An icon, a diva, a woman who with her beauty and verve has influenced and inspired the world of art, fashion, photography and, of course, cinema. Sixty years have passed since her death, but Marilyn Monroe continues to be praised and imitated: it must have been her unmistakable beauty or that seductive gaze that hid her frailties …
What made her famous is not difficult to understand: a mix explosive of charm and talent that, even today, half a century later, is an inspiration for many actresses.
Who was Norma Jeane Mortenson
Marilyn Monroe , whose real name is Norma Jeane Mortensonn , was born on June 1, 1926 at the Los Angeles Country Hospital . Her childhood was not exactly rosy: the identity of her father was never verified and her mother, Gladys Pearl Monroe, was mentally unstable and financially could not take care of her daughter.
The first steps as a model
Marilyn Monroe began her show business career as a model by posing for Hollywood’s premier advertising agency, the Blu Book School of Charm and Modeling . She worked with renowned photographers who made her face and her breathtaking beauty known all over the world.
The young Norma Jeane Mortensonn signed her first film contract on August 24, 1946; it was then that she was advised by director Ben Lyon to change her name to Marilyn Monroe for the sensual tone of her double “M”.
The success
The hit Marilyn exploded, however, in 1953 with the hits of Niagara , Men Prefer Blondes and How to Marry a Millionaire . In that period she was courted by the most famous men of the moment and in 1954 she married the baseball champion Joe Di Maggio; a very short marriage as after a year they separated due to the “too much popularity” of Monroe. This and another series of love affairs that ended badly affected her work; and at the same time she also began to be the mistress of President Kennedy and her brother Bob .
The decline
Although she demonstrated her talent as an actress, in the films that followed the sentimental misadventures, the first signs of a different, tired and stressed Marilyn Monroe began to be noticed. After the films Some Like It Hot (1959), Let’s Make Love and Her Misfits , the actress was fired from 20th Century Fox .
The death
Marilyn Monroe was found lifeless on August 5, 1962, at the age of thirty-six, in the bedroom of her home in Brentwood, Los Angeles. Even today, almost sixty years later, there is talk of suicide but there is no certain proof of what happened. It is said that her death may even have to do with the scandal of her relationship with the Kennedy brothers or that it was a settlement with the mafia.
Despite the aura of mystery that revolves around her death and the darkest periods of her life, Marilyn Monroe continues to be an icon of beauty and style that everyone has tried to imitate without ever being able to match.
10 famous quotes from Marilyn Monroe
- “Imperfection is beauty, madness is genius, and it’s better to be absolutely ridiculous than absolutely boring.”
- “Never cry for a man, your make-up gets smudged … And my mascara is worth more than a stupid male.”
- “Woman is man’s ruin but the fact remains that man without woman is ruined.”
- “Don’t be jealous if you see your ex with someone else … Mom taught us that you have to give used toys to the less fortunate.”
- “Remember who was there when you were sick, because they will be the ones you want next to when everything goes well.”
- “They say that money does not bring happiness, but if I have to cry I prefer to do it in the back seat of a Rolls Royce rather than in a subway carriage.”
- “I want to age without face lifts. I want to have the courage to be true to the face that I have created. “
- “Surrendering doesn’t always mean being weak; sometimes it means being strong enough to let it go. “
- “We all should start living before we get too old. Fear is stupid. This is how regrets are born. “
- “I leave to others the conviction of being the best, for me I keep the certainty that in life you can always improve.”
