Norma Jeane is born in Los Angeles. Gladys’s best friend Grace comes to visit her after the baby’s birth and talks about the child’s future. Infant Norma Jeane is placed in foster care with the Bolenders, a couple who have rigid religious beliefs. She begins her life experiencing childhood trauma and abuse. Della, Norma Jeane’s grandmother, has a psychotic episode at the Bolenders. Norma Jeane adopts her first pet, a stray dog that follows her to school.
I will not be punished or be whipped or be threatened or not be loved or sent to hell to burn with bad people.
Marilyn Monroe
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Narrator
Mental health expert
Grace McKee
Gladys Baker
Della Hogan Monroe
Albert Wayne Bolender
Ida Bolender
Norma Jeane (age 5)
Brad Hyland
Gary Vitacco-Robles
Nina Boski
Kristina Martin
Naommi Rohatyn
David Moskowitz
Tiffany Goodman
Juliana Alden
Norma Jeane: Discovering Truths
COMPANION PODCAST
Co-producers Nina, Randall, and Gary discuss the circumstances surrounding Marilyn Monroe’s birth, the sources they used to reconstruct the early attachment challenges between the actress and her mother, in addition to the symptoms of mental illness experienced by her mother and grandmother. Gary outlines Monroe’s multiple Adverse Childhood Experiences, their impact on the star’s life, and the star as a resilient public figure who achieved greatness despite her symptoms & circumstances.
