly, not in any way like the soldiers they were. This solidified her influence over the masses and Marilyn left the east with hundreds of thousands of new, adoring fans. She was later voted #1 pin up girl during the Korean War. In 1956 she tried love again and married Arthur Miller, though in her case, the third time was not a charm as they later divorced in 1961.

=//Beggining to the End//=

In 1959, Marilyn continued her successful career with he film “Some like it Hot”. Even after years of success, her breathy ballads and scantily clad body still kept the masses of America intrigued. In the beginning months of 1962, she made her way into an elite circle of friends and started attending parties at the White house. She soon attracted the attention of one, President John Kennedy and they became acquainted. Both John and Robert Kennedy fancied the starlet and it was believed she was having sexual relations with both brothers simultaneously. Though she apparently loved both siblings, John had the entirety of her heart. Unconcerned with the fact that he was married, Marilyn continued her “friendship” with John and according to her friends, she was in love with him. They would visit each other and apparently were seen multiple times slipping out of rooms together looking slightly, frazzled. Her relationship with John concerned certain people, as maybe she knew too much about the government. This led to the FBI keeping records on her and attracted the interest of the Mafia. However, contrary to their feelings the affiliations between the two had to end and in 1962 it did; this crushed Marilyn. Devastated and already depressed for the majority of her later years, Marilyn was drowning in a pool of defeat. It was on August 5, 1962 that Marilyn was found by her psychiatrist in her Brentwood California home dead. Though the cause of death was determined to be an overdose, many still speculate that it was murder on account of her knowing too much inside information from her fling with Kennedy. Whether this is true or not, Marilyn’s career was one in a million, making her a worldwide icon and sex symbol, all tracing back to World War Two and the US military. []