'No matter what came her way, [Marilyn Monroe] was canny, ambitious and self-starting: far from the 'little girl lost' cliché so often attached to her,' writes Christina Newland
Christina Newland is a film critic and an award-winning journalist. She is featured in CNN's new Original Series Reframed: Marilyn Monroe, which reexamines the life and legacy of the Hollywood bombshell. The four-part series premieres Sunday, January 16, at 9 p.m. ET. The views expressed here are her own. Read more opinion articles on CNN.
'In walks the most gorgeous young girl': The moment Marilyn was discovered 01:00 Born Norma Jean Mortenson to a single mother who was institutionalized for mental health problems, the girl who came to be known as Marilyn Monroe was raised in a series of foster homes. By the time she hustled her way to the movie backlot -- and made it into her first truly noticeable parts in a one-two punch of films in 1950 -- she had done a lot of fine-tuning.
The marriage was the idea of her foster mother, Grace McKee."Grace arranged it. She and her husband were going to West Virginia, and they were going to put me in a home, or I could marry this boy who was 21," she said.Hide Caption 5 of 36 Photos: Marilyn Monroe's life in picturesAt 19 years old, Monroe tried her luck with the Blue Book Model Agency.
"She loves to be in front of the camera," said photographer Nancy Lee Andrews."She's staging it, and the photographer, he's clicking it... Follow Marilyn, and you'll get the shot."Hide Caption 13 of 36 Photos: Marilyn Monroe's life in picturesMonroe fixes her hair in front of a mirror in 1951. That year she had several supporting roles in comedies, including"As Young as You Feel,""Love Nest" and"Let's Make It Legal.
The flashy scene in New York was one of many straws that allegedly ended their tumultuous marriage."After about the tenth of the skirt going up, he began to tremble," said Monroe's friend Amy Greene."And I put my hand on his arm and said, 'Joe, it's just a movie. It's not real.' And he said, 'I realize that, but it's my wife showing off her panties.