Marilyn Monroe: Explore the actress’s mysterious death on her birthday
Marilyn Monroe is one of the most iconic figures in American history. The blonde bombshell transcended merely being a top-grossing film star to become a worldwide symbol of sexuality & empowerment. Today would have been the actress’s ninety-fifth birthday. Let’s look back at her legendary career as well as her mysterious & sudden death.
Marilin Monroe was born Norma Jeane Mortenson on June 1st, 1926 to a poor family. Her mother Gladys suffered a mental breakdown in 1934 and spent the rest of her life in & out of hospitals. Monroe became a ward of the state and spent much of her early life in foster homes & orphanages.
Her incredible career
Monroe began working as a model in advertisements & pin-up magazines. In 1946, she received a screen test by Ben Lyon, a 20th Century Fox executive, and was given a six-month contract. At Fox, she learned how to act, sing, and dance. After a few small parts in films like All About Eve & The Asphalt Jungle, Monroe began to be taken more seriously by critics.
Monroe was often typecast in comedic roles due to her sex appeal. In 1953, Monroe starred in the Technicolor film noir Niagara as a scheming femme fatale looking to murder her husband. Monroe’s seductive performance and revealing outfits were scandalous at the time. She also starred in Gentlemen Prefer Blondes which was one of the biggest box office successes of the year.
She would go on to work with some of the greatest directors & actors of the fifties & sixties. She was married to Yankees’ center fielder Joe DiMaggio though Monroe filed for divorce after nine months of marriage. She would later marry playwright Arthur Miller. It is also believed that she had an affair with then-president John F. Kennedy.
The death of the original blonde bombshell
Marilyn Monroe’s death took place on the eve of August 4th, 1962. The coroner classified it as a suicide because her blood contained doses of barbiturates significantly higher than the lethal limit. Monroe had overdosed before, and it was believed that some of those times, she did so purposely. Her doctors suggested she was fearful, depressed, and prone to violent mood swings, and no evidence of foul play was ever found.
Monroe was hunted constantly by fans, paparazzi, and even her own government. She had been divorced three times, she had a miscarriage, and her career seemed to be ebbing. Her friends, colleagues, and fans mourned her. Co-star Laurence Olivier said that she was “the complete victim of ballyhoo and sensation”.
Her funeral was held at the Westwood Village Memorial Park Cemetery on August 8th, 1962. Her ex husband Joe DiMaggio made the arrangements and only allowed a small group of mourners to attend. Hundreds of spectators crowded the streets to pay their respects to the actress.
Conspiracy
However, not everyone is so quick to believe the official story. Some conspiracy theorists stated their belief that Marilyn Monroe learned the truth about extraterrestrials from John F. Kennedy. Because she could potentially tell the world about the government’s secrets, some postulated she may have been assassinated.
Noted conspiracy theorist & author Nick Redfern’s latest book is about Marilyn Monroe’s mysterious death. He suggests that the late actress learned of the UFOs in the government’s possession, was murdered by shady government agents, and the whole thing was covered up.
Following Marilyn Monroe’s death, many other mysterious deaths haunted her former associates. John F. Kennedy was assassinated in Dallas in 1963. Robert F. Kennedy was assassinated in Los Angeles in 1968. Journalist Dorothy Kilgallen, who was an acquaintance of Monroe, died of a barbiturate overdose in 1965. Kilgallen was interviewing several people about the JFK assassination.
Evidence?
A 1950 memo written by Guy Hottel, a special agent in charge of the FBI’s Washington Field Office, described the recovery of three saucer shaped crafts in New Mexico. The memo also stated that three human shaped bodies were found inside, but each one was only three feet tall. The Washington office apparently didn’t believe the report to be credible and supposedly never followed up on the story.
The FBI had secret files on Monroe and actively investigated her friends under suspicions that they were communists. Monroe was married to Arthur Miller, who testified before the House Un-American Activities Committee and refused to name any of his friends & colleagues as communists. Monroe accompanied Miller to these hearings even though her presence could have threatened her career.
Monroe was also a close friend of exiled American leftist Frederick Vanderbilt Field. Field was the scion of the wealthy Vanderbilt family, though he was disinherited due to his political beliefs. Field left the U.S. after he was accused of being a Russian spy and serving a short prison sentence. Monroe visited Field in Mexico in 1962 and the FBI closely watched their relationship.
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Do you think that Marilyn Monroe’s death could have been an assassination meant to silence her? Do you believe the official story that she was a victim of her own celebrity and chose to end her own life? Tell us what you think really happened in the comments.
