Get to know the real Marilyn Monroe
Marilyn Monroe in 1954 ( AP Photo/Matty Zimmerman, File) / Megan Hilty as Ivy in "Smash"
by: Lindsay Zier-Vogel
Date:
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"Smash” celebrates the beauty and heartbreak of Broadway theatre and the life of Marilyn Monroe is equally as beautiful and heartbreaking.
From a kid in foster homes to the most iconic sex symbol in America, Marilyn Monroe lived one heck of a life. Find out more about the original blonde bombshell and the inspiration behind “Smash:”
- Marilyn Monroe was born in Los Angeles on June 1, 1926, and named Norma Jeane Mortenson.
- After living in 12 foster homes, in 1942, Norma Jeane escaped the foster system by marrying James Dougherty (they divorced in 1946).
- Norma Jean joined the World War II effort by working first as a parachute inspector, then as a paint sprayer.
- In the mid-1940s, Norma Jeane signed with The Blue Book Modeling Agency and started bleaching her brown hair to her signature blonde.
- On August 26, 1946, Norma Jeane signed with 20th Century Fox at a starting salary of $125 per week.
- She started using the name Marilyn Monroe in 1946, but did not legally change it until 1956.
- In 1947, Marilyn Monroe landed her first movie role as a telephone operator in “The Shocking Miss Pilgrim.”
- Monroe was crowned the first "Miss California Artichoke Queen" at the annual artichoke festival in Castroville, California in 1947.
- Monroe started dating baseball great Joe DiMaggio in 1952. The pair married in San Francisco on January 14, 1954 and then honeymooned in Japan, but they divorced a few months later in November 1954.
- Monroe appeared on the very first cover of Playboy in 1953 and was friends with legendary jazz singer, Ella Fitzgerald.
- The famous skirt-blowing image of Marilyn was shot in New York City at Lexington Avenue at 53rd Street in September 1954 for the movie “The Seven Year Itch.”
- Monroe started dating Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright Arthur Miller in May 1955. She converted to Judaism and they married on June 29, 1956. After a tumultuous marriage, they officially divorced in January 1961.
- On May 19, 1962, she attended the 45th birthday celebration of President John F. Kennedy at Madison Square Garden, where she sang her iconic version of “Happy Birthday, Mr. President.”
- On August 5, 1962, Monroe was found dead in her L.A. home, three days before she was due to re-marry Joe DiMaggio. Her death was officially attributed to suicide by drug overdose. She was 36 years old.
The next episode of “Smash” airs Monday, Feb. 20 at 10/9C on CTV.
