20 Sexy (But Also Emotionally Complex) Facts About Marilyn Monroe
![20 Sexy (But Also Emotionally Complex) Facts About Marilyn Monroe](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/2/9/6/854296_320x180.jpg)
You know Marilyn Monroe, right? That blonde bimbo whose face is everywhere? Well, she wasn’t dumb, not at all, and her face being everywhere is the sad result of, well, capitalism. Now let us tell you something about friggin’ capitalis–no, wait, we were talking about Monroe. Yeah, she wasn’t even blonde! But this is well known. What is more interesting is how Monroe’s image has begun to change in recent times, especially as the toxicity of old Hollywood becomes clearer and clearer. Just like the cultural awareness that perhaps Britney Spears wasn’t a soulless product for the male gaze to devour, but rather a person with, you know, ideas, feelings, and parasites surrounding her, Monroe’s soulful humanity and artistic significance have long begun to be reconsidered. Also, Kim Kardashian’s desperate need for relevance has only made clearer how special Monroe was.
Yes, Marilyn Monroe was beautiful. But she was also much more than the nasty she was typecast into during her lifetime – and the death she was typecast into after her demise. What has emerged is a complex human being, who handled her image and image in a very deliberate manner, so much so that you could say it was she who objectified an entire culture, and that she’s been having us in the palm of her hand for almost 80 years. The problem is that the character got too real. As what might well be the definite biopic approach to Monroe’s psychological depth moves closer to us, we thought it’d be interesting to get to know the legend a bit more under a new light: astonished by her beauty, of course, but also respectful of her actual life, emotional complexity, and undeniable artistic achievements.
Smart Men
![Marilyn Monroe She liked smart guys. In addition to being married for five years to playwright Arthur Miller, Monroe was reportedly attracted to Albert Einstein, and had a framed photo of him on her piano. CRACKED.COM](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/3/0/7/854307.jpg)
Source: Mental Floss
Books
![CRACKED.COM Marilyn Monroe She was an avid reader. Monroe's library included more than 400 books, many of them with personal annotations. It included stuff by Camus, Tolstoy, Flaubert, Dumas, Einstein, Proust, Freud, Steinbeck, Dostoevsky, and even Aristotle's frigging Metaphysics.](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/3/1/9/854319.jpg)
Source: Booktryst
Marilyn, The Character
![CRACKED.COM Marilyn Monroe Her public persona was an act. There are plenty of testimonies of Norma Jeane referring to Marilyn in the third person, talking about what her character would or would not do.](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/3/0/6/854306.jpg)
Source: Yhara Zayd/YouTube
Marilyn Miller
![CRACKED.COM Marilyn Monroe Her stage name was a tribute to a Broadway star. Monroe was her mother's maiden name. The name Marilyn, however, was inspired by dancer, singer, and actress Marilyn Miller (who incidentally, also died a tragic, early death).](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/3/0/8/854308.jpg)
Source: Wikipedia
Jean Harlow
![CRACKED.COM Marilyn Monroe She was inspired by Jean Harlow. Originally a redhead, she based her blonde, sex-on-a-stick persona on the 1930s bombshell, whom she admired and planned to play in a biopic.](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/3/1/7/854317.jpg)
Source: Wikipedia
Marilyn Monroe Productions
![CRACKED.COM Marilyn Monroe She ran her own production company. She founded Marilyn Monroe Productions in 1954, (and the press mocked her for such an enterprise, continuing with their pattern of abuse to her). The company's only movie was the 1957 British romcom The Prince and the Showgirl.](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/3/0/1/854301.jpg)
Source: MsMojo/YouTube
Breakfast at Tiffany’s
![CRACKED.COM Marilyn Monroe Truman Capote wanted her to play Holly Golightly. Monroe was friends with the literary legend, and even played a few scenes of Breakfast at Tiffany's for him, but her acting coach advised her not to play such a character. Capote was not happy with Paramount's choice, Audrey Hepburn.](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/3/2/0/854320.jpg)
Source: Vogue
Marilyn's Voice
![CRACKED.COM Marilyn Monroe Her sultry voice was a result of speech therapy. A speech therapist trained Monroe to overcome her stuttering through that breathy, throaty style. Sadly, the stutter returned in later years, which helped build her reputation as being difficult to work with.](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/3/1/6/854316.jpg)
Source: Vogue
Unfinished Movie
![CRACKED.COM Marilyn Monroe She was fired from her last film. A month before her death, Monroe was fired from the Dean Martin romcom Something's Got to Give, as her behavior was becoming too erratic. The movie was canceled, then remade the next year as Move Over, Darling, with Doris Day.](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/3/1/4/854314.jpg)
Source: Wikipedia
Psychoanalysis
![CRACKED.COM Marilyn Monroe She underwent psychoanalysis. She had several analysts (including Sigmund Freud's own daughter Anna Freud), but Ralph Greenson was the most important one. Greenson's methods were questionable, and worsened Monroe's problems.](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/3/0/5/854305.jpg)
Source: Tales from the Reading Room
Warren Beatty
![Marilyn Monroe Warren Beatty was one of the last people to see her alive. An up-and-coming Beatty took a friendly stroll down the beach with Monroe after a party. The very next day, he learned that she had passed away. CRACKED.COM](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/3/0/0/854300.jpg)
Source: Vanity Fair
Marilyn's Movies
![CRACKED.COM Marilyn Monroe She did almost 30 movies. Her first movie was 1947's Dangerous Years. Her last, 1961's The Misfits. In between, her best works include Gentlemen Prefer Blondes, Monkey Business, Some Like It Hot, Bus Stop, and The Seven Year Itch,](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/3/0/2/854302.jpg)
Source: Wikipedia
Early Marriage
![CRACKED.COM Marilyn Monroe She was married at 16. Monroe had a very troubled childhood. In her teens, marriage became her only chance of staying out of an orphanage, so a wedding was arranged with her 20-year-old neighbor James Dougherty.](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/3/0/4/854304.jpg)
Source: Mental Floss
Glow
![Marilyn Monroe Her glow wasn't an accident. Besides actively avoiding the sun, she slathered herself with Vaseline, Nivea Crème, moisturizer, and even olive oil. CRACKED.COM](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/3/1/2/854312.jpg)
Source: Vogue
FBI
![by Marilyn Monroe The FBI had a file on her. The feds kept an eye on Monroe, mostly because of the communist sympathies of her husband Henry Miller. Marilyn herself even requested to visit the Soviet Union in 1955. CRACKED.COM](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/3/1/5/854315.jpg)
Sources: RepublicWorld.com, Politico
Ella Fitzgerald
![CRACKED.COM Marilyn Monroe She helped Ella Fitzgerald get her big break. Apparently, Fitzgerald wasn't considered glamorous enough. Monroe, who was her fan, offered to attend every show at West Hollywood's Mocambo Club, and the publicity allowed Fitzgerald's career to take off.](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/3/1/8/854318.jpg)
Source: Mental Floss
Joe DiMaggio
![Marilyn Monroe Her marriage to Joe DiMaggio was short and bad. DiMaggio was already possessive and aggressive, but became physically violent after a publicity stunt mimicking the iconic subway grate scene from The Seven Year Itch. They apparently patched things up later on, and he even arranged her funeral. CRACKED.COM](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/3/1/1/854311.jpg)
Source: MsMojo/YouTube
Marilyn's Dog
![CRACKED.COM Marilyn Monroe Frank Sinatra gave her a dog. She named the little Maltese Terrier Mafia Honey. The dog went to Sinatra's secretary after Monroe's death (and died run over by a car, which sounds like a total mafia hit job).](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/3/1/0/854310.jpg)
Source: Famous Dogs in History
Globe
![CRACKED.COM Marilyn Monroe She won a Golden Globe. In 1960, Monroe's appearance in Some Like it Hot earned her a Golden Globe for Best Motion Picture Actress in a Comedy or Musical. She was finally getting serious recognition by the time she died.](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/3/1/3/854313.jpg)
Source: Wikipedia