1) Before taking on her famous moniker, Marilyn was known as Norma Jeane Mortenson. The identity of her father is still a mystery.
2) Marilyn had a sad and unstable childhood. Her mother battled mental illness, causing young Marilyn to live in foster homes, an orphanage, and with different family members.
3) Marilyn married her neighbor, James Dougherty, at 16-years-old to avoid being returned to foster care or an orphanage. When he joined the Merchant Marines, she went to work at the Radioplane Munitions Factory where she was discovered by a US Army commissioned photographer.
4) Marilyn was named the state’s first-ever Artichoke Queen at an agricultural festival in Castroville, California.
5) In order to get her modeling career going, Marilyn dyed her brunette hair blonde. It took her 9 shades to get the right look. Her overbite was also fixed when she became an actress, along with a nose job and chin implant.
6) Marilyn practiced yoga before it was cool.
7) The only really valuable diamond jewelry Marilyn owned was an eternity ring given to her by former husband, Joe DiMaggio. Most of her collection was costume jewelry.
8) Marilyn admired Abraham Lincoln and found Albert Einstein attractive. Her personal library included 400 books.
9) Marilyn was Truman Capote’s first choice to play Holly Golightly in “Breakfast at Tiffany’s.” Can you imagine that famous film without Audrey Hepburn?!
10) Marilyn had to be sewn into her infamous “Happy Birthday Mr. President Dress.” Yes, it was THAT tight.
11) Despite appearances, Marilyn suffered from extreme stage fright and would often become physically ill.
12) Marilyn actually didn’t like the name Marilyn… she would have liked to go by Jeane Monroe instead.
13) Marilyn wanted to have children with former husband Arthur Miller, but suffered from endometriosis. Unfortunately, the condition caused her pregnancies to result in three miscarriages.
14) Marilyn helped Ella Fitzgerald secure her first major gig at the Mocambo. She secured the gig for Ella by promising the club management that she’d be in the audience for a week. Marilyn, a surprising Civil Rights advocate.
15) Born Christian, Marilyn converted to Judaism in order to marry Arthur Miller.
16) Legend has it that Monroe had six toes on each foot. This rumor is untrue!
17) After Marilyn’s death, ex-husband and baseball legend Joe DiMaggio claimed her body and arranged her burial. He sent roses to her resting place 3 times a week for 20 years to fulfill his promise to her.
18) As a child, Marilyn liked to pretend that Clark Gable was her real father. The appeared in their collective last film, “The Misfits,” together. After he passed, she cried for two days.
19) The FBI tagged Marilyn as a possible Communist sympathizer and had a 34-page report on her possible ties to the party.
20) To elude the press, Marilyn checked into hotels under the name Zelda Zonk.
