The Girl Who Would Be Marilyn Monroe
An Intimate Portrait of the Young Norma Jeane
The Girl Who Would Be Marilyn Monroe
An Intimate Portrait of the Young Norma Jeane
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Description
A thoughtful glimpse into the childhood of Norma Jeane Mortenson and how it shaped her into the iconic Marilyn Monroe for the 100th anniversary of her birth.
At the fragile intersection of myth and memory stands a girl-often eclipsed by the legend she became. The Girl Who Would Be Marilyn Monroe dares to strip away the satin, the spotlight, the studio-invented shine, to reveal the tender child beneath: a girl marked not by fame but by longing. Longing for love, for safety, for the kind of permanence the world never offered her. This is not simply another biography. It is a resurrection. A candlelit portrait drawn from decades of first-hand research and rare interviews with those who knew her-not only Marilyn the icon, but Norma Jeane the girl.
Tony Castro draws on intimate conversations with famed entertainment writer James Bacon and Marilyn's close friends, such as Frank Sinatra, actresses Susan Strasberg and Mamie Van Doren, actor and The Misfits co-star Eli Wallach, ex-husband Joe DiMaggio, and child star-turned-Hollywood raconteur Skip E. Lowe. They offer unparalleled access into Marilyn's earliest, most hidden self. These are stories shared not as interviews but as confidences-shaped by the trust of friendship. And herein lies the soul of this work: a new and intimate rendering of the Marilyn we rarely allow ourselves to see. Through these private recollections, we hear her voice-not the whispery affectation of the screen siren, but the real girl's voice, unvarnished, aching, often uncertain. What emerges is not the blonde bombshell, but the child whispering to a mirror, trying on hope like a costume. This is, at last, the story of Norma Jeane.
Table of Contents
Acknowledgments
Author's Note
Notes on Sources and Method
Prologue
Chapter 1: A Star Is Born
Chapter 2: The Baby Nobody Kept
Chapter 3: The Ghost Mother
Chapter 4: Back with Mom
Chapter 5: The Unofficial Orphan
Chapter 6: The Wrong Father in Every Frame
Chapter 7: Sundays with Mother
Chapter 8: The Pillow
Chapter 9: The Orphanage Clock
Chapter 10: Ana and the Nebraska House
Chapter 11: The Lost Girl
Chapter 12: Uncle Marion's Camera
Chapter 13: The First One Who Touched Her
Chapter 14: The Night the Clock Went Dark
Chapter 15: School Pictures and Second-Hand Shoes
Chapter 16: The Mirror Girl
Chapter 17: The Radio and the Dream
Chapter 18: The Proposition
Chapter 19: A Ring to Stop the Clock
Chapter 20: A Girl on the Pier
Chapter 21: The Golden Chosen
Chapter 22: Winning the War
Chapter 23: The Ghost in the Mirror
Chapter 24: Cedars of Lebanon
Chapter 25: Becoming Marilyn
Bibliography
About the Author
Product details
| Published | Sep 17 2026 |
|---|---|
| Format | Hardback |
| Edition | 1st |
| Pages | 248 |
| ISBN | 9798216448648 |
| Imprint | Bloomsbury Academic |
| Illustrations | 15 bw photos |
| Dimensions | 229 x 152 mm |
| Publisher | Bloomsbury Publishing |
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