Cover Story: Marilyn Monroe

Marilyn Monroe, who would have turned 80 years old last month, rose from nothing to become one of the greatest film stars of all time, tracing a historic path through the US military. After being discovered working in a munitions factory as she contributed in the war effort, she transformed herself into what People Magazine voted as the “Sexiest Woman of the Century.”

Norma Jean Mortenson was born in the Charity ward of the Los Angeles County Hospital. Born into a troubled family, Norma Jean spent the first part of her life floating through foster homes with few prospects, until a photographer took a picture of her inspecting parachutes in a munitions factory during World War II.

And so the world met Marilyn Monroe.

For nearly the next two decades, she performed as a model, movie star and singer, and became idolized by men and women around the world for her glamorous beauty and talent as an entertainer. Had she not ended her own life in August 1962, this celebrated and best-loved Hollywood blonde bombshell would have celebrated her 80th birthday on June 1.

An Unglamorous Beginning
In 1942, shortly after her 16th birthday, Monroe married James Dougherty who was sent to the South Pacific with the Merchant Marines during World War II. While he was away, Monroe worked in the Radio Plane Munitions factory in Burbank, CA, where she sprayed fire retardant on airplane parts and inspected parachutes to be sent to the soldiers.

It was while at work in 1944 that a photographer, David Conover, from Yank Magazine found her while taking pictures for a feature on women in the war effort. After declaring her a “photographer’s dream”, Conover not only made her the focus of the shoot, but then began using her for other modeling jobs.

After Dougherty returned from the war in 1946, Monroe quickly divorced him and signed a contract with 20th Century Fox. With a movie career in the works, she dyed her hair blonde and started going by the name Marilyn Monroe. In 1950, she finally scored her big breakthrough with John Huston’s thriller The Asphalt Jungle.

For the next several years, Monroe became a Hollywood staple by appearing in such films as Monkey Business, As Young as You Feel, and Niagara. In 1953, she was voted the best new actress of the year by Photoplay Magazine.

Fame Abroad with the USO
Shortly after her second marriage to baseball player Joe DiMaggio in 1954, Monroe took some time to perform with the USO for the troops in Korea and injured service men in the military hospitals in Japan. She was received by near riotous behavior from the over 100,000 troops during her singing and dancing routine, most of whom had never seen any of her films because they had been released during the war.

“On two occasions during the visit of the motion picture actress, troops rioted widely and behaved like bobbysoxers in Times Square, not like soldiers proud of their uniform,” commented journalist Hanson Baldwin, from the New York Times.

Throughout the Korean War, Monroe was voted the number one pin-up girl, and the audience’s response to her USO performance gave further testament to her sex appeal.

Monroe returned to the United States to continued fame, and appearances in many films, such as 1959's Some Like it Hot, for which she won a Golden Globe for Best Actress in a Comedy. She continued to create a persona that is idolized and emulated even today. Her time in the spotlight was brief, however, as she tragically died on August 5, 1962 of a drug overdose.