My Story

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Marilyn Monroe is our timeless icon of glamour, vulnerability, and the American dream whose star power remains as strongly felt now as it was in the 1950s. MM-Personal is another look behind the veil of that legend, providing a look into the most fascinating relics and findings from her personal archive that have never before been revealed to the public. Selected from more than 10,000 previously unpublished items from Marilyn’s own filing cabinets, the documents that make up this book paint a vivid portrait of a woman horribly misunderstood by her own times. My Story by Marilyn Monroe and Ben Hecht

a b "The 2006 Motion Picture Almanac, Top Ten Money Making Stars". Quigley Publishing Company. Archived from the original on December 21, 2014 . Retrieved August 25, 2008. ERNIE MAXWELL: Idyllwild 'old-timer' remembers much of mountain town's history". The Desert Sun. Palm Springs, California. September 1, 1984 . Retrieved June 12, 2022– via California Digital Newspaper Collection. The couple was deeply religious and followed fundamentalist doctrines; among other prohibited activities, Monroe was not allowed to go to the movies. But when Doc's job was transferred to the East Coast, the couple could not afford to bring Monroe with them.

Los Angeles Orphans' Home Society, Orphanage #2, Hollywood, Los Angeles, CA". pcad.lib.washington.edu. PCAD - Pacific Coast Architecture Database . Retrieved November 2, 2023. Moments later, President Kennedy appeared on stage, saying, "I can now retire from politics after having had 'Happy Birthday' sung to me in such a sweet, wholesome way." Monroe dreamt of becoming an actress like Jean Harlow and Lana Turner. When her husband was sent to the South Pacific, she began working in a munitions factory in Van Nuys, California. It was there that she was first discovered by a photographer. When Niagara was released in January 1953, women's clubs protested it as immoral, but it proved popular with audiences. [129] While Variety deemed it "clichéd" and "morbid", The New York Times commented that "the falls and Miss Monroe are something to see", as although Monroe may not be "the perfect actress at this point ... she can be seductive—even when she walks". [130] [131] Crowther, Bosley (September 9, 1960). "Movie Review: Let's Make Love (1960)". The New York Times. Archived from the original on October 11, 2015 . Retrieved October 18, 2015.

Monroe did not own a house until the last year of her life and had surprisingly few possessions. One that she prized was an autographed photo of Albert Einstein, which included an inscription: "To Marilyn, with respect and love and thanks." I don’t see how that woman could say things like "I bought woolen suits because I remembered that New York and Chicago were in the North. I had seen them in the movies blanketed with snow. I forgot it was summertime there as well as in LA." After I finished this amazing memoir, I mourned Marilyn. Her entire life - especially her childhood - was tragic! Now, when I look at her pictures I see a huge amount of bitterness in her eyes! I know now that, regardless of her enormous fame, she was a very sad person! Miller, Jennifer Jean (February 14, 2014). Marilyn Monroe & Joe DiMaggio - Love In Japan, Korea & Beyond. J.J. Avenue Productions. p.79. ISBN 978-0-9914291-6-5. Spoto 2001, pp.208, 222–223, 262–267, 292; Churchwell 2004, pp.243–245; Banner 2012, pp.204, 219–221.Monroe studied with Lee Strasberg at the Actors’ Studio in New York City, and in The Seven Year Itch (1955) and Bus Stop (1956) she began to emerge as a talented comedian. In 1956 she married playwright Arthur Miller and briefly retired from moviemaking, although she costarred with Laurence Olivier in The Prince and the Showgirl (1957). She won critical acclaim for the first time as a serious actress for Some Like It Hot (1959). Her last film, the drama The Misfits (1961), was written by Miller specifically for Monroe, though their marriage disintegrated during production; they divorced in 1961. Monroe died at her Los Angeles home on August 5, 1962, at only 36 years old. An empty bottle of sleeping pills was found by her bed. Monroe, Betty Grable, and Lauren Bacall in How to Marry a Millionaire, her biggest box office success of 1953 Marilyn Monroe as told to Florabel Muir (January 1953). "Wolves I Have Known". Motion Picture. p.41. Archived from the original on March 10, 2021 . Retrieved January 31, 2022. The truth is somewhere in the middle,” Cooper says. “It almost always is.” She wanted to avoid the simplistic or salacious in chronicling a life beset by scandal and intrigue, and focused on the contents of Monroe’s character: the intellectual curiosity of the Method student, the passionate artistry of the actor who wowed greats like Billy Wilder and John Huston as her talents caught up to her innate charisma.

In the following decades, several conspiracy theories, including murder and accidental overdose, have been introduced to contradict suicide as the cause of Monroe's death. [289] The speculation that Monroe had been murdered first gained mainstream attention with the publication of Norman Mailer's Marilyn: A Biography in 1973, and in the following years became widespread enough for the Los Angeles County District Attorney John Van de Kamp to conduct a "threshold investigation" in 1982 to see whether a criminal investigation should be opened. [290] No evidence of foul play was found. [291] Screen persona and reception Hopper, Hedda (August 25, 1960). "Hedda Finds Marilyn's Film 'Most Vulgar' ". Chicago Tribune. Archived from the original on April 22, 2016 . Retrieved October 18, 2015. I never knew Marilyn Monroe, and I don’t claim to have any insights to her to this day. I knew and loved Norma Jean,” Dougherty later said. Pool, Bob (December 20, 2005). "A Haven for Children in L.A. Closes After 125 Years". Los Angeles Times . Retrieved November 2, 2023.

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In August, Monroe also began filming MMP's first independent production, The Prince and the Showgirl, at Pinewood Studios in England. [210] Based on a 1953 stage play by Terence Rattigan, it was to be directed and co-produced by, and to co-star, Laurence Olivier. [196] The production was complicated by conflicts between him and Monroe. [211] Olivier, who had also directed and starred in the stage play, angered her with the patronizing statement "All you have to do is be sexy", and with his demand she replicate Vivien Leigh's stage interpretation of the character. [212] He also disliked the constant presence of Paula Strasberg, Monroe's acting coach, on set. [213] In retaliation, Monroe became uncooperative and began to deliberately arrive late, later saying, "if you don't respect your artists, they can't work well." [211] Monroe with Laurence Olivier in a publicity photo for The Prince and the Showgirl (1957) In April 1944, Dougherty was shipped out to the Pacific, where he remained for most of the next two years. [57] Monroe moved in with her in-laws and began a job at the Radioplane Company, a munitions factory in Van Nuys. [57] In late 1944, she met photographer David Conover, who had been sent by the U.S. Army Air Forces' First Motion Picture Unit to the factory to shoot morale-boosting pictures of female workers. [58] Although none of her pictures were used, she quit working at the factory in January 1945 and began modeling for Conover and his friends. [59] [60] Defying her deployed husband, she moved on her own and signed a contract with the Blue Book Model Agency in August 1945. [61] Right away, the couple began having problems. Monroe experienced two miscarriages and an ectopic pregnancy. After Miller and Monroe had begun working together on what would have been her last film, The Misfits, they divorced on January 20, 1961. Marilyn Monroe personal teenage photograph - Norma Jeane at 14 years old". Heritage Auctions. 1940 . Retrieved November 2, 2023. Vintage original gelatin silver 1.25 x 1.75 in. photograph of Norma Jeane taken in Van Nuys, California. Exhibiting some surface soiling and corner creasing. In good condition. Provenance: Christie's LA, Collection of Marilyn Monroe Memorabilia Sold to Benefit Hollygrove Children's Home, 12 September 2001, Lot 76. Churchwell 2004, p.61 for being commercially successful; Banner 2012, p.178 for wishes to not be solely a sex symbol.