Marilyn Monroe was one of Hollywoodâs most enduring screen icons, but behind the glamour and fame was a far more private, personal life that many fans rarely got to see.
The screen superstar was married three times, and during two of those marriages, she also took on the role of stepmother. It was a lesser-known chapter of Monroeâs life that revealed a quieter, more domestic side far removed from her Hollywood image.
Marilyn Monroe Was a Stepmother to Joe DiMaggio and Arthur Miller’s Children
Marilyn Monroe was married three times. Her first husband was James Dougherty in 1942, followed by Joe DiMaggio in 1954, and Arthur Miller in 1956. Two of those men, DiMaggio and Miller, were previously married, and they had children from those unions.
Joseph DiMaggio Jr. was the result of the union of the famed baseball player and actress Dorothy Arnold. Miller had two children with his ex-wife, Mary Slattery, Jane and Robert.
PEOPLE Magazine excerpted elements of Monroe’s last interview with LIFE Magazine, shared in the new book “Marilyn: The Lost Photographs, The Last Interview.” The actress shared her thoughts on motherhood and her relationship with her stepchildren.
Monroe said, “When I was married, I always had to kind of take into consideration the other person, my husband. Not only my husband, but most particularly my stepchildren. I always wanted them to feel that they knew me as myself, whatever they might read or hear.”
“One time, my stepson, Bobby [Miller], had some magazine kind of hidden. It was one of these awful articles all about me.”
She concluded, “I just said, ‘Bobby, anything you want to know about me, come and ask me. But donât get it secondhand from these kinds of things.’Â Joey [DiMaggio], when he was in a military institution, weâd pick him up on the weekends. My stepchildren are my best friends.”
Did Marilyn Monroe Ever Have Children?
Marilyn Monroe never had any biological children.
The Marilyn Monroe Collection reported that the actress was pregnant three times, all during her marriage to Arthur Miller. Her first pregnancy occurred in the Summer of 1956 during the filming of “The Prince and the Showgirl.”
One year later, she became pregnant again, in the Summer of 1957. A third and final pregnancy occurred when the screen legend was filming “Some Like it Hot” in 1958. She miscarried in December of that year.
Monroe had endometriosis. This disease was said to have been the cause of her miscarriages, according to PEOPLE Magazine, which excerpted information about her medical condition from Anthony Summers’ 2013 book, “Goddess: The Secret Lives of Marilyn Monroe.”
“The condition was so severe that it destroyed her marriage, her wish for children, her career, and ultimately her life,” Summers wrote.
Monroe passed away at the age of 36 on August 5, 1962, two days after her LIFE Magazine interview was published. âMarilyn: The Lost Photographs, The Last Interviewâ by Richard Meryman with photographs by Allan Grant will be released May 12.
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