by Megan Dickey

Created on: March 21, 2007   Last Updated: May 09, 2007

Almost any person living in America shows acknowledgement to the name Marilyn Monroe. Marilyn's name and face are not uncommon in American pop culture even 45 years after her death. Her face can be seen on shirts, purses, and posters in many popular stores. Marilyn Monroe is an icon. However, Marilyn is not known for the thirty movies she starred in or for starting her own production company. Marilyn is known more for her effervescent persona and the events surrounding her death than she is for what she accomplished in her life. This is because Marilyn is an American icon and her death is one of the most famous conspiracies of the 20th century. Although official records show Marilyn's cause of death as a suicide, most of Marilyn Monroe's fans attribute Marilyn's death to the government and the Kennedy brothers, John Kennedy and Bobby Kennedy.

Marilyn Monroe's rise to fame was a classic Cinderella story. Marilyn Monroe was born Norma Jeane Morteson on June 1, 1926 in Los Angeles, California. She was born to Gladys Baker and never knew her father. Because of the absence of her father, she was baptized Norma Jeane Baker. Gladys Baker was institutionalized because of psychological problems when Norma Jeane was very young. Norma Jeane lived in several foster homes until 1937 when she moved in with a family friend Grace McKee Goddard and Grace's husband.[www.MarilynMonroe.com/about/bio.html] At the age of sixteen, when the Goddards had to move to the east coast, Norma Jeane had to decide whether she wanted to return to the orphanage or marry her boyfriend of six months. Norma chose to marry Jimmy Dougherty.

In 1944, Jimmy was in the marines and sent to the South Pacific. After Jimmy left, Norma Jeane worked a job at a factory until being photographed by David Conover. He used her for a photo shoot for Yank Magazine and then helped her find modeling jobs. Within two years Norma was a successful model and began studying acting. In 1946, Jimmy returned. In the Cinderella story, this would have been the point Norma Jeane and Jimmy lived happily ever after. Unfortunately, in the 1940's a woman couldn't be professionally successful and a wife. Norma Jeane had to choose between her marriage and her career. She chose her career and divorced Jimmy. This is when the Cinderella story ended.

After divorcing Jimmy in 1946, Norma Jeane signed a contract with Twentieth Century Fox, dyed her hair blonde, and changed her name to Marilyn Monroe. She starred in numerous movies. By the

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