Marilyn Monroe’s Dramatic Evolution In Pictures: A Photo For Every Year Of Her Life
Marilyn Monroe was, of course, one of the most famous sex symbols in Hollywood history. But her fame and fortune was hard-won. To make it in the entertainment industry, the girl once known as Norma Jeane Baker had to change her image and evolve her style over the years. These pictures show how that looked, right up until her very last days.
1926
You don’t see many pictures of Monroe’s mother Gladys Baker, but she had a huge impact on her daughter’s life. Here she is holding the baby she named Norma Jeane. Before long, sadly, her severe mental illness would mean she had to leave the young girl in a foster home.
1927
Monroe’s early childhood was unfortunately quite difficult. Though she was looked after by her foster mother Ida Bolender, Gladys was suffering badly from paranoid schizophrenia, and once tried to kidnap her infant daughter to take her back. Unfortunately, in those days help with mental health conditions was hard to come by.
1928
Once the young Norma Jeane was old enough to wonder why she didn’t have a dad in her life, she sadly wouldn’t have gotten any answers. The name under “father” on her birth certificate was Edward Mortenson, her mother’s one-time husband. But it’s thought he probably wasn’t her biological dad at all.
1929
Despite Gladys not being able to look after Norma Jeane, she did see her quite a lot throughout her early childhood. According to biographers of Marilyn Monroe who studied her life and family, Gladys badly wanted to be a full-time mom to her young daughter. Unfortunately, she simply wasn’t able to.
