Biographic Marilyn

"Most people know that Marilyn Monroe (1926-1962) was a Hollywood icon, and at one time the most famous movie star on the planet. What, perhaps, they don't know is that she lived in 43 different homes; that she performed as a singer to an audience of 100,000 servicemen in Korea; that her dress from The Seven Year Itch sold at auction for $4.6 million; and that she was born in the same year as Harper Lee, and was reading To Kill a Mocking Bird at the time of her death. Biographic: Marilyn presents an instant impression of her life, work and legacy, with an array of irresistible facts and figures converted into infographics to reveal the actor behind the movies"--Page 4 of cover

Relying on over 150 interviews as well as Marilyn's letters and diaries, this work by best-selling biographer Spoto casts new light on every aspect of the actress's tempestuous life.

From New York Times bestselling author J. Randy Taraborrelli comes the definitive biography of the most enduring icon in popular American culture. When Marilyn Monroe became famous in the 1950s, the world was told that her mother was either dead or simply not a part of her life. However, that was not true. In fact, her mentally ill mother was very much present in Marilyn's world and the complex family dynamic that unfolded behind the scenes is a story that has never before been told...until now. In this groundbreaking book, Taraborrelli draws complex and sympathetic portraits of the women so influential in the actress' life, including her mother, her foster mother, and her legal guardian. He also reveals, for the first time, the shocking scope of Marilyn's own mental illness, the identity of Marilyn's father and the half-brother she never knew, and new information about her relationship with the Kennedy's-Bobby, Jack, and Pat Kennedy Lawford. Explosive, revelatory, and surprisingly moving, this is the final word on the life of one of the most fascinating and elusive icons of the 20th Century.

Barbara Leaming's Marilyn Monroe is a complex, sympathetic portrait that will totally change the way we view the most enduring icon of American sexuality. To those who think they have heard all there is to hear about Marilyn Monroe, think again. Leaming's book tells a brand-new tale of sexual, psychological, and political intrigue of the highest order. Told for the first time in all its complexity, this is a compelling portrait of a woman at the center of a drama with immensely high stakes, a drama in which the other players are some of the most fascinating characters from the world's of movies, theater, and politics. It is a book that shines a bright light on one of the most tumultuous, frightening, and exciting periods in American culture. Basing her research on new interviews and on thousands of primary documents, including revealing letters by Arthur Miller, Elia Kazan, John Huston, Laurence Olivier, Tennessee Williams, Darryl Zanuck, Marilyn's psychiatrist Dr. Ralph Greenson, and many others, Leaming has reconstructed the tangles of betrayal in Marilyn's life. For the first time, a master storyteller has put together all of the pieces and told Marilyn's story with the intensity and drama it so richly deserves. At the heart of this book is a sexual triangle and a riveting story of betrayal that has never been told before. You will come away filled with new respect for Marilyn's incredible courage, dignity, and loyalty, and an overwhelming sense of tragedy after witnessing Marilyn, powerless to overcome her demons, move inexorably to her own final, terrible betrayal of herself. Marilyn Monroe is a book that will make you think--and will break your heart.

A biography of the screen icon, from her early days as an orphan to her rise to stardom; includes discussion of her film career, marriages, and tragic death.

Written at the height of her fame but not published until over a decade after her death, this autobiography of actress and sex symbol Marilyn Monroe (1926-1962) poignantly recounts her childhood as an unwanted orphan, her early adolescence, her rise in the film industry from bit player to celebrity, and her marriage to Joe DiMaggio. In this intimate account of a very public life, she tells of her first (non-consensual) sexual experience, her romance with the Yankee Clipper, and her prescient vision of herself as "the kind of girl they found dead in the hall bedroom with an empty bottle of sleeping pills in her hand." The Marilyn in these pages is a revelation: a gifted, intelligent, vulnerable woman who was far more complex than the unwitting sex siren she portrayed on screen. Lavishly illustrated with photos of Marilyn, this special book celebrates the life and career of an American icon—-from the unique perspective of the icon herself.

Like her art, Marilyn Monroe was rooted in paradox: She was a powerful star and a childlike waif; a joyful, irreverent party girl with a deeply spiritual side; a superb friend and a narcissist; a dumb blonde and an intellectual. No previous biographer has recognized-much less attempted to analyze-most of these aspects of her personality. Lois Banner has. With new details about Marilyn's childhood foster homes, her sexual abuse, her multiple marriages, her affairs, and her untimely death at the age of thirty-six, Marilyn is, at last, the nuanced biography Monroe fans have been waiting for.

The late actress's story, told in her own words as well as one hundred and fifty photographs, culled from conversations with the author in 1962.

Based on new interviews and research, this ground-breaking biography explores the secret selves behind Marilyn Monroe’s public facades. Marilyn Monroe: her beauty still captivates, her love life still fascinates, and her story still dominates popular culture. Now, drawing on years of research and dozens of new interviews, this biography cuts through decades of lies and secrets and introduces you to the Marilyn Monroe you always wanted to know: a living, breathing, complex woman, bewitching and maddening, brilliant yet flawed. Explored through the lens of new interviews and meticulous research, Marilyn Monroe unveils Marilyn's story against the backdrop of pre-feminist times. Experience her journey from a distressing childhood to the pedestal of stardom, eloquently explaining her pursuit of ambition in face of a continuous struggle with bipolar disorder. Each phase of her life, marked by celebrated love affairs and heartrending tragedies, is a stepping stone towards immortality. The tell-all narrative includes eye-opening revelations, from the concealed compassionate act of Elizabeth Taylor towards Marilyn to her lost semi-nude love scene with Clark Gable, chronicling the few nights before her death with Warren Beatty, where she divulges her despair during their fateful encounter. This biography also provides a comprehensive account of her final days, meticulously examining the series of miscommunications and misjudgments contributing to her calamitous end. Embark on this enlightening journey of the life and legacy of Marilyn Monroe.

In this sensitive, provocative portrait of Marilyn Monroe, Gloria Steinem reveals the woman behind the myth--the child Norma Jean--and the forces in America that shaped her into the fantasy and icon that has never died. 16 pages of full-color photos.