VOICE 1:
I’m Shirley Griffith.
VOICE 2:
And I’m Steve Ember with the VOA Special English program, Peoplein America.
Today we tell about movie starMarilyn Monroe.
She died many years ago, yet still is one of the best knownAmerican women.
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VOICE 1:
Her name at birth was Norma Jean Baker. Her life as a child waslike a bad dream. She lived with a number of different people, andoften was mistreated.
At age sixteen Norma Jean married a sailor. But she soon endedthat marriage. She changed her hair color from brown to shininggold. And she changed her name to Marilyn Monroe.
She wanted to be an actress … and she succeeded. She appearedin a number of Hollywood movies. Millions of people went to seethem.
By the time Norma Jean had reachedthe age of twenty-six, her beautiful face and body earned her aplace as one of America’s leading movie stars.
But success and fame were not enough to make her happy. Thetroubles of her childhood days stayed with her. She drank too muchalcohol. She took too many drugs.
At the age of thirty-six, she took her own life.
VOICE 2:
She has been dead since nineteen-sixty-two. Still, her famecontinues to grow.
People born long after she died are watching her movies ontelevision. Objects that belonged to her bring huge prices at publicsales. The new Warner Brothers Museum in Hollywood has the whitedress she wore in one of her movies, “The Prince and the Showgirl.”
People continue to talk about what they feel is her strangedeath. Some people believe she was murdered. Two investigationsshowed that she died as the result of too many drugs.
VOICE 1:
Why is the public still so interested in a woman who died so manyyears ago. A number of reasons. Her exciting but tragic life. Herconnections with well-known people. And her image as an especiallydesirable woman.
In the nineteen-fifties, many Americans believed sex was a veryprivate subject. People often severely judged those who weresexually appealing.
Into this atmosphere burst Marilyn Monroe. As one critic said,her body was round in all the right places. She wore her clotheslike skin. When she walked, she moved her lower body in a way thatfew other actresses had done. Her voice was soft and breathy. Shesoon became America’s golden girl.
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VOICE 2:
The story of Marilyn Monroe begins on June first,nineteen-twenty-six. Norma jean was born that day in the west coastcity of Los Angeles, California. Her birthplace was not far from theHollywood movie studios where she would someday be a star.
Her mother, Gladys Baker, suffered from mental problems. Oftenthe mother had to be treated in a hospital for long periods of time.Her daughter was sent to live with a number of different people.
The actress later would describe her stays with these fosterfamilies as sometimes very unhappy. During the worst experiences,she would go to a movie theater. There the young Norma Jean escapedinto the make-believe world of movies.
She would act all the movie parts after she went to a movie. Shetold this to a long time friend, actor Ted Jordan, who later wrote abook about her.
VOICE 1:
By the time she was seventeen, Marilyn was trying very hard to bea movie actress. She finally was able to get an actors’ agent tohelp her. He got Twentieth Century Fox company to give Marilyn partsin some movies it produced.
Marilyn continued to change the way she had looked as Norma Jean.She had an operation to improve the appearance of her nose. Her eyeswere made to appear larger. She began using a great deal of brightred lipstick on her mouth.
Marilyn may have worked more to improve her appearance than toimprove her performance in acting classes. Some people at TwentiethCentury Fox said she did not like to work at all. She appeared inonly one movie. And she had only one line to speak in that. The Foxmovie company dismissed her.
Soon, however, her agent got her a job at Columbia Pictures. Sheappeared in a movie called “Ladies of the Chorus. ” She sang twosongs. Several critics praised her performance. But Columbiadismissed her.
VOICE 2:
Marilyn did not stop struggling. She next won a small part in amovie called “Love Happy. ” It was a comedy starring the famous MarxBrothers. Critics said it was not one of their better efforts.Marilyn, though, earned praise for simply taking a short walk in themovie.
The movie called for her to say, “Some men are following me. “Groucho Marx answered that he did not understand why. As he saidthat, he watched Marilyn walk her famous walk. His eyes opened verywide.
That short scene in the movie made many people in Hollywood talkabout Marilyn Monroe.
VOICE 1:
Marilyn got her first major chance when director John Hustoninvited her to act in a movie called “The Asphalt Jungle. “
Huston said her performance as acriminal’s girlfriend was good. It gained Marilyn her dream of along-term agreement with Twentieth Century Fox, the company that haddismissed her earlier. Now its officials gave her a part in “AllAbout Eve.” The movie, released in nineteen-fifty, was about … amovie star. She played a golden-haired woman who did not have muchintelligence — a dumb blonde.
In nineteen-fifty-two, Marilyn again appeared as a dumb blonde in”Gentlemen Prefer Blondes. ” This performance at last won herwidespread fame.
Marilyn Monroe was now a lead actress, a star.
VOICE 2:
Huge successes now followed. Between nineteen-fifty-three andnineteen fifty-nine she appeared in lead parts in many popularmovies … “How to Marry a Millionaire.” “The Seven Year Itch.” “BusStop.” “Some Like It Hot.” Her part in “Some Like It Hot” showedthat she was very good at making people laugh.
Marilyn’s picture appeared on the front cover of many magazinesand the front pages of many newspapers. She began to earn moremoney.
Life should have been good. But Marilyn was not happy. She wasbeing asked to repeat her part as a dumb blonde in movie aftermovie.
She wanted to be accepted as a good actress. She went to theActors’ Studio School in New York City with many serious actors. Shethought she could change the way people thought of her.
VOICE 1:
But she did not succeed. People thought of Marilyn Monroe as”that blonde bombshell.” Few people thought of her as a seriousactress.
She also failed in her attempts at marriage. She admitted thatshe got married the first time only to escape from being forced tolive in a group home for children without parents. Innineteen-fifty-four she married again. Her husband was the famousNew York Yankee baseball player, Joe DiMaggio. They were togetherfor only a few months.
Later, she tried again. She married Arthur Miller, a famouswriter of plays. That marriage ended unhappily innineteen-sixty-one, after five years.
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VOICE 2:
Marilyn returned to Hollywood. But things were different now.Friends said she was drinking too much alcohol. They said she wastaking too many drugs.
She seemed to always be in trouble with the movie company. Shehad gained too much weight. Or, she had not learned what she was tosay in the movie. Or she had arrived late for the filming.
By nineteen-sixty-two, Marilyn’s problems were threatening herwork in the movies. She was to appear in the Twentieth Century Foxmovie called “Something’s Got to Give.”
She lost weight for her part. She tried to arrive on time for thefilming. She reportedly knew her part. However, she became sickseveral times and missed work. Fox company officials dismissed her.
VOICE 1:
On August fourth, nineteen-sixty-two, Marilyn Monroe died alonein her home. She was thirty-six years old. Reports said taking toomany drugs killed her. But people who knew her said failedmarriages, and the failure of her latest movie also led to herdeath.
Many people said Marilyn Monroe never escaped her past. Shecontinued to suffer from the early, sad life of a little girl namedNorma Jean.
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VOICE 2:
This Special English program was written by Jeri Watson anddirected by Marilyn Christiano. I’m Steve Ember.
VOICE 1:
And I’m Shirley Griffith. Join us again next week for anotherPeople in America program on the Voice of America.