8 Facts You Didn’t Know About Marilyn Monroe
Today would have been the original blonde bombshell’s 90th birthday, so naturally, many of us have gone on a Marilyn Google k-hole — and we’ve found some incredible facts.
We’re not trying to blow up her iconic spot, but to understand there are many sides to the iconic sex symbol and actress. Read on for eight unbelievable facts about Marilyn.
1. The subway grate photo led to her divorce with Joe DiMaggio.
Marilyn’s first husband, famed baseball player Joe DiMaggio was really pissed at Marilyn’s now-iconic subway grate photo and since Marilyn’s status as a sex symbol was only rising, their marriage pretty much declined from there.
2. She had a nose job.
From humble beginnings as #NormaJeane to a legendary icon. #MarilynMonroe #TBT
A photo posted by Marilyn Monroe (@marilynmonroe) on
And a chin reduction. Norma Jean Baker was always beautiful, but the pressure for perfection in Hollywood has always been crazy.
3. Her mother was schizophrenic.
Gladys Baker Mortenson was hospitalized for a paranoid schizophrenia diagnosis. Marilyn’s father left their family at a young age, and once her mom was out of the picture, Marilyn was raised by foster parents, until she was finally placed in the Los Angeles Orphans Home Society.
4. She was kind of a communist.
A photo posted by Marilyn Monroe (@marilynmonroe) on
Marilyn was married to known socialist author Arthur Miller for a while, so this makes sense.
5. She got married at 16 to her neighbor.
So that she didn’t have to go back to the orphanage she grew up in.
6. She used to work in a factory.
She assembled weapons during World War II. These photos are crazy.
7. She was friends with Truman Capote.
Here they are dancing together in 1955:
8. Norman Mailer claims Marilyn had 12 abortions by the time she was 29.
In his Monroe biography, Mailer claimed that Marilyn’s photographer told him this fact. Whether or not what the photographer said was true, she did have endometriosis, a uterine disorder that leads to infertility.
Bonus: follow the official @MarilynMonroe estate Twitter account, because we all need a little more Marilyn in our lives.
