Perhaps the most iconic Hollywood actress, Marilyn Monroe is best known for her beauty, talents, and personality. But beneath the looks, glamour, and fame, Marilyn led a dark life that not many knew about.

Before overdosing on barbiturates, Marilyn had already been divorced three times and had been fired from several movies because of her tardiness and inability to work well with others.

Born Norma Jeane Mortenson in Los Angeles, California, Marilyn Monroe had a rough start from the beginning.

Her mother had gotten pregnant by a salesman who left her the minute he discovered she was with child, and after giving birth, Marilyn’s mother placed her in the foster care system.

Up until the age of 16, Marilyn was constantly bouncing around from foster home to foster home and never truly had a home to call her own.

Eventually, she met a man named James Dougherty, who didn’t live far from where she did, and ended up marrying him.

After Dougherty went on to join the military, Marilyn began her career as a model. Born a natural brunette, Marilyn decided she’d look better as a blonde and dyed her hair.

Once her modeling career started taking off, Marilyn met a man named Ben Lyon who was able to get her a short-term contract with 20th Century Fox.

Through this contract, she was given a few small roles, and in the meantime divorced her first husband.

Soon enough, Marilyn was pursuing acting as a career and was eventually signed to another company, Columbia Pictures.

Around this time, Marilyn also married again, this time to baseball icon Joe DiMaggio.

]The marriage didn’t last long because Marilyn wasn’t willing to put aside her career in order to be a full-time housewife. Eventually, the pair got a divorce, and Marilyn continued acting.

While living in New York, Marilyn ran into an old friend named Arthur Miller, who at the time was a very prominent writer who surrounded himself with intellectuals.

After being introduced to his friends, Marilyn finally began to feel like she truly belonged.

Eventually, Miller and Marilyn were married and rented out an apartment in New York, while continuing to work on their respective careers.

Marilyn has been noted saying that these were perhaps the happiest times of her life. Her career was at an all time high and she was finally married to someone who could measure up to her intelligence.

Sadly, Miller did not feel the same way. Marilyn discovered Miller’s diary, where he had written about his dissatisfaction with his wife, whom he said ‘frequently embarrassed him’ in front of friends.

Marilyn was devastated, but was determined to make the marriage work. However, she was slowly starting to slip into an alcohol and drug addiction.

Marilyn continued acting, but her career began going downhill. She had been fired from several roles and was struggling to make her marriage work.

This only pushed her even more to drugs and alcohol and soon enough, Marilyn discovered her husband was in Love with another woman. She began her own affair, and eventually, the couple were separated.

After their marriage was over, Marilyn moved back to California, where she wanted to focus on her career. However, she continued getting fired from roles because of her inability to be professional on set.

During this time, she became close to the Kennedy’s, and famously sang JFK Happy Birthday.

A few months after that iconic event, Marilyn overdosed on barbiturates. It was her housekeeper who found her. It has been suspected that Marilyn was murdered or committed suicide, but her death was ruled an accident.