Just saying “Marilyn,” or even the word “Monroe,” has always been enough to invoke this star’s beauty, glamour and essence. Monroe was, after all, perhaps the greatest sex symbol of all time and she’ll always remain with us in one way or another.
On Saturday, August 4, 1962, sometime during the late evening hours, Marilyn Monroe expired, and the coroner’s report stated it was suicide. Monroe had been discovered dead by her physician who’d been called in the early Sunday morning hours by her housekeeper at the time.
What really happened the previous night, August 4, 1962? Only Marilyn Monroe herself knows the truth. Innumerable theories abound, many claiming to be based on rigid scientific principles, or so-called eyewitness accounts and most are likely just hearsay.
People were clearly aware that Marilyn was unstable. The star reportedly had a bizarre upbringing by a schizophrenic mother and was in and out of foster homes and orphanages as a child. Her intense beauty and sexuality often attracted the unwelcome attentions of predatory men, which does not lead to later adult stability.
Marilyn’s roller coaster ride of emotional highs and lows, extreme melancholy and previous attempts at self-harm laid the groundwork for what followed. It surprised no one, then, when the news came out about the suicide. NBC, CBS and ABC were all over the Monroe debacle. It was big.
The public initially accepted the suicide story but years later came those peddling tabloid fodder. They all cried murder, yet not one has offered definitive proof to date.
So, Marilyn Monroe, who died by whatever manner on August 4, 1962, became the larger-than-life legend that she has. Marilyn will likely be remembered as the most important sex symbol of our day.
