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How To Marry A Pauper - Marilyn Monroe |
She was a true American icon who's image only grew after her tragic and untimely death at the age of 36.
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Assembly line worker during WWII, the first cover model for
Playboy magazine, paramour to the rich and famous (including one
sitting President), star of such films as: Gentlemen Prefer
Blondes, The Seven Year Itch, and Some Like It Hot, Marilyn Monroe
became a legend, and the personification of the glamorous
Hollywood blonde bombshell. She was a true American icon who's
image only grew after her tragic and untimely death at the age of
36.
"I am not interested in money. I just want to be wonderful". So
said the woman, who came into this world as Norma Jeane Mortenson
on June 1, 1926. Born to a single mother, who was eventually
committed to a mental institution, Norma Jeane grew up in poverty,
spending most of her childhood in a series of foster homes and
orphanages until the age of 16, when she married a 21 year old
aircraft plant worker who would soon after join the Merchant
Marines. A few short years later, she divorced the husband she
hardly knew to pursue her dreams of stardom. Partly because she
never learned the identity of her real father, and partly due to
the fact that she never had a real family, young Norma Jeane was
desperately searching for an identity. After a short stint as a
model, she signed her first studio contract with Twentieth Century
Fox for $125 a week. She dyed her hair blonde, and the young Norma
Jeane finally found herself. She became Marilyn Monroe.
Most people, when they hear the name Marilyn Monroe, think of a
glamorous movie star. What they don't realize, was that underneath
the facade, there was a very lonely woman who seldom experienced
true happiness in her life. At the time of her death, Marilyn was
at the peak of her popularity, adored by millions around the
world. However, ironically, and tragically, she died all alone on
August 4, 1962. In her will, she left the bulk of her estate,
estimated at between $819,176 and $1.6 million(depending on the
source), to her acting coach, Lee Strasburg. For 18 years, her
estate was mired in probate, the longest in history. The taxes
alone reduced her estate to $370,426, and after attorney's fees,
depleted the amount to a paltry $101,000 for any heirs. To make
matters worse, when Lee Strasburg died, he bequeathed Marilyn's
estate to his second wife. What this means, is that the enormous
amount of revenue now generated in Marilyn's name(estimated by
Forbes in 2000 to be about $4 million annually), is going into the
bank account of a woman she never knew. Marilyn is now worth more
dead, than she was alive, and the people benefiting never even met
her. All of this could have been avoided with proper estate and
tax planning.
Today, Marilyn Monroe is looked at, by many up and coming young
actors, as a role model in the industry. Let's just hope they
don't emulate her final exit.
For more information on Marilyn and her controversial life, check
out these titles:
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