The story of Marilyn Monroe begins
on June 1st, 1926. Norma Jean was born that day in the West Coast city of Los
Angeles, California. Her birthplace
was not far from the Hollywood movie studios where she would someday be a star.
Her mother, Gladys Baker, suffered from mental problems. Often the 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
foster families as sometimes
very unhappy. During the worst
experiences, she would go to a
movie theater. There the young Norma Jean escaped into the
make-believe world of movies.
By the time she was seventeen,
Marilyn was trying very hard to
be a movie actress. She finally was
able to get an actors' agent to help her. He got Twentieth Century Fox
Company to give Marilyn parts
in some movies it produced.
Marilyn may have worked more to improve her appearance than to improve her
performance in acting classes. Some people at Twentieth Century Fox said she
did not like to work at all. She appeared in only one movie. And she had only
one line to speak in that. The Fox movie company
dismissed her.
Soon, however, her agent got her a job at Columbia Pictures. She appeared in a
movie called "Ladies of the Chorus." She sang two songs. Several critics
praised her performance. But
Columbia dismissed her.
Marilyn did not stop struggling.
She next won a small part in a
movie called "Love Happy." It was a comedy
starring the famous Marx
Brothers. Critics said it was not one of their better efforts. Marilyn,
though,
earned praise for simply taking
a short walk in the movie. The movie
called for her to say, "Some men are following me." Groucho Marx
answered that he did not understand why. As he said that, he watched Marilyn
walk her famous walk. His eyes opened very wide. That short scene in the movie
made many people in Hollywood talk about Marilyn Monroe.
Marilyn got her first major
chance when director John Huston invited her to act in a movie called "The
Asphalt Jungle."
Huston said her performance as a criminal's girlfriend was good. It gained
Marilyn her dream of a long-term
agreement with Twentieth Century Fox, the company that had dismissed
her earlier. Now its officials
gave her a part in "All About Eve." The movie, released in 1950, was about a
movie star. She played a golden-haired woman who did not have much
intelligence – "a dumb blonde."
In 1952, Marilyn again appeared as a dumb blonde in "Gentlemen Prefer Blondes."
This performance at last won her
widespread fame. |
A kiss on the hand
May be quite continental
But diamonds
Are a girl's best friend
A kiss may be grand
But it won't pay the rental
On your humble flat
Or help you at the automat
Men grow cold
As girls grow old
And we all lose
Our charms in the end
But square-cut or pear-shaped
These rocks don't lose their shape
Diamonds
Are a girl's best friend |
Un beso
en la mano
Puede ser muy europeo
Pero los diamantes
Son los mejores amigos de una chica
Un beso puede ser maravilloso
Pero no pagará el alquiler
De tu humilde departamento
Ni te ayudará con el expendedor
Los hombres se enfrían
A medida que las mujeres envejecen
Y todos perdemos
Nuestros encantos al final
Pero, corte cuadrado o en forma de pera
Estas rocas no pierden su forma
Los diamantes
Son los mejores amigos de una chica |
|
Huge successes now followed. Between
1953
and 1959 she appeared in lead parts in many popular movies: "How
To Marry a Millionaire." "The Seven Year
Itch." "Bus Stop." "Some Like it Hot." Her part in "Some Like it Hot" showed that she was very
good at making people laugh.
Marilyn's picture appeared on the front cover of many
magazines and the front pages of many newspapers. She began
to earn more money. Life
should have been good. But Marilyn was not happy.
She
was being asked to repeat her part as a dumb blonde in movie after movie. She wanted to be accepted as a good actress. She went to
the Actors' Studio school in New York City with many serious actors. She thought
she could change the way people thought of her.
MARILYN MONROE: “What I’d like to do, that is, what I
would like to accomplish, I would like to be a good actress. And it’s not
a
matter of being on top because I think some of the best actors and actresses
perhaps aren’t on the top. So that’s not the thing. I’m
terribly grateful for
everything that’s happened because I remember when things weren’t like this at
all. But you do miss sometimes just being able to be completely yourself and
some place and people just know you as another human being.”
But she did not succeed. People thought of Marilyn Monroe
as "that blonde bombshell." Few people thought of her as a serious actress. She also failed in her
attempts at marriage. She admitted
that she got married the first time only to escape from being forced to live in
a group home for children without parents. In 1954 she married
again. Her husband was the famous New York Yankee baseball player,
Joe Di Maggio. They were together for only a few months. Later, she tried again. She married Arthur Miller, a
famous writer of plays. That marriage ended unhappily in
1961,
after five years.
Marilyn returned to Hollywood. But things were different
now. Friends said she was drinking too much alcohol. They said she was taking
too many drugs. She seemed to always be in trouble with the movie company.
She had gained too much weight. Or, she had not learned what she was to say in
the movie. Or she had arrived late for the filming.
By 1962, Marilyn's problems were threatening
her work in the movies. She was to appear in the Twentieth Century Fox movie
called "Something's Got to Give.” She lost weight for her part. She tried to arrive on time
for the filming. She reportedly knew her part. However, she became sick several
times and missed work. Fox company officials dismissed her.
On August 4th, 1962, Marilyn Monroe died
alone in her home. She was thirty-six years old. Reports said taking too many
drugs killed her. But people who knew her said failed marriages, and the failure
of her latest movie also led to her death. Many people said Marilyn Monroe never escaped her past.
She continued to suffer from the early, sad life of a little girl named Norma
Jean.
This Special English program was written by Jeri Watson
and directed by Marilyn Christiano. I'm Steve Ember. And I'm Shirley Griffith. Join us again next week for
another PEOPLE IN AMERICA program on the Voice of America. |
GLOSSARY:
birthplace:
lugar de nacimiento u origen; foster: adoptivas;
worst: peores, más penosas; she would go: iba,
se dirigía; make-believe: simulado, imaginario;
by the time: en el momento en que, para cuando;
very hard: con mucho esfuerzo; was able to get:
logró conseguir; parts: roles, papeles (de
actuación); dismissed her: la despidió, la echó;
praised her performance: elogiaron su actuación;
did not stop struggling: no dejó de luchar; won:
ganó, obtuvo; starring: que presentaba como
protagonistas a; earned praise: ganó elogios;
though: pese a todo; called for her to say:
requería que ella dijese; major: importante;
long-term agreement: contrato a largo plazo;
earlier: anteriormente; dumb blonde: rubia
tonta; widespread: difundida; huge: enormes;
lead parts: roles de protagonista; itch:
comezón, picazón; to earn: a ganar; should have
been: debería haber sido; she was being asked:
le pedían; to accomplish: lograr; a matter of:
una cuestión de; terribly grateful: sumamente
agradecida; bombshell: bomba explosiva; attempts
at marriage: intentos de casamiento; plays:
obras de teatro; gained too much weight: engordado
en exceso; threatening: poniendo en riesgo; she
was to appear: estaba obligada a aparecer; missed
work: faltó al trabajo; led to: condujeron a. |
|