Just an Icon?
Many people only know Marilyn Monroe for being an icon. A fashion icon, a sex icon, a feminine icon. This is true, but she was so much more than that. She was a beautiful and talented actress. "A sex symbol is a thing. I just hate to be a thing." Marilyn said. She struggled to be known as an actress rather than just a symbol. She was also someone that people could relate to. She had a hard childhood, but overcame it and learned to work hard because of it. At one point she was so desperate for money, just to pay her rent, that she posed for nude pictures. She means different things to different people, yet a lot of people can relate to her in some way, or even look up to her in some way.
Relationships
Marilyn Monroe had 3 marriages during her lifetime, all of which ended in divorce. Her first marriage was to Jimmy Daugherty, at age 15 which ended when her career was just beginning in 1946. Her second marriage was to baseball player Joe DiMaggio in 1954. They were only married for 9 months. Marilyn's third marriage was to playwright Arther Miller. That marriage last from 1956-1961. In between marriages, she had a few serious affairs. One with a musician named Freddy Karger, who was Marilyn's vocal coach. She says she really fell in love with him. Sadly, Karger didn't really feel the same love for Marilyn that she felt for him. She says that he seemed to think very little of her because he would always mention how little she knew. Marilyn reached a tipping point in that relationship when he refused to marry her, saying that if anything happened to him, he didn't want to have to leave his son in her hands. "It wouldn't be right for him to be brought up by a woman like you," Karger said. Eventually, Marilyn left him. (Steinem)
Suicide Attempts
Marilyn Monroe had a serious affair with Johnny Hyde, an important agent that was thirty years older than her. For Marilyn, she saw him more as a father figure. He had helped her get her crucial role in The Asphalt Jungle, and made sure she was seen at all the right places. He really was an important person in her road to fame. He loved her, and she was happy with him and cared about him but just couldn't marry him. Hyde soon had a heart attack and passed away. His family tried to keep her out of the funeral, and even worse-- they blamed her for his death, saying all his hard work on HER career is what caused his heart attack. After this, Marilyn attempted suicide (by her account, it was the third time.) Her acting coach Natasha Lytess found her unconscious with am empty bottle of sleeping pills. Marilyn was okay, but felt so guilty about the loss of a father figure, which had become a re-accuring theme in her life. In 1960, Clark Gable, her co-star in The Misfits, also died of a heart attack. One again, Marilyn was blamed, and once again, she attempted suicide. This added up to over half a dozen "close calls with self-induced death." Some were caused by her being lonely, some from guilt. Perhaps she was tired of being left, and tired of leaving. At least one attempt was when she found out she couldn't have children. (Steinem)