What You Don’t Know About Marilyn Monroe

The sorrow beneath the glamour

Photograph of Marilyn Monroe by Frank Powolny, 1953 (Wikimedia Commons — image resized by author)

Marilyn Monroe is a Hollywood legend. She rose to prominence in the early 1950s and she’s still instantly recognisable today. Whilst she’s best remembered for the glamorous characters she portrayed on screen, the real Marilyn was different.

Beneath all the beauty and smiles, this iconic actress was deeply troubled. She felt distanced from the world of Hollywood and she was riddled with insecurities throughout her life.

Hollywood Outsider

Due to her mother's psychological issues, Marilyn spent her childhood in foster care and struggled with feelings of loneliness during her time at the Los Angeles Orphan Home. She often lacked a sense of belonging and this issue continued into adulthood.

Despite the success of movies such as Gentlemen Prefer Blondes (1953) and The Seven Year Itch (1955), Marilyn was insecure about her abilities as an actress. And her working-class roots made her feel isolated in the world of Hollywood. She was anxious about her lack of education and tried to make up for it by rehearsing topics of conversation and reading whatever she could, including biographies of Abraham Lincoln, her childhood hero.