There are so many things about Marilyn Monroe that have been mythologized or simply misinformed.
Some amazing facts to set the record straight about Monroe:
- Monroe wasn't just another "dumb girl." That was a stereotype imposed by the studios. Monroe was highly educated and deeply concerned about issues like civil rights. She once said that the studios wanted her to be so dumb that, regarding her role in the famous "Some Like It Hot," she couldn't tell the difference between two guys in drag.
- Marilyn was incredibly shy. She had to be escorted out of the dressing room and often forgot her lines. She never shed her sad childhood, which had always haunted her.
- Monroe was a stutterer. In addition to shyness, Marilyn had developed a stutter due to a childhood trauma.
- Monroe took acting seriously, studying with Lee Strasberg and Marlon Brando. She never wanted to be forced into blonde doll roles.
- Monroe cared for her mother, Gladys Baker, as she was in and out of psychiatric hospitals. Gladys outlived her daughter.
- Monroe was an entrepreneur. She was the first female star to found her own film production company. Fox Studios launched a smear campaign against her.
- Her stage name, Marilyn Monroe, was created with the help of Ben Lyon, Fox Studios' head of new talent. The name Marilyn was chosen because he told her, "You're a Marilyn to me," inspired by a woman she knew, Marilyn Miller, who acted in musicals in New York. She then asked to use her grandmother's last name, Monroe. Thus, Marilyn Monroe was born.