On August 5, 1962, movie actress Marilyn Monroe was found dead in her Los Angeles home. She was discovered lying nude on her bed, face down, with a telephone in one hand. Empty bottles of pills, prescribed for her depression, were scattered around the room. After a brief investigation, Los Angeles police concluded that her death was “caused by a self-administered overdose of sedative drugs and that the mode of death is probable suicide.”
Marilyn Monroe, born Norma Jeane Mortenson on June 1, 1926, in Los Angeles, had a tumultuous childhood. Her mother, emotionally unstable, was often confined to an asylum, resulting in Norma Jeane being raised by various foster parents and in an orphanage. At 16, she married a coworker from an aircraft factory, but they divorced a few years later. In 1944, she began modeling and, in 1946, signed a short-term contract with 20th Century Fox, adopting the screen name Marilyn Monroe. After some minor roles, she returned to modeling and famously posed nude for a calendar in 1949.
Monroe gained attention as an actress in 1950 with minor roles in “The Asphalt Jungle” and “All About Eve.” Despite brief appearances, audiences noticed the blonde bombshell, leading to a new contract with Fox. Her acting career blossomed in the early 1950s with performances in “Love Nest” (1951), “Monkey Business” (1952), and “Niagara” (1953).
Celebrated for her voluptuousness and wide-eyed charm, Monroe achieved international fame for her roles in “Gentlemen Prefer Blondes” (1953), “How to Marry a Millionaire” (1953), and “There’s No Business Like Show Business” (1954). “The Seven-Year Itch” (1955) showcased her comedic talents and features the iconic scene where her white skirt is blown up by a passing train. Her marriage to baseball legend Joe DiMaggio in 1954 attracted further publicity, but they divorced eight months later.
In 1955, Monroe studied with Lee Strasberg at the Actors Studio in New York City and delivered a strong performance as a hapless entertainer in “Bus Stop” (1956). She married playwright Arthur Miller in 1956. Despite the critical and commercial failure of “The Prince and the Showgirl” (1957) with Laurence Olivier, she gave an acclaimed performance in the hit comedy “Some Like It Hot” (1959). Her final role was in “The Misfits” (1961), directed by John Huston and written by Miller, whom she divorced just before the film’s release.
By 1961, Monroe was plagued by depression and under constant psychiatric care. In the last months of her life, she became increasingly erratic and lived as a virtual recluse in her Brentwood, Los Angeles, home. After midnight on August 5, 1962, her maid, Eunice Murray, noticed Monroe’s bedroom light on. Finding the door locked and Marilyn unresponsive, Murray called Monroe’s psychiatrist, Dr. Ralph Greenson, who broke a window to gain entry. He found Monroe dead, and the police were notified. An autopsy revealed a fatal amount of sedatives in her system, and her death was ruled a probable suicide.
In recent decades, numerous conspiracy theories have emerged regarding Monroe’s death, with many alleging that she was murdered by John and/or Robert Kennedy, with whom she was rumored to have had affairs. These theories suggest the Kennedys feared she would reveal their affairs and other government secrets. On August 4, 1962, Robert Kennedy, then the attorney general, was in Los Angeles. Two decades later, Monroe’s housekeeper, Eunice Murray, claimed for the first time that Robert Kennedy had visited Monroe the night she died and argued with her, though the reliability of Murray’s statements remains questionable.
Decades after her death, Marilyn Monroe continues to be a major cultural icon.
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