As Marilyn Monroe, Norma Jeane took on a new life and identity but when someone stopped her to ask for her
autograph she couldn’t spell the name Marilyn, but in a few years the whole world would know how to spell the name…
Success would not come so easy for Marilyn Monroe though. After a year at Fox and two lack-lustre films and very little
interest in her, they dropped her. Picked up by Columbia she made the low-budget ‘Ladies of the Chorus,’ a musical in
which Marilyn was able to show off her singing and dancing skills. She was good but the film bombed and Marilyn found
herself out of work once more. Hungry and with little money coming in, she found herself in rent arrears. She’d been
asked before to pose nude by photographer Tom Kelley and had said no but swallowing her pride and about to be evicted
she decided to do it, as long as his wife could be present. Sprawled out on red velvet, a naked Marilyn would pose for
what would be perhaps the most important photographs she ever did, for they would eventually become (unbeknown to
her at the time), the photographs that would make her the undisputed sex symbol of the 20th century. History was made
that day. She was paid $50. By the end of 1949 Marilyn was now involved with agent Johnny Hyde, who fell head over
heals in love with her. He introduced her to the legendary film director John Huston who cast her in ‘The Asphalt
Jungle.’ Then she won the part of Miss Caswell in the multi-Oscar-winning ‘All About Eve.’ It was 1950 and now the name
Marilyn Monroe was being heard all over Hollywood. She got great reviews for her brief appearances in these two
movies. Her star was on the rise and she signed a new seven year contract with 20th Century Fox. Over the next 18
months, still unsure of her talent, Fox cast her in every film that required a pretty blonde. Her best work was made
outside the studio for RKO, the melodrama ‘Clash By Night,’ and gave Marilyn her greatest role to date. But it was not
Marilyn’s acting that drew the crowds to the theatres. It was the news that she had posed nude for a calendar, that was
now on display all over America. As news broke that Hollywood’s new star was indeed the unidentified model on the
Miss Golden Dreams calendar, the studio heads pleaded with Marilyn to deny it was her as her career would be over as
the public would not accept this. Marilyn decided to tell the truth, that she was starving and needed the money and her
little-girl-lost, vulnerable personality won the publics sympathy. She appeared on the cover of Life magazine, who
published the controversial image for all America and the world to see, and from that moment the public took her to
their hearts as their own.
Every film that Marilyn appeared in was now a major box-office hit and Fox decided to put her in ‘Niagara’ - her first
starring role. This was followed by ‘Gentlemen Prefer Blondes’ and ‘How To Marry A Millionaire,’ the biggest box-office
hit of Marilyn’s career and the second film to be released in Cinema Scope. By the end of 1953 Marilyn would be the
biggest draw at the box-office. She was now romantically involved with baseball legend Joe DiMaggio and in January
1954 they would be wed in San Francisco. They spent their honeymoon in Japan, where they were greeted by hysterical
fans, all trying to get close to Marilyn. Marilyn was asked if she would like to entertain the G.I’s in Korea. How could she
refuse as they had made her their favourite pin-up the previous year. Marilyn spent 10 whirlwind days entertaining the
troops and visiting the hospitals. She would later describe it as the best time of her life. By the end of their honeymoon,
Joe’s contempt for Marilyn’s success and sexy image was beginning to cause a strain on their relationship and Marilyn
rushed back to Hollywood to make a movie that she did not particularly care for, ‘There’s No Business Like Show
Business.’ Her next film would make her a legend but it would end her marriage. 'The Seven Year Itch' would be the most
talked about movie that year. The scenes filmed on location in New York gained maximum crowds as the skirt of
Marilyn ’s dress was blown up over her head. In the crowd stood Joe DiMaggio, his face like thunder as Marilyn did the
scene over and over again and the crowd cheered her on. He could not contain his fury as he made his exit and the world
waited for the next scene in Marilyn’s troubled life. A tearful Marilyn would face the press and announce that she was
leaving Joe after only nine months of marriage. They would be re-united briefly for the films premier as Marilyn asked
Joe to be her date. By now Marilyn was fed up with Fox and tired of the dumb blonde roles they were offering her. After
refusing another such role, they suspended her and she moved to New York.
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