Born 1 June 1926, Norma Jean Baker nee Mortenson, a self described little girl nobody wanted, grew up to become Marilyn Monroe - a woman coveted by the world. Monroe hardly had a storybook life growing up spending the majority of her life in foster care as a ward of the state because of her mother's mental infirmities and an absentee father as well as stepfather.
Despite it all, Monroe married her childhood sweetheart (Whom was incidentally the son of one of her foster families), divorced him because he wanted her to stop modeling for magazines that were at the time risque, and launched her career. She signed a contract with 20th Century Fox Films that brought her to the mainstream spotlight. Monroe briefly married Joe DiMaggio, then Arthur Miller, and in between it all became one of the most recognizable faces in the world before passing away under circumstances that to this day are still open to debate.
(Photo from The Prince and the Showgirl trailer. This work is in the public domain because it was published in the United States between 1923 and 1977, inclusive, without a copyright notice)
Topic Rating: 49
