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Netflix's highly-anticipated biopic, Blonde, explored several lesser-known aspects of the late actress Marilyn Monroe's life.
Written and directed by Andrew Dominik, the film depicted a fictionalized take on the life and career of late actress Marilyn Monroe. Several events were portrayed by Blonde, some of them being true while others were fictitious.
Blonde: What's Fact and What's Fiction?
Blonde stitched together a tapestry of events from Marilyn's life, from her abusive childhood to her toxic relationships. The film is based on the 2000 novel of the same name by Joyce Carol Oates.
The film stars Ana de Armas, Patrick Brennan, Xavier Samuel, Evan Williams, Julianne Nicholson, Tygh Runyan, Michael Drayer, Sara Paxton, Ryan Vincent, Adrien Brody, Caspar Phillipson, and more.
1) Was Marilyn Monroe involved with Cass and Edward?
In Netflix's Blonde, while taking classes at the Actors Circle, Marilyn got involved with her classmates, Charlie "Cass" Chaplin Jr., and Edward G. Robinson Jr. The three later shared a three-way relationship where she explored her free-spirited identity. Even after it ended, they remained friends for a long time.
However, this was an invention in the novel and, subsequently, Blonde. In reality, neither Chaplin Jr. nor Robinson Jr. was known to be gay. There is no evidence that Robinson Jr. was ever friends with Marilyn Monroe, although there were rumors of a brief affair between Monroe and Chaplin Jr. The actor himself confirmed these rumors in his 1960 memoir, where he wrote:
"One of the young girls I had a relationship with at this time… was the same age as I, 21, an attractive, petite, unknown movie actress named Norma Jean Dougherty who was under contract at Twentieth Century-Fox. From a professional point of view it was absolutely necessary for her to be seen together with all kinds of movie stars to get the papers interested in giving her a mention. The result was an estrangement between us, and I have not seen her for several years."
Also, in the film, Robinson Jr. called Marilyn shortly before her death with the news of Chaplin Jr.'s death when, in reality, he outlived Monroe by nearly six years.
2) Did Marilyn Monroe's mother, Gladys, attempt to kill her daughter?
In Blonde, Norma Jeane's mother broke down after she tried to kill her daughter. She was then admitted to a mental health facility, and Norma Jeane was taken in by a kind neighbor but was eventually transferred to an orphanage.
Although, in reality, Marilyn Monroe's mother, Gladys Baker, did have a history of mental illness, she never tried killing or hurting her daughter. Instead, Marilyn claimed to have had a good childhood. Her mother had a mental breakdown in January 1934 and was diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia, after which she was in and out of institutions for the rest of her life until her death.
After Gladys' breakdown, little Marilyn or Norma Jean was taken in by her mother's close friend, Grace Goddard, who became her legal guardian.
3) Was Joe DiMaggio an abusive husband?
While Marilyn was on her path to becoming a star, she was wooed by Joe DiMaggio, a retired Yankee, and national baseball player, in Blonde. Through his marriage proposal, he promised to protect her and make her feel at home. However, he started to feel threatened by her success and the attention she elicited from other men. This led to several bouts of violence.
This part of Blonde was largely true. Joe DiMaggio did try to control Marilyn's career, discouraging her from taking on several roles, and wanted her to be a full-time housewife. He did not want her to outshine him in public spaces. He was also known to be physically abusive, for which he received treatment,
His son, Joe DiMaggio Jr., recalled waking up to:
"The sound of my father and Marilyn screaming. … After a few minutes, I heard Marilyn race down the stairs and out the front door, and my father running after her. He caught up to her and grabbed her by the hair and sort of half-dragged her back to the house. She was trying to fight him off but couldn’t."
However, the two remained close friends after their marriage ended, and when Marilyn died, he was the one to identify her body, organize a small funeral, and choose her headstone.
4) Was Marilyn Monroe's father absent from her life?
In the Netflix film, Blonde, Norma Jeane was consumed by the idea of reuniting with her father. Her mother often showed her a photograph of a handsome man and identified him as Norma's father. The central focus of Marilyn's life became the search for her missing father and the desire to win his love.
In reality, Gladys married Martin Mortensen when Monroe was born so the child would not be considered illegitimate. However, according to DNA evidence revealed in a 2022 documentary, Monroe's birth father was Charles Stanley Gifford, her mother's boss at RKO studios, where she worked as a film editor, but this remains unconfirmed.
As for Marilyn Monroe's obsession, she told interviewer William J. Weatherby:
"For years I thought having a father and being married meant happiness.”
5) Did Marilyn Monroe suffer a miscarriage and an abortion?
Netflix's Blonde depicted Marilyn having an abortion after her breakup with Cass and Edward. The film suggested that she went ahead with the abortion as she feared her mother's mental health could be a hereditary problem. A few years later, when Marilyn was married to playwright Arthur Miller, she tripped and fell, resulting in a miscarriage.
In reality, Marilyn Monroe did have a miscarriage while she was married to Miller in 1956, subsequently lost an ectopic pregnancy in 1957, followed by a second miscarriage in late 1958. As for her abortions, she was known to have had many.
6) Did Marilyn Monroe have an affair with JFK?
In Blonde, the President had a rendezvous with Marilyn in his bedroom, where he forced her to please him while he chatted with FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover. He did not greet Marilyn and did not show any respect or affection, and when the work was done, she was hastily asked to leave.
In reality, there was immense speculation about Monroe's involvement with President Kennedy. While there is no definitive proof of the same, it is suggested that Monroe and Kennedy had a physical relationship. As per Tony Oppedisano, who was Frank Sinatra's friend and a close associate of both Monroe and JFK,
"It was obviously a s*xual thing, and I would expect that there were feelings on her side. She respected him; she admired him. She loved what he was doing with the country … but she wasn’t about to break up [the president’s] marriage, so she wouldn’t let it go that far, even if she felt that deeply."
Several other biographers and people close to Marilyn and President Kennedy also claimed to be aware of their relationship. These claims were further escalated after she serenaded him a rendition of "Happy Birthday" while wearing the now-famous dress at a Madison Square Garden gala fundraiser in 1962.
Stream Blonde on Netflix.
