CAMELOT FANTASIES

On June 1, 1926, a little girl named Norma Jeane was born. The sad story of her childhood would be one much repeated and capitalized upon when this child became the most famous female star in Hollywood history. Norma Jeane did spend considerable time in foster homes, and very little of her childhood with her mother, Gladys. But the tales of childhood woe told later in her life were often exaggerated. Nonetheless, Norma Jeane had a difficult childhood, and suffered emotional problems throughout her life as a result of her lack of stability in childhood, and her feeling of being unwanted.


She tried to replace the father and mother, the family she never really had, through her marriages and by attaching herself to the families of others. Norma Jeane married James Dougherty in June of 1942, when she was just sixteen. He was older, something common to all of her husbands. The marriage was not, from most reports, particularly unhappy, but it was doomed to failure. Norma Jeane had higher aspirations than just being Mrs. Dougherty. In 1944, while working at a parachute factory, a new model was discovered, and Norma Jeane Dougherty's face began to appear on numerous magazine covers. Her rise to stardom had begun.

Marilyn was now making a lot of films. Niagara, Gentlemen Prefer Blondes (which included the song she is best known for - Diamonds Are A Girl's Best Friend), How to Marry a Millionare (alongside Betty Grable and Lauren Bacall), River of No Return, and There's No Business Like Show Business. These films were released in 1953 and 1954.


Something else happened in 1954 - Marilyn married Joe DiMaggio, in January. But though the public loved it, the marriage was as doomed as Marilyn's first marriage. Joe was a conservative man who found it difficult to understand the need for Marilyn to flaunt her body. Marilyn would not give up her career. The marriage lasted only nine months.

In that time, however, a few notable things happened. While the DiMaggios were honeymooning in Japan, Marilyn was invited to perform for the American troops stationed in Korea. She gladly accepted, and would later remember it fondly as one of the best times of her life. The second notable thing was the filming of the famous skirt-blowing scene for Marilyn's film, The Seven Year Itch. With numerous New Yorkers looking on. Marilyn stood over a subway grating while gusts of air blew her skirt over her head. It was dubbed "the shot seen round the world". To this day it is the most famous image of Marilyn.

By all accounts, Joe was not impressed, and some say a great fight ensued. In early October of 1954, Marilyn filed for, and was granted, a divorce. Marilyn was now among the most famous women in the world. She was a huge box-office draw and a money-maker for Twentieth Century Fox, the studio to which she was under contract. She was also underpaid. Her battles with the studio during this time period paved the way for future stars.

In May of 1962, Marilyn made another memorable performance, but it wasn't for a movie. She sang a breathless version of "Happy Birthday" to President Kennedy at Madison Square Garden.



**(see the video just above posted by general CETSVids).




She was in the middle of work on her latest film, ironically titled "Something's Got to Give". Something did. On the night of August fourth, 1962, Marilyn Monroe died of a sleeping pill overdose.

Rumors have flown ever since. Affairs with the Kennedys, Mafia involvement in her death, murder, a cover-up, a conspiracy. Her death was listed as a probable suicide. Whatever the truth about that night, Marilyn Monroe was dead, at the age of thirty-six. Her light had shone brightly for many years, and it was extinguished suddenly. The world, in shock, began a search for answers that continues to this day. Answers that will never be found.