Marilyn Monroe's Early Life

Today, decades after her death, Marilyn Monroe remains a household name and a symbol of both sex and female empowerment.  But, where did this icon come from?

Marilyn Monroe was born Norma Jean Mortensen in Los Angeles, California.  She had an extremely difficult childhood, something she overcame to become one of the most well-known, iconic women in history.  She never knew her father and her mother, Gladys, was placed in a mental institution once she had developed psychiatric problems.  As an adult, Marilyn Monroe would maintain that one of her earliest memories was of her mother trying to smother her with a pillow.

Throughout her childhood, Monroe spent much of her time in foster care and in an orphanage.  In 1937, a family friend and her husband--Grace and Doc Goddard--took care of Monroe for years.  They were paid $25.00 a week to care for Monroe.  The couple was deeply religious and followed fundamentalist doctrines, thus they prohibited Monroe from doing many activities, among them, going to the movies.  But, in 1942, Doc Goddard's job was transferred to the East Coast and the couple was unable to afford bringing Monroe along with them.

At 7 years old, Monroe returned to foster care, where she was sexually assaulted multiple times; she later said that she was raped when she was 11.  Her one way out of this abusive system was marriage, so, at the age of 16, she married her boyfriend Jimmy Dougherty.  By that time, Monroe had already dropped out of high school.  Dougherty was later sent to the South Pacific as a merchant marine and Monroe went to work in a munitions factory in Van Nuys, California.  It was at this factory that Monroe was discovered by a photographer.  By the time Dougherty returned, Monroe had already become very successful as a model under the famous name of Marilyn Monroe.