Marilyn Monroe: How an outcast became an American icon

How an outcast became an American Icon

David van Gool

An American actress, model, and singer. Famous for playing comedic 'blonde bombshell' characters, Marilyn Monroe became one of the most popular sex symbols of the 1950s and early 60s and symbol for the era’s sexual revolution. But how did a girl with a vicious past rise to fame as one of the most influential women of the Golden Age of Hollywood?

Overcoming obstacles

While some stars have an easy start of their career, Marilyn, born as Norma Jeane Mortenson, had a slightly more tumultuous past. There were a lot of psychological issues on the maternal side of the family. Some so bad even that both her grandparents and her mother were committed to mental institutions when she was eight years old. She lived with multiple foster families and spent some time in an orphanage. Norma Jeane married one of her neighbors, James Dougherty, when she was just 16 years old. James later joined the Merchant Marines and was sent to the South Pacific during World War II. It was during this time that the photogenic Norma was discovered by a photographer in a California munitions factory. This eventually became the starting point of her career in the world modeling and fashion. Soon after her discovery, she divorced Dougherty in 1946 and signed a film contract with 20th Century Fox.

Stairway to fame

At the start of her career, Norma Jeane already adopted quite a few changes. She dyed her hair from brown to blonde, so, unfortunately, she wasn’t a natural blonde. She also changed her name from Norma Jeane Mortenson to Marilyn Monroe (Monroe was her grandmother’s last name). After a big part in 1947’s The Shocking Miss Pilgrim, Monroe had a series of roles before landing a spot in the thriller The Asphalt Jungle (1950). That same year, she was praised for her work in All About Eve, starring Bette Davis. Her true shining moment, however, came in Niagara (1953), a thriller in which Monroe played a disloyal young wife who plots with her lover to kill her actual husband. After starring in Gentlemen Prefer Blondes and How to Marry a Millionaire, both released in 1953, Monroe was at the top of Hollywood’s A-list celebrities. In 1954, she married baseball hero Joe DiMaggio at San Francisco’s City Hall after a romance of two years. Though the press praised the relationship as the prototypical all-American love story, trouble began brewing almost immediately. DiMaggio was particularly uncomfortable with his new wife’s sexy public image and her wild popularity, as revealed by the near riot among U.S. servicemen stationed in Korea during a performance she gave in the middle of the couple’s honeymoon. They would divorce that October, after only nine months of being married, but remained good friends (After Monroe died, DiMaggio kept sending roses to her grave multiple times a week for more than thirty years, until he died in 1999).

A short-lived dream

Monroe tried to change to more serious acting roles, studying at the distinguished Actors’ Studio in New York City. She earned promising reviews for her acting in Bus Stop (1956), The Prince and the Showgirl (1957) and particularly Some Like It Hot (1959). By 1961, however, troubles came up in Monroe’s personal life. Her third marriage, to the applauded playwright Arthur Miller, also disbanded after four years which led to her increasing emotional fragility. That same year she was taken into hospitals for psychiatric observation on two occasions. Her final appearance was in the movie The Misfits (1961). In June 1962, Fox fired the actress after repeated and extended absences from the set of Something’s Got to Give. On August 5, 1962, Monroe was found dead from an overdose of barbiturates (a kind of sedative-hypnotics drug) in her home in Brentwood, California. She died at the age of just 36 years old.

Even though she is not with us anymore, her memory inspired all walks of life. As the guide to United States Popular Culture put it, “As an icon of American pop Culture, Monroe’s few rivals include the likes of Elvis Presley and Mickey Mouse, ... no other star has ever inspired such a wide range of emotions on screen.” Monroe’s popularity is linked to the conflicted public image of her. She remains a sex symbol, beauty icon and one of the most famous people in Hollywood’s classical cinema, but is also famous for her troubled private life, unstable past and the conspiracies about her death. Due to this amalgam, Monroe is closely linked to discussions about modern appearances, for instance mass media, fame, and consumer culture.

As an icon of American pop culture, Monroe's few rivals include the likes of Elvis Presly and Mickey mouse''

The Monroe Legacy