6 Things You Probably Didn’t Know About Marilyn Monroe We’d be hard-pressed to find anyone who didn’t know that Marilyn Monroe was born in Los Angeles, California as Norma Jeane Mortenson (later baptized Norma Jean Baker), or about the famous men she married—James Dougherty, Joe DiMaggio, and playwright Arthur Miller. Most people know that the American sweetheart solidified her sex-symbol status with her femme fatale role in Niagara . In Gentlemen Prefer Blondes , with co-star Jane Russell, she flaunted her triple-threat versatility with an unforgettable performance of “Diamonds Are a Girl’s Best Friend.” And, with features like How to Marry a Millionaire , The Seven Year Itch , The Prince and The Showgirl , and Some Like It Hot , she popularized the “dumb blonde” stereotype—for better or for worse. But there was much more to the bombshell than her well-known stage name, relationships, and the rad...