Content deleted Content added
Winditaround (talk | contribs) →1926–1943: Childhood and first marriage: removed unneeded location after hospital name already gives it away |
|||
Line 129:
[[File:Monroe and Murray argument in Bus Stop.jpg|thumb|left|upright|alt=Monroe and Don Murray in ''Bus Stop''. She is wearing a ragged coat and a small hat tied with ribbons and is having an argument with Murray, who is wearing jeans, a denim jacket and a cowboy hat.|Monroe's dramatic performance in ''[[Bus Stop (1956 film)|Bus Stop]]'' (1956) marked a departure from her earlier comedies.]]Monroe began 1956 by announcing her win over 20th Century-Fox.{{sfn|Banner|2012|pp=296–297}} On February 23, 1956, she legally changed her name to ''Marilyn Monroe''.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Bodenner |first=Chris |date=2016-02-24 |title=The Day Norma Jean Died |url=https://www.theatlantic.com/culture/archive/2016/02/marilyn-monroe-norma-jean/624878/ |access-date=2024-09-08 |website=The Atlantic |language=en}}</ref> The press wrote favorably about her decision to fight the studio; ''[[Time (magazine)|Time]]'' called her a "shrewd businesswoman"{{sfn|Spoto|2001|p=341}} and ''[[Look (American magazine)|Look]]'' predicted that the win would be "an example of the individual against the herd for years to come".{{sfn|Banner|2012|pp=296–297}} In contrast, Monroe's relationship with Miller prompted some negative comments, such as [[Walter Winchell]]'s statement that "America's best-known blonde moving picture star is now the darling of the left-wing intelligentsia."{{sfn|Spoto|2001|pp=343–345}}
In March, Monroe began filming the drama ''[[Bus Stop (1956 film)|Bus Stop]]'', her first film under the new contract.{{sfn|Spoto|2001|p=345}} She played Chérie, a saloon singer whose dreams of stardom are complicated by a naïve cowboy who falls in love with her. For the role, she learned an [[Ozark English|Ozark accent]], chose costumes and makeup that lacked the glamor of her earlier films, and provided deliberately mediocre singing and dancing.{{sfn|Spoto|2001|pp=352–357}} [[Broadway theatre|Broadway]] director [[Joshua Logan]] agreed to direct, despite initially doubting Monroe's acting abilities and knowing of her difficult reputation.{{sfn|Spoto|2001|pp=352–354}} The filming took place in Idaho and Arizona, with Monroe "technically in charge" as the head of MMP, occasionally making decisions on cinematography and with Logan adapting to her chronic lateness and perfectionism.{{sfnm|1a1=Spoto|1y=2001|1pp=354–358, for location and time|2a1=Banner|2y=2012|2p=297, 310}} The experience changed Logan's opinion of Monroe, and he later compared her to [[Charlie Chaplin]] in her ability to blend comedy and tragedy.{{sfn|Banner|2012|p=254}}[[File:Monroe Miller Wedding.jpg|thumb|upright|right|alt=Cropped photo of Monroe and Miller cutting the cake at their wedding. Her veil is lifted from her face and he is wearing a white shirt with a dark tie.|Monroe and [[Arthur Miller]] at their wedding, June 1956]]On June 29, 1956, Monroe and Miller were married in a four-minute civil ceremony at the Westchester County Court in [[White Plains, New York]]; two days later they had a [[Jewish wedding|Jewish ceremony]] at the home of [[Kay B. Barrett|Kay Brown]], Miller's literary agent, in [[Waccabuc, New York]].{{sfn|Spoto|2001|pp=364–365}}<ref name=":5">{{cite web|title=Marilyn Monroe's Westchester Wedding; Plus, More County Questions And Answers|date=November 2014|first=Tom|last=Schreck|work=[[Westchester Magazine]]|url=https://www.westchestermagazine.com/Westchester-Magazine/November-2014/Marilyn-Monroes-Westchester-Wedding-Plus-More-County-Questions-And-Answers/|access-date=May 17, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190517063630/http://www.westchestermagazine.com//Westchester-Magazine/November-2014/Marilyn-Monroes-Westchester-Wedding-Plus-More-County-Questions-And-Answers|archive-date=May 17, 2019|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name=":13" /> With the marriage, Monroe [[Conversion to Judaism|converted to Judaism]], which led Egypt to ban all of her films.{{sfn|Meyers|2010|pp=156–157}}{{efn|Monroe identified with the Jewish people as a "dispossessed group" and wanted to convert to make herself part of Miller's family.{{sfn|Banner|2012|p=256}} She was instructed by Rabbi Robert Goldberg and converted on July 1, 1956.{{sfn|Meyers|2010|pp=156–157}} Monroe's interest in Judaism as a religion was limited: she called herself a "[[Jewish atheist]]" and did not practice the faith after divorcing Miller aside from retaining some religious items.{{sfn|Meyers|2010|pp=156–157}} Egypt also lifted her ban after the divorce was finalized in 1961.{{sfn|Meyers|2010|pp=156–157}}}} Due to Monroe's status as a sex symbol and Miller's image as an intellectual, the media saw the union as a mismatch, as evidenced by ''Variety''{{'}}s headline, "Egghead Weds Hourglass".{{sfnm|1a1=Churchwell|1y=2004|1pp=253–257|2a1=Meyers|2y=2010|2p=155}} That year, Monroe became pregnant, but miscarried.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Tempera |first=Jacqueline |date=2022-10-04 |title=Marilyn Monroe Was Pregnant At Least 3 Times Before Her Death |url=https://www.yahoo.com/lifestyle/marilyn-monroe-pregnant-least-3-204400834.html |access-date=2024-09-15 |website=Yahoo Life |language=en-US}}</ref>
''Bus Stop'' was released in August 1956 and became a critical and commercial success.{{sfnm|1a1=Spoto|1y=2001|1pp=358–359|2a1=Churchwell|2y=2004|2p=69}} ''[[The Saturday Review of Literature]]'' wrote that Monroe's performance "effectively dispels once and for all the notion that she is merely a glamour personality" and Crowther proclaimed: "Hold on to your chairs, everybody, and get set for a rattling surprise. Marilyn Monroe has finally proved herself an actress."{{sfn|Spoto|2001|p=358}} She also received a [[Golden Globe Award for Best Actress – Motion Picture Musical or Comedy|Golden Globe]] nomination for [[Golden Globe Award for Best Actress in a Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy|Best Actress in a Leading Role - Musical or Comedy]] for her performance.<ref name=gg />
Line 150:
I sat on the bed trying to figure if I was given this situation in an acting improvisation what would I do. So I figured, it's a squeaky wheel that gets the grease. I admit it was a loud squeak but I got the idea from a movie I made once called 'Don't Bother to Knock'. I picked up a light-weight chair and slammed it, and it was hard to do because I had never broken anything in my life—against the glass intentionally. It took a lot of banging to get even a small piece of glass—so I went over with the glass concealed in my hand and sat quietly on the bed waiting for them to come in.
They did, and I said to them 'If you are going to treat me like a nut I'll act like a nut'.</blockquote>
Monroe disliked that he had based her role partly on her life, and thought it inferior to the male roles. She also struggled with Miller's habit of rewriting scenes the night before filming.{{sfnm|1a1=Spoto|1y=2001|1pp=431–435|2a1=Churchwell|2y=2004|2pp=266–267|3a1=Banner|3y=2012|3p=352}} Her health was also failing: she was in pain from [[gallstone]]s, and her drug addiction was so severe that her makeup usually had to be applied while she was still asleep under the influence of barbiturates.{{sfnm|1a1=Spoto|1y=2001|1pp=435–445|2a1=Banner|2y=2012|2pp=353–356}} In August, filming was halted for her to spend a week in a hospital [[drug detoxification|detox]].{{sfnm|1a1=Spoto|1y=2001|1pp=435–445|2a1=Banner|2y=2012|2pp=353–356}} Despite her problems, Huston said that when Monroe was acting, she "was not pretending to an emotion. It was the real thing. She would go deep down within herself and find it and bring it up into consciousness."{{sfn|Tracy|2010|p=109}}
Line 249:
== Legacy ==
{{Main|Marilyn Monroe in popular culture}}
[[File:Monroe in Niagara (1953 publicity photo).jpg|left|thumb|
According to ''The Guide to United States Popular Culture'', "as an icon of American popular culture, Monroe's few rivals in popularity include [[Elvis Presley]] and [[Mickey Mouse]]... no other star has ever inspired such a wide range of emotions—from lust to pity, from envy to remorse."{{sfn|Chapman|2001|pp=542–543}} Art historian [[Gail Levin (art historian)|Gail Levin]] stated that Monroe may have been "the most photographed person of the 20th century",<ref name=levin>{{cite web|url=https://www.pbs.org/wnet/americanmasters/marilyn-monroe-filmmaker-interview-gail-levin/63/|title=Filmmaker interview – Gail Levin|date=July 19, 2006|publisher=[[Public Broadcasting Service]]|access-date=July 11, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160810035145/http://www.pbs.org/wnet/americanmasters/marilyn-monroe-filmmaker-interview-gail-levin/63/|archive-date=August 10, 2016|url-status=live}}</ref> and The American Film Institute has named her [[AFI's 100 Years...100 Stars|the sixth greatest female screen legend]] in [[Cinema of the United States|American film history]]. The [[Smithsonian Institution]] has included her on their list of "100 Most Significant Americans of All Time",<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smithsonianmag/meet-100-most-significant-americans-all-time-180953341/|title=Meet the 100 Most Significant Americans of All Time|last=Frail|first=T.A.|date=November 17, 2014|publisher=[[Smithsonian Institution]]|access-date=September 10, 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190321144943/https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smithsonianmag/meet-100-most-significant-americans-all-time-180953341/|archive-date=March 21, 2019|url-status=live}}</ref> and both ''Variety'' and [[VH1]] have placed her in the top ten in their rankings of the greatest popular culture icons of the twentieth century.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/4344910.stm|title=Beatles Named 'Icons of Century'|date=October 16, 2005|publisher=BBC|access-date=September 10, 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160306201152/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/4344910.stm|archive-date=March 6, 2016|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite press release|title=The 200 Greatest Pop Culture Icons Complete Ranked List|publisher=[[VH1]]|url=http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/the-200-greatest-pop-culture-icons-complete-ranked-list-70807437.html|access-date=September 10, 2015|via=[[PR Newswire]]|url-status=dead|archive-date=May 11, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160511154709/http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/the-200-greatest-pop-culture-icons-complete-ranked-list-70807437.html}}</ref>
Line 258:
Monroe's enduring popularity is tied to her conflicted public image.{{sfnm|1a1=Fuller|1a2=Lloyd|1y=1983|1p=309|2a1=Marcus|2y=2004|2pp=17–19, 309|3a1=Churchwell|3y=2004|3pp=21–42}} On the one hand, she remains a sex symbol, beauty icon and one of the most famous stars of [[classical Hollywood cinema]].{{sfn|Churchwell|2004|p=8}}<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smithsonian-institution/remembering-marilyn-monroe-43964747/|title=Remembering Marilyn Monroe|last=Stromberg|first=Joseph|date=August 5, 2011|publisher=Smithsonian Institution|access-date=September 10, 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150928090337/http://www.smithsonianmag.com/smithsonian-institution/remembering-marilyn-monroe-43964747/|archive-date=September 28, 2015|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.bfi.org.uk/features/marilyn-icon|title=Marilyn: The Icon|last=Wild|first=Mary|date=May 29, 2015|publisher=British Film Institute|access-date=September 10, 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150906134813/http://www.bfi.org.uk/news-opinion/news-bfi/features/marilyn-icon|archive-date=September 6, 2015|url-status=live}}</ref> On the other, she is also remembered for her troubled private life, unstable childhood, struggle for professional respect, as well as her death and the conspiracy theories that surrounded it.{{sfnm|1a1=Fuller|1a2=Lloyd|1y=1983|1p=309|2a1=Steinem|2a2=Barris|2y=1987|2pp=13–15|3a1=Churchwell|3y=2004|3p=8}} She has been written about by scholars and journalists who are interested in gender and feminism;<ref name="Guardianfem">{{cite web|url=https://www.theguardian.com/film/features/featurepages/0,,498050,00.html|title=Happy Birthday, Marilyn|date=May 29, 2001|work=The Guardian|access-date=August 30, 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150611194816/http://www.theguardian.com/film/features/featurepages/0,,498050,00.html|archive-date=June 11, 2015|url-status=live}}</ref> these writers include [[Gloria Steinem]], [[Jacqueline Rose]],{{sfn|Rose|2014|pp=100–137}} Molly Haskell,{{sfn|Haskell|1991|pp=254–265}} Sarah Churchwell,<ref name="www.theguardian.com max-factor-cant-claim-marilyn-monroe2"/> and Lois Banner.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/film/2012/jul/21/marilyn-monroe-feminist-psychoanalysis-lois-banner|title=Marilyn Monroe: Proto-feminist?|last=Banner|first=Lois|date=July 21, 2012|newspaper=The Guardian|access-date=November 7, 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151121051705/http://www.theguardian.com/film/2012/jul/21/marilyn-monroe-feminist-psychoanalysis-lois-banner|archive-date=November 21, 2015|url-status=live|ref=none}}</ref> Some, such as Steinem, have viewed her as a victim of the studio system.<ref name="Guardianfem" />{{sfnm|1a1=Steinem|1a2=Barris|1y=1987|1pp=15–23|2a1=Churchwell|2y=2004|2pp=27–28}} Others, such as Haskell,<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/books/98/11/22/reviews/981122.22haskelt.html|title=Engineering an Icon|last=Haskell|first=Molly|date=November 22, 1998|work=The New York Times|access-date=August 30, 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160307052723/https://www.nytimes.com/books/98/11/22/reviews/981122.22haskelt.html|archive-date=March 7, 2016|url-status=live}}</ref> Rose,{{sfn|Rose|2014|pp=100–137}} and Churchwell,<ref name="www.theguardian.com max-factor-cant-claim-marilyn-monroe2"/> have instead stressed Monroe's proactive role in her career and her participation in the creation of her public persona.
[[File:James Gill's "Marylin Tryptich".jpg|thumb|Left panel from [[pop art]]ist [[James Gill (artist)|James Gill]]'s painting ''Marilyn Triptych'' (1962)|218x218px|left]]
Owing to the contrast between her stardom and troubled private life, Monroe is closely linked to broader discussions about modern phenomena such as mass media, fame, and consumer culture.{{sfn|Hamscha|2013|pp=119–129}} According to academic Susanne Hamscha, Monroe has continued relevance to ongoing discussions about modern society, and she is "never completely situated in one time or place" but has become "a surface on which narratives of American culture can be (re-)constructed", and "functions as a cultural type that can be reproduced, transformed, translated into new contexts, and enacted by other people".{{sfn|Hamscha|2013|pp=119–129}} Similarly, Banner has called Monroe the "eternal shapeshifter" who is re-created by "each generation, even each individual... to their own specifications".<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.latimes.com/opinion/la-xpm-2012-aug-05-la-oe-0805-banner-marilyn-monroe-icon-biography-20120805-story.html|title=Marilyn Monroe, the Eternal Shape Shifter|last=Banner|first=Lois|date=August 5, 2012|newspaper=Los Angeles Times|access-date=August 30, 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190517063539/https://www.latimes.com/opinion/la-xpm-2012-aug-05-la-oe-0805-banner-marilyn-monroe-icon-biography-20120805-story.html|archive-date=May 17, 2019|url-status=live|ref=none}}</ref>
| |||