Marilyn had come into the world in a Los Angel’s hospital as Norma Jean Mortensen. Her mother, Gladys Monroe Mortensen, loved her child; but since she had to work, she left her in the hands of Ida and Albert Bolender, a respectable couple who boarded children on their farm. Norma Jean spent her first seven years with them. Her physical needs were well looked after, and Gladys visited faithfully every weekend. But when she had gone, there was not much warmth around the little girl. For Norma Jean, who was extremely sensitive, it was a lonely, distressing childhood. In 1933 Gladys bought a house and took her daughter home with her. But she was not there much and when she was out, Norma Jean had to stay with the elderly couple who rented part of the house. They were not bad people, only indifferent and more interested in drinking than in baby-sitting. When Norma Jean didn’t have to go to school, the couple dropped her at a nearly movie house in time for the first afternoon show. The little girl watched happily all day, and after the last matinee she walked home by herself. In her room, later, she would act out the whole story. In this way she developed a passion for acting that she never outgrew. After nine months of live together, Gladys had a mental collaps and was hospitalized. She appeared from time to time in her daughter’s life, but more as a burden than as a support. Many people took Norma Jean under their wings throughout the years. She looked so insecure, so defenseless, that men and women alike felt compelled to protect her.

However vague Norma Jean may have been about life in general, she never felt vague about the career she wanted to have. She wanted to be an actress. But the first three years of Marilyn’s career didn’t bring her more than a few very small parts. She kept herself alive by modeling. In 1950 Marilyn attracted attention in a small part in ‘The Asphalt Jungle’, which had been obtained for her by a powerful protector. Another protector, and the most influential by far, was the agent Johnny Hyde. Hyde was a powerful man in Hollywood when he met Marilyn. He was too wise to claim that she had talent; instead he insisted that such personality didn’t need to be talented. He succeeded in getting her a part in ‘All About Eve’, a film that was to prove lucky for all its actors. The font mail started piling up. The Hollywood columnists included the new blonde in their gossip columns. Soon ‘Life and Look’ magazines were honoring her with long articles, and one critic ventured to declare her ‘a forceful actress’. The studio, after having her co-star in several pictures, finally gave her a starring role in ‘Niagara’ in 1953. She had become the Fox’s biggest moneymaker.

Whenever she appeared she was cornered by excited admirers and photographers. But there was no private happiness behind the facade, and even her fame was not of the kind she would have liked. She resented her shallow roles; she resented the fact she had no voice in the choice of her scripts and that her old contract was keeping salary ridiculously low for a star. Hurt, she retaliated as best as she could. She arrived late on the set, unprepared and obviously indifferent to the hardships. She was imposing on the other actors and the technicians. Scenes had to be redone forty or fifty times because she could not remember a four-word sentence. If something displeased her, she locked herself in her dressing room, or failed to show up at all for days. Her behavior disgusted the people who worked with her, but her fans loved the radiant child-woman on the screen.

In 1961 after divorcing her next husband the famous American playwright Arthur Miller, Marilyn drifted back to the West Coast to open a new page in her life. On August 5, 1962 she was found dead in her house. She had made many attempts at suicide before. But it does not seem that she intended to hill herself that Saturday. When she retired for the night, she had plans for the next day. But early in the morning her housekeeper found her dead.

The world was shocked. In the words of one of her biographers: ‘She broke her heart trying to achieve something she didn’t have in her to accomplish.’

Walt Disney

Walt Disney was an American artist and film producer, who was famous for his animated cartoons. He was born on December 5, 1901 in Chicago, his father being Irish Canadian, his mother of German-American origin. In his early child hood he revealed a talent for drawing and an interest in photography. His teens he began an art course, but World War I broke out and he drove for the Red Cross in Europe. When he got back to America he met artist Ub Iwerks, ‘and they went into business together.

In 1923 he left with his brother for Hollywood Walt Disney and Ub Iwerks made a series of short cartoons but lost all their money, and for some years struggled against poverty. Luckily, Walt’s brother Roy gave him more to start up again. The first talking picture came out in 1927 and Disney realized that sound held the key to the future of films. He developed many techniques in producing cartoons.