Blonde of the Century

In 1941, Henry Luce, the founder of Time magazine, wrote an editorial that introduced the phrase “The American Century.”

Under that banner would unfold many of the defining events and transformations of modern history: two world wars, the atomic bomb, the assassination of John F. Kennedy, Hollywood, electricity, the telephone, and all the symbols of what later came to be known as “soft power.”

And perhaps no figure embodied that soft power more completely than the most famous face in American cinema: the blonde icon of the silver screen, Marilyn Monroe.

Today, screens around the world are marking the centenary of the birth of the orphaned girl who endured a miserable childhood and a sorrowful youth before “taking her own life” at the height of her fame and artistic success. It was even suggested that one of the factors behind her tragic end was her relationship with President John F. Kennedy.

In August 1962, Monroe was found dead in her bed, with the telephone receiver left off the hook.

Was it an overdose? Was it suicide?

The answer has remained shrouded in mystery.

What is certain, however, is that her popularity transcended all boundaries. When Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev visited the United States at the invitation of President Dwight Eisenhower, one of his requests was to meet Marilyn Monroe.

Yet fame could not erase the pain of her troubled past.

Her husband, playwright Arthur Miller, once described her as “a frivolous, immoral, and foolish clown.”

Monroe repeatedly attempted to break free from the image of the seductive blonde and establish herself as a serious actress.

Her efforts proved largely unsuccessful.

The stereotype had become firmly fixed in the public imagination. She also tried to cultivate an image of intellectual sophistication through her extensive book collection, but that endeavor met with little success as well. Critics continued to question her ability to perform roles beyond those centered on glamour and seduction.

She immersed herself in the writings of Sigmund Freud and other psychologists, haunted by the fear that she might suffer a mental breakdown similar to the one experienced by her mother.

Yet those readings offered little protection when her own emotional collapse finally arrived.

In her private life, Monroe seemed to be living inside a dramatic film of her own.

She experienced the highest levels of success and sorrow simultaneously.

She represented the pinnacle of beauty and desirability, yet her marriages to respectable and accomplished men repeatedly ended in failure.

Caught within these profound contradictions, she turned increasingly to alcohol and drugs.

The consequences affected her professional life as well. Her dependence on substances often caused delays on film sets, costing production companies vast sums of money.

Like the heroines of stories and movies, she distributed happiness to audiences while sinking deeper into sadness herself.

One fact remains undeniable:

A century after her birth, Marilyn Monroe is still remembered as the most famous blonde of the American Century.