Marilyn Monroe ♥

 Without a doubt, her childhood contributed to her insecurity and unhappiness later in life. Although Marilyn did sometimes exaggerate the horrors of her upbringing, there can be no denying that it was indeed a grim and difficult experience for her. Illegitimate at birth, little Norma Jeane Mortensen (she was baptized with the surname Baker), entered the world on June 1st, 1926. Without a father, Norma Jeane was left in the care of her mother, Gladys Baker. Unfortunately, this did not last. Gladys, whose family had a history of mental illness, had a break-down and was institutionalized. She remained this way until her death in 1984. Little Norma Jeane spent her young life being shuffled from foster home to foster home. She even spent two traumatizing years living in a Los Angeles orphanage. It is hard to believe that a goddess could rise up from such circumstances.

   Her salvation came in the form of a young man named Jim Dougherty. To avoid the orphanage, Norma Jeane's guardian Grace Goddard, arranged a marriage for her. She was only 16 and the groom 21. But for the first time in her life she felt loved and part of a family. They were married on June 19, 1942. The marriage only lasted a few years. Jim was in the merchant marines and did not see a lot of his young bride. Norma Jeane was helping the war effort by stuffing parachutes in the local factory when she caught the eye of a photographer. Convinced that she would be an excellent model, Norma Jeane began working for the Blue Book Modeling agency. Soon her ambition turned to acting and she realized that it was time to leave both Jim and Norma Jeane behind.

 Here the transformation began, with a studio contract in hand, the newly named Marilyn Monroe lightened her dark locks and the Blonde Bombshell was born. In the early 1950's Marilyn appeared in a slew of small roles as the stereotypical dumb blonde. During this timeframe a photo from her past came back to haunt her. Young Norma Jeane the model had posed nude because she desperately needed the money to get her car out of hock. Now this photo of a beautiful girl stretched out nude on red velvet was showing up in every garage in the United States. To the studio's surprise Marilyn admitted that indeed it was her in the photo and unashamed she went on to quip that she didn't have anything on but the radio. Normally, such an admission would have been the end of a career but in Marilyn's case it was only the beginning.

 In 1952, her dramatic turn in Niagara capitulated her to superstardom. Marilyn went on to sing and dance her way into our hearts in Gentlemen Prefer Blondes (1953). On January 14th, 1954 two very different worlds came together, when Marilyn wed baseball legend Joe DiMaggio. Unfortunately, the marriage only lasted 9 months. Joe was not happy with the Hollywood scene or the way his wife dressed. It is ironic that the most recognizable image of Marilyn, with her white dress billowing around her, was also the breaking point of her marriage to Joe. In later years, DiMaggio did re-enter Marilyn's life and after her death he continued to carry a torch for her by never remarrying or speaking about her in public.

  By 1955, Marilyn had grown tired of the roles the studio gave her to play. She wanted to be a serious actress. She walked out on her contract with 20th Century Fox and took up residence in New York. Here she studied at the Actor's Studio with Lee Strasberg. After a year long strike, the studio eventually gave in to her unprecedented demands including story and director approval. Her new contract allowed her an incredible amount of creative control that was considered revolutionary for an actress at that time. Her first film after her return, was Bus Stop (1956). The film won her rave reviews for her touching performance as Cherie the Chanteuse.

  While in New York, Marilyn began dating the playwright Arthur Miller. In 1956, they were married in two separate ceremonies, one civil and one Jewish. The couple tried on several occasions to have children but Marilyn miscarried. During this time, Marilyn filmed perhaps the greatest comedy of all time, Some Like It Hot (1959). Rumors of her unprofessional behaviour on this film are legendary. Take after take Marilyn had difficulty remembering even the simplest of lines.    By the 1960's, Marilyn had resorted to a steady diet of sleeping pills and champagne. Some people blame her journey into psychoanalysis teamed with using "the method" style of acting she perfected in New York. In the method you use your own emotions to actually feel what the character is going through. Considering the traumatic childhood Marilyn endured, it should be no surprise that all this digging into her psyche made it difficult for her to function. 

 Arthur Miller tried to save her. He wrote a film for her called The Misfits (1961) where she could fulfill her life-long desire to be a serious actress. He even paired her with her childhood idol Clark Gable. But it would not work. Marilyn had a break down during the filming and by the end of the shoot her marriage to Arthur was over. Even more heartbreaking is the fact that this film would be the last time either Clark Gable or Marilyn would ever appear on the screen. Clark Gable died of a heart attack shortly after shooting on the film had wrapped. Marilyn was very distraught, believing her tardiness, which left Gable waiting endlessly in the heat had killed him. 

  For a time in 1962, it seemed that Marilyn had put her life back on track. She had shed 15 pounds for her role in Something's Got to Give, and when she showed up for hair and makeup tests she was as beautiful as ever. But it was only a facade. Out of 30 shooting days Marilyn only appeared on the set 13 times, claiming illness. When she left filming to appear at President Kennedy's Birthday gala, the Studio executives were appalled. In retaliation, she was fired and sued for breach of contract. Marilyn was devastated. When they were unsuccessful in replacing her, the studio quietly made her an offer to come back to work. She seemed real upbeat about this prospect but it would never happen. On August 5, 1962, Marilyn was found dead, nude on her bed, with a phone in her hand. It seems even in her final hours she tried reaching out for help. But now just like in her childhood there was no one there to save her.

My favorite Marilyn Monroe quotes ♥

"I'm selfish, impatient and a little insecure. I make mistakes, I am out of control and at times hard to handle. But if you can't handle me at my worst, then you sure as hell don't deserve me at my best." 
~ Marilyn Monroe

"I believe that everything happens for a reason. People change so that you can learn to let go, things go wrong so that you appreciate them when they're right, you believe lies so you eventually learn to trust no one but yourself, and sometimes good things fall apart so better things can fall together." 
~ Marilyn Monroe

"Imperfection is beauty, madness is genius and it's better to be absolutely ridiculous than absolutely boring." 
~ Marilyn Monroe 

"A wise girl kisses but doesn't love, listens but doesn't believe, and leaves before she is left." 
~ Marilyn Monroe

"I am good, but not an angel. I do sin, but I am not the devil. I am just a small girl in a big world trying to find someone to love." 
~ Marilyn Monroe

"If you can make a girl laugh, you can make her do anything." 
~ Marilyn Monroe

"If you're gonna be two-faced at least make one of them pretty." 
~ Marilyn Monroe

"When it comes down to it, I let them think what they want. If they care enough to bother with what I do, then I'm already better than them." 
~ Marilyn Monroe

"The real lover is the man who can thrill you by kissing your forehead or smiling into your eyes or just staring into space." 
~ Marilyn Monroe

"It's better to be unhappy alone than unhappy with someone." 
~ Marilyn Monroe

"Give a girl the right shoes, and she can conquer the world." 
~ Marilyn Monroe

"We should all start to live before we get too old. Fear is stupid. So are regrets." 
~ Marilyn Monroe

"This life is what you make it. Not matter what, you're going to mess up sometimes, it's a universal truth. But the good part is you get to decide how you're going to mess it up. Girls will be your friends - they'll act like it anyway. But just remember, some come, somg go. The ones that stay with you through everything - they're your true best friends. Don't let go of them. Also remember, sisters make the best friends in the world. As for lovers, well, they'll come and go too. And babe, I hate to say it, most of them - actually pretty much all of them are going to break your heart, but you can't give up becuase if you give up, you'll never find your soul mate. You'll never find that half who makes you whole and that goes for everything. Just because you fail once, doesn't mean you're gonna fail at everything. Keep trying, hold on, and always, always, always believe in yourself, because if you don't, then who will, sweetie? So keep your head high, keep your chin up, and most importantly, keep smiling, because life's a beautiful thing and there's so much to smile about." 
~ Marilyn Monroe

"Beneath the makeup and behind the smile I am just a girl who wishes for the world." 
~ Marilyn Monroe

"She was a girl who knew how to be happy even when she was sad. And that’s important—you know." 
~ Marilyn Monroe

"I don't mind living in a man's world, as long as I can be a woman in it." 
~ Marilyn Monroe 

"Who said nights were for sleep?" 
~ Marilyn Monroe

"The nicest thing for me is sleep, then at least I can dream." 
~ Marilyn Monroe

"All little girls should be told they are pretty, even if they aren't." 
~ Marilyn Monroe

"We are all of us stars, and we deserve to twinkle." 
~ Marilyn Monroe

"You believe lies so you eventually learn to trust no one but yourself." 
~ Marilyn Monroe

"It's not true that I had nothing on. I had the radio on." 
~ Marilyn Monroe

"If I'd observed all the rules I'd never have got anywhere." 
~ Marilyn Monroe

"It's often just enough to be with someone. I don't need to touch them. Not even talk. A feeling passes between you both. You're not alone." 
~ Marilyn Monroe

"Success makes so many people hate you. I wish it wasn't that way. It would be wonderful to enjoy success without seeing envy in the eyes of those around you." 
~ Marilyn Monroe

"It's better to be hated for what you are, than to be loved for what your not." 
~ Marilyn Monroe

"Dogs never bite me. Just humans." 
~ Marilyn Monroe

"I don't mind making jokes, but I don't want to look like one." 
~ Marilyn Monroe

"I don't know who invented high heels, but all women owe him a lot!" 
~ Marilyn Monroe

"I restore myself when I'm alone." 
~ Marilyn Monroe

"You never know what life is like, until you have lived it." 
~ Marilyn Monroe

"It's all make believe, isn't it?" 
~ Marilyn Monroe

"Diamonds are a girls best friend." 
~ Marilyn Monroe

"The body is meant to be seen, not all covered up." 
~ Marilyn Monroe

"Hollywood is a place where they'll pay you a thousand dollars for a kiss and fifty cents for your soul. I know, because I turned down the first offer often enough and held out for the fifty cents." 
~ Marilyn Monroe

"I'm very definitely a woman and I enjoy it. " 
~ Marilyn Monroe

"Keep smiling, because life is a beautiful thing and there's so much to smile about." 
~ Marilyn Monroe

"If I play a stupid girl and ask a stupid question, I've got to follow it through, what am I supposed to do, look intelligent?" 
~ Marilyn Monroe

"I've been on a calendar, but never on time." 
~ Marilyn Monroe

"I have feelings too. I am still human. All I want is to be loved, for myself and for my talent." 
~ Marilyn Monroe

"I learned to walk as a baby and I haven't had a lesson since." 
~ Marilyn Monroe

"Sometimes things fall apart so that better things can fall together." 
~ Marilyn Monroe

"I have too many fantasies to be a housewife....I guess I am a fantasy." 
~ Marilyn Monroe

"I knew I belonged to the public and to the world, not because I was talented or even beautiful, but because I had never belonged to anything or anyone else." 
~ Marilyn Monroe

"Some people have been unkind. If I say I want to grow as an actress, they look at my figure. If I say I want to develop, to learn my craft, they laugh. Somehow they don't expect me to be serious about my work." 
~ Marilyn Monroe

"This life is what you make it. Not matter what, you're going to mess up sometimes, it's a universal truth. But the good part is you get to decide how you're going to mess it up. Girls will be your friends - they'll act like it anyway. But just remember, some come, somg go. The ones that stay with you through everything - they're your true best friends. Don't let go of them." 
~ Marilyn Monroe

"Friendship is the bestiest thing that comes to life . Friends will always be there for you don't worry about the fakes worry about the people who had your back from the start and never treated you wrong always remember they are your real friends don't never take them as granted because one day your going to lose a good friend by the way your action's are when you see a good friend stick to that person." 
~ Marilyn Monroe

"Love and work are the only two real things in our lives. They belong together, otherwise it is off. Work is in itself a form of love." 
~ Marilyn Monroe

"A career is wonderful, but you can't curl up with it on a cold night." 
~ Marilyn Monroe

"Well behaved women rarely make history." 
~ Marilyn Monroe

"The thing I want more than anything else? I want to have children. I used to feel for every child I had, I would adopt another." 
~ Marilyn Monroe

"I live to suceed, not to please you or anyone else." 
~ Marilyn Monroe

"All a girl really wants is for one guy to prove to her that they are not all the same."
~ Marilyn Monroe

"How wrong it is for a woman to expect the man to build the world she wants, rather than to create it herself." 
~ Marilyn Monroe 

"I just want to be wonderful." 
~ Marilyn Monroe

"Wanting to be someone else, is a waste of the person you are." 
~ Marilyn Monroe

"There's only one sort of natural blonde on earth - albinos." 
~ Marilyn Monroe

"Just because you fall once, doesn't mean you're fall at everything. Keep trying, hold on, and always trust yourself, because if you don't then who will??" 
~ Marilyn Monroe

"I want to grow old without facelifts... I want to have the courage to be loyal to the face I've made. Sometimes I think it would be easier to avoid old age, to die young, but then you'd never complete your life, would you? You'd never wholly know you." 
~ Marilyn Monroe

 Marilyn Monroe's  make-up --- with Kandee Johnson (xoxo)

  Marilyn was very creative and loved art. The following poems and paintings were done by her own hand.
 The poems appeared in the book, "Marilyn: An Untold Story" by Norman Rosten.

Life -
I am of both your directions
Existing more with the cold frost
Strong as a cobweb in the wind
Hanging downward the most
Somehow remaining
Those beaded rays have the colors
I've seen in paintings - ah life
they have cheated you...

thinner than a cobweb's thread
sheerer than any-
but it did attach itself
and held fast in strong winds
and sindged by leaping hot fires
life - of which at singular times
I am of both your directions -
somehow I remain hanging downward the mostas both of your directions pull me.

I I left my home of green rough wood, A blue velvet couch. I dream till now A shiny dark bush Just left of the door. Down the walk Clickity clack As my doll in her carriage Went over the cracks- "We'll go far away." II Don't cry my doll Don't cry I hold you and rock you to sleep Hush hush I'm pretending now I'm not your mother who died. III Help Help Help I feel life coming closer When all I want is to die.

From time to time
I make it rhyme
but don't hold that kind
of thing against me-
Oh well what the hell
so it won't sell
what I want to tell-
is what's on my mind
taint Dishes
taint Wishes
it's thoughts
flinging by
before I die
and to think
in ink.

To the Weeping Willow


I stood beneath your limbs
and you flowered and finally clung to me
and when the wind struck with … the earth
and sand- you clung to me.