Marilyn Monroe was found dead at her Brentwood home yesterday, at the age of 36. It appears she died from an overdose of sleeping pills.
Police discovered an empty bottle that had previously contained around 50 nembutal capsules near her bed. A telephone receiver was found in her hand.
The police are treating the death as potentially accidental, and Coroner Theodore J. Curphey has indicated that it was likely due to a drug overdose.
Marilyn Monroe, who initially gained fame through publicity stunts before her acting talent was truly recognised, died alone behind her locked bedroom door just a month after making headlines for her failure to fulfill a commitment with 20th-Fox’s “Something’s Got to Give.” No notes were found at the scene.
Born to a mother, Gladys Baker, who suffered a nervous breakdown shortly after her birth, Monroe was raised in a series of foster homes.
In her teens, she worked in an aircraft plant and began modelling, which eventually led to her brief role in “Scudda Hoo, Scudda Hay” in 1947.
Although this role was cut from the film, she continued to study acting and gained some recognition with a small part in MGM’s “The Asphalt Jungle” in 1960.
Around the time of her rise in prominence, Marilyn Monroe garnered significant notoriety when a calendar company used a nude photograph she had posed for, paying her only $50 while the company made substantial profits.
Her breakthrough came with her role in 20th Century Fox’s “How to Marry a Millionaire” in 1953, and she was firmly established after “The Seven Year Itch* in 1954.
Throughout her career, Monroe appeared in 21 films. Only a few of these were starring roles, and among those, only “How to Marry a Millionaire”, “Some Like It Hot”, “The Seven Year Itch”, and “Bus Stop” were major box office successes.
