Marilyn Monroe Research Paper

Kasey Esclavon

Mrs. Grieman

Blue 4

10 February, 2014

Marilyn Monroe

        Although Marilyn Monroe had a difficult life while growing up, she pursued her career through acting and modeling to become a major icon in her days as well as one still today. Today many people including celebrities look up to Marilyn Monroe as a role model and inspiration.

Monroe had a very difficult childhood, growing up, which caused her with many challenges to overcome. She was born on June 1, 1926 in Los Angeles, California as Norma Jeane Mortenson. Monroe never knew her father, and her mom, who married at 15, had been diagnosed with schizophrenia and depression and was placed in a mental institution. (Monroe) She grew up mainly in foster care where she was sexually assaulted and raped at the age of eleven (“Marilyn Monroe. Biography). She dropped out of school at the age of fifteen and removed herself from foster care by getting married to a Merchant Marine named James Dougherty. While Dougherty had been deployed, Monroe worked in a munitions factory. In September of 1946, Monroe and Dougherty had faded away, and the marriage ended. In the factory, she was discovered by a photographer and began her modeling career when she changed her name to Marilyn Monroe and signed her first contract with Twentieth Century Fox, beginning her career.

As Monroe’s career began and she changed her name, she began to die her hair bleach blonde and change her image as she started to sign more contracts. (“Marilyn Monroe. Biography) On August 26, 1946, she signed a $125 a week contract and was also given a six year contract with Twentieth Century Fox. (“Marilyn Monroe.” Encyclopedia) She starred in the movie Niagara where a young girl tries to kill her husband which was a big turning point in her career because she became Hollywood famous. (“Marilyn Monroe. Biography)  Some of her other famous movies were There’s No Business Like Show Business in 1954 and The Seven Year Itch in 1955. Monroe became a much admired woman by her hair and her hourglass figure. (“Marilyn Monroe. Biography) One thing Monroe suffered from was performance anxiety which made her physically and mentally sick. (“Marilyn Monroe.” Encyclopedia) She struggled with this by being late to her practices and film sets. Because of this, Monroe had been signed and released with many different studios. In June of 1962, Fox had discharged Monroe for her emotional and physiological issues and needs.

 ( Mellen)  Monroe had gotten tired of playing the stereotypical role of a dumb blonde and moved to New York where she studied acting. (“Marilyn Monroe ( American) Then in 1956, she returned to acting and played a role on the dramatic comedy Bus Stop. In 1959, she starred in a comedy Something Like It Hot. It was a big hit, and she received the "Best Actress in a Comedy" award in 1959, at the Golden Globe Awards. (“Marilyn Monroe. Biography)  The last film that Monroe did was The Misfits in 1961. If it were not for all her absences due to being sick on the set of Something Got To Give, she would have had another big hit but the director was too frustrated by her being gone all the time.(Haas) Overall, Monroe appeared in 23 films and accumulated more than 200 million dollars. (“Marilyn Monroe ( American)