Eventually, a gossip columnist discovered Baker was actually alive, and Monroe was not an orphan. In 2022, DNA testing revealed her father to be Gladys Baker’s former coworker Charles Stanley Gifford. Her mother’s struggles led Marilyn Monroe, at her PR team’s advisement, to tell the public that she was an orphan, despite he mother still being alive and her father’s identity being unknown.
Eventually, Baker reunited with Marilyn as her popularity was blossoming, then married, John Stewart Eley, a man who had a secret family in Idaho. Following a violent nervous breakdown, Baker was institutionalized for several years. Throughout Marilyn’s youth, her mother’s mental health issues worsened leading to Marilyn being placed in foster care. Gladys Pearl’s first husband, John Newton Baker, took her first two children from her, leaving her as a struggling film editor, grappling with mental health issues. In real life, Norma Jeane Mortenson (Monroe’s real name) was the third child of Gladys Pearl Baker, and her father’s identity was highly disputed until relatively recently. The diagnosis paved the way for her institutionalization at the state mental hospital in Norwalk, California.RELATED: How Old Marilyn Monroe Was When She Died Monroe had to witness her mother’s aggressive behavior, which led to the diagnosis that she was suffering from paranoid schizophrenia. Gladys also allegedly brandished a knife under the belief that someone was trying to kill her. These incidents affected Gladys and her mental illness became worse. Gladys’ hardships only increased when her grandfather hanged himself and her workplace went on a strike. When Gladys came to know about her son 13-year-old son Jackie’s death, she reportedly lashed out at Monroe for being the one to live. Around four years later, Gladys and Monroe reunited.Īfter the reunion, Monroe’s hardships didn’t end. Still, Ida managed to thwart Gladys’ attempt to save Monroe. After locking Monroe’s foster mom Ida Bolender out the back door, Gladys stuffed her daughter in a duffel bag. Randy Taraborrelli’s ‘The Secret Life of Marilyn Monroe,’ Gladys showed up one day at the Bolenders’ house and demanded to take the then-three-year-old daughter to her home. Gladys (center) and Monroe (right)/Image Credit: vintage_actors/TwitterĪs Miller indicated in the BBC interview, Monroe’s childhood was seemingly filled with horrific happenings. Della, as per the book, was suffering from manic-depressive psychosis at the time. For no perceptible reason, she walked over to the Bolenders’ home in a state of complete undress, smashed her way in through the glass in the front door, and made an unprovoked attack on the young child,” Badman wrote in his book. “ in July 1927, her grandmother Della attempted to smother her with a pillow. Throughout most of her life, Marilyn often remarked how she could still vividly recall these horrific encounters,” the renowned playwright added.Īccording to ‘Marilyn Monroe: The Final Years,’ it wasn’t just Gladys who threatened Monroe’s life but also Gladys’ mother Della. “Her mother tried to kill her three times,” Miller told BBC in April 1968, as per Badman’s book. Keith Badman’s ‘Marilyn Monroe: The Final Years’ indicates that Monroe’s life was indeed threatened by her mother when she was a child, citing none other than Arthur Miller, the actress’ third husband. Having said that, it may not necessarily mean that Gladys didn’t try to kill Monroe. The particular detail can be fictional, added to the narrative of the film to depict the gravity of Gladys’ mental condition and how it threatened Monroe. However, there aren’t any records of Gladys trying to kill Monroe by drowning her.
Monroe manages to escape and seeks security among her neighbors. In a heart-rending scene, Gladys fills a bathtub with hot water and attempts to kill Monroe by drowning her in the same.
She often scares and forces her daughter to do whatever she wants the latter to do. In the film, Gladys is an alcoholic who doesn’t take care of her daughter Norma Jeane/Marilyn Monroe well. Well, here’s what we know about the same!ĭid Gladys Pearl Baker Really Try to Kill Her? Naturally, the admirers of the legendary actress may want to know whether such an incident really happened. Although Monroe escapes from her mother, the incident makes her realize the gravity of her mother’s mental illness. In a pivotal scene, Gladys even tries to kill Monroe by drowning her in a bathtub.
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