Marilyn Monroe remains one of the most famous stars in Hollywood history. She died at the age of 36, at the height of her fame. More than 60 years later, claims attributed to Frank Sinatra have renewed interest in what really happened to her.
Monroe was born Norma Jean Mortonson on June 1, 1926. She became known as the beautiful blonde bombshell of comic performances. Her mother, Gladys Pearl Baker, came from a modest Midwestern family that moved to California at the turn of the century.
Gladys Baker married John Newton Baker at the age of 15. He was nine years older than her. The marriage ended in an ugly divorce, and Gladys gained sole custody of their two children, Robert and Bernice.
John Baker defied the custody decision, took both children, and moved to his native Kentucky. Monroe only learned she had a sister, Bernice, at the age of 12. The sisters met later, in 1944, when Monroe was around 17 or 18.
After her divorce, Gladys took a job as a film negative cutter at Consolidated Film Industries. She married Martin Edward Mortonson in 1924, but the marriage was short-lived. They separated a few months later, and the divorce was finalized in 1928.
Monroe was believed to be the child of Martin Edward Mortonson, which is why she bore the birth name Norma Jean Mortonson. In a surprising twist in 2022, DNA tests pointed to a man named Charles Stanley Gifford as her biological father. Gladys was said to have had a discrete affair with him in 1925.
Monroe later discovered she had two more half-siblings from Gifford's previous marriage, a sister named Doris Elizabeth and a brother referred to as Charles Stanley. Though Gladys was financially and mentally prepared for parenthood at first, Monroe's early years were relatively stable.
As time went on, making ends meet became harder for Gladys. She placed Marilyn under the care of Albert and Ida Bolander, evangelical foster parents living in the rural town of Hawthorne. Gladys later moved to the city for work and planned to take Marilyn back.
In 1933, Gladys managed to get a small house in Hollywood. She brought a 7-year-old Marilyn Monroe back under her care. Things went south in 1934 when her mother suffered a mental breakdown and was diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia.
The breakdown began a disturbing period in Monroe's life. She was suddenly left as a ward of the state, having been sheltered and cared for by loved ones for most of her life. A friend of Gladys named Grace Goddard intervened and took over her welfare.
The next four years were tumultuous. Young Marilyn experienced repeated changes in her living conditions. She developed a stutter and became more withdrawn from her peers.
She was placed with different families, including a brief stay at the Los Angeles Orphans Home Number Two. She felt abandoned by her mother and by Grace Goddard. That changed when Grace Goddard finalized efforts to become her legal guardian in 1936.
Monroe did not leave the orphanage until the summer of 1937. Her subsequent stay with the Goddards and short periods with relatives in Los Angeles and Compton fueled her desire to become an actress. She found comfort in movies because she found the world around her grim.
Her home life became more stable in September 1938 when she moved in with Grace Goddard's aunt. She attended Emerson Junior High School, where she displayed brilliant writing skills on the school newspaper. Her academic performance was average despite her writing abilities.
Grace's aunt had health issues, causing Marilyn to return to the Goddards around early 1941. That same year, she enrolled at Van Nuys High School. An unexpected twist came when Grace Goddard's husband got a job that moved him to West Virginia in 1942.
Unable to relocate with the family because of child protection laws, Monroe came up with a surprising solution. She married Grace Goddard's neighbor, 21-year-old James Dougherty, shortly after her 16th birthday in June 1942. She dropped out of high school and adjusted to life as a housewife.
It was not long before Monroe voiced her boredom in the marriage. The union felt unfulfilling to her. Dougherty enlisted in the merchant marine in 1943, and Marilyn went with him to southern Catalina Island.
Dougherty was shipped out to the Pacific in April 1944 and stayed there for the next two years. Marilyn moved in with her in-laws and got a job at the Radio Plane Company ammunition factory in Van Nuys. At the end of 1944, she met a photographer named David Conover.
Conover had been deployed by Captain Ronald Reagan to the factory to take photos of female workers and boost morale. None of Marilyn's pictures were used, and she stopped working at the factory in January 1945. She began modeling for Conover and his friends instead.
Against her husband's wishes, she signed a deal with the Blue Book Model Agency in August 1945. The agency saw her physique as more suitable for pin-ups than high fashion. She was largely featured in men's magazines and advertisements.
To improve her chances, she underwent a transformation by straightening and dyeing her hair blonde. Emeline Snively, the owner of the modeling agency, acknowledged Marilyn as one of its most ambitious models. By early 1946, she had amassed 33 magazine covers.
She worked under the name Jean Norman at times. She signed with an acting agency in June 1946 with Snively's help. After an unsuccessful interview at Paramount Pictures, a screen test was arranged by Ben Lyon, a 20th Century Fox executive.
Darryl F. Zanuck, the head executive, did not express much enthusiasm about Marilyn. Even so, she secured a standard six-month contract in August 1946. To prevent her from signing with a rival studio, Marilyn adopted the stage name Marilyn Monroe.
The name was inspired by Broadway actress Marilyn Miller and her mother's maiden name. In September 1946, she ended her stale marriage to Dougherty through divorce. Her first six months at 20th Century Fox focused on learning acting, singing, dancing, and observing filmmaking.
In February 1947, her contract was renewed, allowing her to act in parts of the movie Dangerous Years. She took occasional film jobs and returned to modeling. Her shy and insecure demeanor led Fox to decline a renewal in August 1947.
Undaunted, she continued acting studies at the Actors Lab, where she grabbed a small role in a play. She immersed herself in networking and gained strategic connections in the industry. She maintained relationships, including an occasional involvement with Fox executive Joseph M. Schenck.
Her connection with Schenck led to her signing with Columbia Pictures in March 1948. Her appearance there embodied Rita Hayworth. She worked with a drama coach to polish her acting skills.
While at Columbia, she starred in a low-budget musical called Ladies of the Chorus. The musical depicted a chorus girl courted by a rich man. After this, she screened for the lead role of Born Yesterday in 1950, but her contract was not renewed.
Ladies of the Chorus had a mild reception after its release a month later. Marilyn struggled for a while after two of her contracts were not renewed. It seemed she was not cut out for the big screen, but all that was about to change.
After Columbia Pictures refused to renew her contract, Monroe returned to modeling. She took part in a Pabst beer commercial and posed for artistic photos taken by Tom Kelley for John Baumgarth calendars. She exposed her body under the alias Mona Monroe.
She was comfortable with this exposure and made bikini and topless poses for an artist named Earl Moran. A little while after leaving Columbia, her life picked up when she became a protégé and mistress of Johnny Hyde, vice president of the William Morris Agency.
Using Hyde's influence, she got minor roles in different films. These included standout performances in the drama All About Eve and John Huston's film noir The Asphalt Jungle in 1950. Though her screen time was limited, she garnered fan attention and transitioned from model to professional actress.
In December 1950, Hyde negotiated a seven-year contract for Marilyn with 20th Century Fox. Things quickly went awry when Hyde died of a heart attack a few days later. Grieved by his death, Marilyn pushed on with her career in 1951.
She got supporting roles in averagely successful 20th Century Fox comedies. Her popularity kept rising with a raving fan base. This earned her the title of Miss Cheesecake of 1951 from the Army newspaper Stars and Stripes during the Korean War.
In February 1952, the Hollywood Foreign Press Association named her the best young box office personality. She had many relationships in her private life, including a famous romance in early 1952 with former New York Yankees star Joe DiMaggio. In March 1952, she was hit with a scandal.
She publicly admitted to posing for an artistic calendar featuring unclothed subjects in 1949. Instead of hiding, she and the studio came clean to the public. She spoke about her financial struggles at the time.
This proved to be a smart move. It generated public sympathy and resulted in a spike in interest in her films. Life magazine featured her on its cover as the talk of Hollywood. Gossip columnist Hedda Hopper labeled her the Cheesecake Queen turned box office smash.
Her studio and management made the most of the attention by releasing three films: Don't Bother to Knock, Clash by Night, and We're Not Married. By then she was already a sex symbol because of her suggestive modeling pictures. Despite this, Marilyn longed to show her acting range.
She attended acting classes and accepted diverse roles. Over time, she took on substance abuse because of personal struggles, which caused difficulties on film sets. Other cast and crew members believed she was difficult to work with.
In 1953, Marilyn had a year that cemented her place in the movie industry. The Technicolor film noir Niagara showcased her as a femme fatale and established her trademark makeup appearance. The satirical musical comedy Gentlemen Prefer Blondes placed her in the industry as the quintessential dumb blonde.
She later had her biggest box office success with How to Marry a Millionaire. This helped secure her place as the leading sex symbol in Hollywood. Though she was a rising star, she still faced difficulties on set and in her personal life.
Her dependence on acting coaches and challenges with directors created a reputation that made her look unsuitable to some directors. Her popularity continued to skyrocket, earning her a spot in the annual top 10 money-making stars poll. She appeared on the first issue of Playboy in December 1953.
Around 1950, Monroe struggled with a stagnant contract that left her massively underpaid compared to contemporary actresses. The reason was that 20th Century Fox executive Darryl Zanuck stood in her way due to personal animosity. He went the extra mile to stop her efforts at getting diverse roles.
Pressured by studio owner Spyros Skouras, Zanuck shifted 20th Century Fox's business direction exclusively to entertainment. This stopped further plans for serious movies. The fallout caused Marilyn's suspension in 1954 when she rejected the musical comedy The Girl in Pink Tights.
The suspension generated lots of negative publicity. In a frantic attempt to counter the ugly allegations and speculation, Monroe hurriedly married Joe DiMaggio in January 1954. They went on a well-publicized trip from San Francisco to Japan.
They had an unconventional honeymoon while balancing DiMaggio's baseball commitments and a United Service Organizations tour in Korea. The media jubilation reached a heightened point when Marilyn received the most popular female star prize on her return to the United States. She settled with 20th Century Fox in March and got a new contract with a $100,000 bonus and a role in The Seven Year Itch.
After her suspension, Marilyn criticized the release of Otto Preminger's River of No Return. She dragged her feet before starring in the musical There's No Business Like Show Business. Both films got mixed reviews, and the latter was considered vulgar by many critics at its late 1954 release.
Her fortune took a positive leap in September 1954 with Billy Wilder's The Seven Year Itch. The film featured the iconic subway scene on Lexington Avenue. It had explosive success in 1955 and marked a turning point for Marilyn, at the cost of her union with DiMaggio.
She could not keep up with her husband's jealousy and possessive behavior, so she moved to quit the marriage. Following the success of The Seven Year Itch, Marilyn and photographer Milton Greene founded Marilyn Monroe Productions. This sparked a legal battle with Fox over unfulfilled promises.
She moved to Manhattan in 1955 and focused on acting studies at the Actors Studio under Lee Strasberg. Her close relationship with Strasberg became crucial to her personal and professional growth amid ongoing divorce proceedings with DiMaggio. Her personal life began mingling more with Marlon Brando and playwright Arthur Miller.
Her relationship with Miller was the object of external pressure because he was investigated for alleged communism. In a surprising twist, Marilyn and 20th Century Fox signed a new seven-year contract in 1955. It gave her creative control of her projects and the freedom to partner with Marilyn Monroe Productions.
The year 1956 saw her victory over 20th Century Fox and her marriage to Arthur Miller. Her new movie, Bus Stop, released in August 1956, advertised her dramatic talents. It earned her acclaim and Golden Globe nominations.
The following month, she started her first independent production, The Prince and the Showgirl, with Laurence Olivier. The movie got recognition in Europe as a testament to her resilience. In 1957, she battled health challenges and took a hiatus, returning in 1959 with Some Like It Hot.
The production was challenging, but the film became an instant hit. Its success earned her a Golden Globe Award and cemented her iconic status in Hollywood. Marilyn's last production was The Misfits, which portrayed her as a divorced woman connecting with elderly cowboys.
By this time, her marriage to Miller had evaporated as Miller began a relationship with photographer Inge Morath. He divorced Marilyn in Nevada on June 29, 1961. Despite struggles on set, she performed authentically and attracted public praise.
In 1961, she grappled with serious health issues. When hospitalized for depression, she found solace in her friendships with Frank Sinatra and Joe DiMaggio. Marilyn permanently relocated to California in 1961 and returned to the public eye in 1962, receiving a prestigious Golden Globe Award despite struggling with illness.
Marilyn began filming Something's Got to Give when her health challenges caused disputes at 20th Century Fox. She was fired in June 1962, just two months before her death. In one of her many attempts to fix her public image, she collaborated with photographer Bert Stern.
She posed for a series of revealing photos released posthumously under the title The Last Sitting. It was not long before 20th Century Fox regretted letting her go and reopened negotiations. The renegotiations could not be completed because of the unpleasant circumstances that followed.
During her last months alive, Monroe lived in the Brentwood neighborhood of Los Angeles. On the night of August 4, 1962, her housekeeper, Eunice Murray, stayed overnight. She was concerned about Marilyn and woke up at 3:00 a.m.
Murray knew something was wrong when she could not get a response from Marilyn's locked bedroom after calling out several times. She contacted Marilyn's psychiatrist, Ralph Greenson, who arrived as quickly as he could. Getting no response from inside, Greenson broke into the bedroom through a window and found her lying dead in her bed.
Marilyn's physician, Hyman Engelberg, arrived around 3:50 a.m. and confirmed her death. The Los Angeles Police Department received notification at 4:25 a.m. The toxicology report revealed that Monroe died between 8:30 p.m. and 10:30 p.m. on August 4.
The report attributed her death to acute barbiturate poisoning. It highlighted chloral hydrate and pentobarbital in her blood, along with pentobarbital in her liver. Empty medicine bottles were found near her bed.
Accidental overdose was struck out as a possible cause because the dosages went well above lethal limits. The Los Angeles prevention team collaborated with the Los Angeles County Coroner's Office in the investigation. Monroe's doctors disclosed her history of severe fears, intentional overdoses, and frequent depression.
Deputy Coroner Thomas Noguchi weighed these factors and the absence of foul play. He categorized her death as self-inflicted. Her sudden demise made headlines across Europe and the United States.
The public was in complete shock, and her passing generated many different reactions. French artist Jean Cocteau emphasized the lessons her death should pass on. Colleagues like Laurence Olivier and Joshua Logan aired their opinions, highlighting the severe impact of sensationalism on Marilyn.
A private funeral was arranged by Joe DiMaggio, Bernice Baker Miracle, and her business manager on August 8 at Westwood Village Memorial Park Cemetery. The service drew a large crowd outside, but it was attended only by her closest associates. DiMaggio's love for Marilyn never wavered, and he kept sending roses to her resting place every week, as she had once requested.
The next few decades saw various conspiracy theories spun to challenge the cause of her death. Conspiracy theorists pointed to the possibility of assassination. Norman Mailer's 1973 biography started widespread speculation about foul play, which led to a 1982 threshold investigation by Los Angeles County District Attorney John Van de Kamp.
That investigation revealed no evidence of foul play. At the end of his life, Frank Sinatra often reflected on the sorrows, romances, and treasured companionships he enjoyed with his women, including Marilyn Monroe. Tony Oppedisano, a close associate and former road manager, shed more light on Sinatra's perspective in an excerpt from his memoir, Sinatra and Me in the Wee Small Hours.
Oppedisano said he harbored doubts about Marilyn's death being just an accident. He strongly believed she died as a result of foul play. Oppedisano never came to terms with her death.
Contrary to what the public thinks, Sinatra and Marilyn shared an amazing friendship rather than a romantic relationship. Even when Sinatra admired her beauty and sense of humor, he considered her too delicate and troubling for a casual affair. Oppedisano revealed that, in a display of trust, Marilyn shared her most intimate relationship secrets with him.
These included her relationships with President John F. Kennedy and Robert F. Kennedy. When these affairs came to an end suddenly, Marilyn talked to Sinatra and expressed her confusion about being shut out entirely once the romantic ties ceased. On the weekend before her death, she spent time at the popular Cal Neva Lodge near Lake Tahoe, partly owned by Sinatra.
Oppedisano's revelations included something the public was not aware of: Marilyn wanted to make a press announcement the next week about reconciling with her ex-husband Joe DiMaggio. The press conference led to fears that she would reveal details about her affair with the Kennedys. However, Sinatra was convinced she would never expose the Kennedys because she still nurtured feelings for John F. Kennedy.
Oppedisano disclosed that Sinatra still believed that had the press conference not been announced, Marilyn Monroe might have lived much longer. In the aftermath of Monroe's passing, Sinatra's attorney, Mickey Rudin, informed him of a disturbing rumor that Marilyn had been murdered, possibly with a barbiturate suppository.
Frank Sinatra believed there was a connection between Marilyn's passing and the mafia. Sam Giancana, a Chicago mob boss, implied that an organized crime figure associated with both the Kennedy family and Frank Sinatra was responsible for her death. Johnny Roselli, a mobster from Los Angeles, confided in Sinatra that Marilyn was deliberately silenced to prevent potential harm to the Kennedys' public standing.
Comparing information from Rudin, his mafia contacts, and his personal knowledge of Marilyn's last days, Sinatra became convinced of a dark narrative surrounding her death. He was of the opinion that Robert F. Kennedy, in partnership with labor leader Jimmy Hoffa, planned Marilyn's death by getting her to take a lethal injection. This picture painted an ugly conspiracy to eliminate Marilyn to protect the Kennedys' political standing and reputation.
Frank Sinatra also believed that a compromised medical examiner was called in to administer a dangerous fatal barbiturate suppository to her while she was unconscious. The theory was rooted in the concern that Marilyn, with an incoming announcement about reuniting with Joe DiMaggio, posed a serious threat to the Kennedy family and Jimmy Hoffa. Sinatra proposed that potential revelations about her affairs with the Kennedys would cause a national scandal that could tarnish the prestigious image of Camelot.
It could also affect John F. Kennedy's chances at the upcoming re-election at that time. Sinatra also suspected that the mafia played a role in the arrangement by canvassing for union support for Kennedy's 1964 presidential campaign, maintaining a quid pro quo relationship. According to Frank Sinatra, Marilyn became a victim of organized political assassination plotted by some of the world's biggest political figures at the time.
Sinatra shared that in her potential comeback, the secrets she would have exposed were regarded as too dangerous by influential figures. Pushed by these facts, Sinatra spent the remaining decades after her death investigating the possibility of her assassination using private investigators. He also examined her phone records and took a long look at her medical reports.
All of these efforts were made in a bid to uncover evidence that would support her painful end. Frank Sinatra's firm belief that Marilyn Monroe's life was deliberately snuffed out demonstrated his unwavering commitment to his concern and the lengths he went to seek justice for his friend. He was pushed by a deep sense of obligation to find justice for Marilyn and shine a light on the individuals responsible, no matter how powerful they were.
Though he could not thoroughly prove his claims, he believed that a malevolent force created by Hollywood's elite, political power brokers in Washington, and the criminal underworld had planned Marilyn's death. Surprisingly, his suspicion also touched on the Los Angeles Police Department, which he secretly accused of taking part in disguising the true cause of Marilyn's death as an accidental drug overdose. Sinatra's desire to get to the truth was fueled by a huge sense of loss and injustice.
He harbored lasting resentments toward those he deemed responsible and complicit in her demise, including the Kennedy family, Jimmy Hoffa, and the leaders of organized crime. His belief came from the fact that these powerful entities had not only taken out Marilyn, but also went to great lengths to cover their involvement in her passing.