Gladys Monroe: Battling With Yourself

Norma Jean Mortenson (Baker), better known by her infamous stage name Marilyn Monroe, is a widely recognized sex icon who succumbed to an awful death. Most of what you hear about her are conspiracies surrounding the circumstances of her odd and tragic death. However not many have really dove into the real life of Monroe or better yet - her mother.

Gladys was born in Mexico May 27 1902 with the maiden name Monroe to an American couple, Otis and Della. The last name ‘Monroe’ actually stems from Otis’ side of the family. Otis was a painter, which meant he moved where his work was needed. Both Della and Otis suffered from what is known today as bipolar disorder. Manic Depression and Schizophrenia were common mental illnesses in the Monroe family.

Fortunately for Gladys, Otis was stable enough to care and provide for his family. This lead to the Monroe’s leaving Mexico and moving on to Los Angeles, California in the spring of 1903. Otis continued his work as a painter in the Los Angeles area up until his death in 1909, caused by syphilis in the brain. Just 3 years before Otis’ death, Della gave birth to a boy named Marion Monroe.

After Otis’ death Della attempted to remarry but it did not end well and eventually she and her children moved into a hotel flat. The hotel was owned by a 26 year old man named Jasper Baker. Baker was drastically attracted to 14 year old Gladys and would soon become her first husband. In May 1917 Della married off her 15 year old daughter to Baker, claiming Gladys was 18 years of age at the time. Gladys getting married meant Della could now move in with her boyfriend, Charles Grainger, who Gladys extremely disapproved of.

In her first marriage to Jasper Baker, Gladys gave birth to two children, a boy named Robert Kermit and a girl named Berneice. At first the marriage was a very happy one. As time went on, Gladys grew tired of motherhood and began frequently handing off her children to neighbours while Baker worked long hours as a salesman, Baker also became abusive. In attempts to rekindle some love, the family took a trip to Kentucky to see Jasper’s parents in 1921. The trip went south after Gladys went hiking with Jasper’s younger brother. Jasper’s jealousy sought the best of him and he beat Gladys with a strap. Despite the fall out, the couple decided to return to California together. Upon returning to California, Gladys proposed a divorce in spite of “extreme cruelty”. Gladys left the family home in 1922, however the divorced did not get finalized until the following year.

Baker decided to move with the children to Kentucky and refused to let Gladys see her children. After hearing about her son’s hospitalization, Gladys moved to Louisville. But Jasper went as far as to telling the doctors to not allow Gladys near Robert, who was in the hospital due to a hip injury. Eventually Gladys gave up on trying to see her children and moved back to California. This was the final contact Gladys had with her son as he passed away at the age of 16.

Upon returning to East Hollywood, Gladys became a well known Flapper with her new-found best friend Grace McKee. She dated Stanley Gifford, A colleague from Consolidated Film Industries, lived with her best friend and even dyed her hair red. Eventually she found herself caught up in love again as she went on to marry another man by the name of Martin Edward Mortenson. However, after just 4 dull months of marriage Gladys walked out on him to return to her flapper lifestyle. She moved back in with Grace and it was rumored that she even started seeing Stanley Gifford again.

Mortenson tried to reach out to Gladys on several occasions but after years of failing to hear back, he finally requested a divorce saying she “deserted him”. Although this man was who Gladys claimed fathered Marilyn Monroe, Marilyn refused to accept the fact that he was her biological father at all.

It is believed Gladys’ mental illness was a great contribution towards her failed marriages. In Gladys’ eyes, her Christian Science faith made her believe her illness was punishment for some evil she must have committed.

Near the end of 1925 Gladys learned she was pregnant yet again. Scared, she reached out to her mother for help but Della disapproved of Gladys’ situation so she ignored her cries and went on a business trip to South East Asia with Charles for several months.

Although Gladys and Mortenson were not together at the time of Norma’s (Marilyn) birth, Gladys was not officially divorced from Martin Mortenson therefore Gladys listed him as the father on Norma’s birth certificate. Since the true identity of Marilyn’s father was never really discovered, the media have circulated many of their own conspiracies on the father theory. One of which includes the possibility that she was actually fathered by Stanley Gifford.

Della convinced Gladys that due to her mental illness, Norma (Marilyn) should be placed with a foster family. Gladys agreed to allow a wealthy English family to foster Norma. This was not as great of an opportunity as it may have seemed as religion was constantly forced on the child and she was not shown a great deal of love. In 1926 Norma’s foster family had her baptized.

The following year Della fell ill and Gladys had to care for her. One night, Della had a breakdown and busted the window of Norma’s foster family because they would not let her see the child. This caused Della to be institutionalized at Norwalk State Hospital until her death about a month later. Della’s death put Gladys into a deep depression causing her to sell her mother’s house and return to Hollywood where she would maintain 2 jobs.

When Norma contracted whooping cough at 7 years old, Gladys decided to stay with the foster family to care for her. After seeing how unhappy Norma was, Gladys felt that Norma should be back in her care again and took the child to her Hollywood home. The same year, Gladys bought a large house for the two of them but had to rent out some rooms after losing her job. Things became overwhelming for Gladys. She wasn’t sure how to take care of a child, she could no longer afford the beautiful house she owned and she was scared that her mental health was at risk like so many other Monroe’s. By 1934 she was hospitalized at Los Angeles General Hospital before being transferred to Norwalk State Hospital in January 1935 where she was declared mentally insane. Norma stayed between the tenants of the house and Grace McKee during this time.

Due to Gladys’ declared mental state, Grace McKee was granted her legal Guardian. Grace had to sell Gladys’ car, piano and house credit as it was no longer in her budget. In 1938, Gladys was transferred to a specialized institution near San Francisco where she attempted to arrange a series of escapes. While institutionalized, Gladys wrote to her eldest daughter Berniece about her new half-sister and asked her for help to get out. Berniece wrote back agreeing to help and told her mother she would see what she could do.

At the age of 16, Norma married a man named Jim Doughtery to escape the constant rounds of foster care however when he was sent to the South Pacific with the Merchant Marines in 1944 Marilyn was sent to live a Los Angeles Orphan’s Home because her mother was still institutionalized. During the summer of 1945, Gladys was finally released to the care of her aunt Dora in Oregon so Norma finally came to visit her. Although she had suffered great trauma living in the orphanage, she refused to relay the information on to Gladys as she did not want to break the poor woman’s spirits. After Doughtery’s return in 1946, the two divorced and Norma changed her name to Marilyn Monroe.

As Marilyn Monroe begun her rise to fame, she wanted her mother to come live with her in Los Angeles. Once she had the extra money, Gladys moved to L.A and the two rented 2 small rooms from a woman named Ana Lower. Ana Lower was a healer practitioner who gravely fed Gladys’ obsession with Christian Science. Marilyn’s new career conflicted greatly with the relationship she had with her mother. Her mother disapproved of the Hollywood lifestyle she was chasing. Eventually the bickering got to be too much and Gladys decided to return to Oregon at the end of Summer ‘46. She would eventually return to Los Angeles the following February but not to live with her daughter.

Upon her return to Los Angeles she stayed with Ana Lower again, who would continue to feed Gladys’ obsession with Christian Science. Just over a year after her return, Gladys married John Stewart Eley, an electrician from Idaho. Due to a decline in her mental health in 1951, Gladys began moving from institution to institution again. Although Marilyn did not visit herself, she had her agent visit her mother often to make sure she was well.

On April 23 1952 John Eley passed away due to heart failure, bringing an end to Gladys’ final marriage. After her husband’s death, Gladys was desperate to get out of the institution and wrote to Marilyn wishing for “my child’s love instead of her hate.” Little to her mother’s knowledge, Marilyn was fighting her own battles after being diagnosed with borderline personality disorder.

After a short period of time out and a visit with Berneice, Gladys soon re-institutionalized herself, this time at Rockhaven Sanitorium, on the advice of Grace McKee. Rockhaven was the first private asylum for the mentally ill that only accepted women. “The State Lunacy Commission committed women liberally, often for flimsy or manufactured reasons” (The Atlantic, 2015) and Rockhaven was no exception. Many of Rockhaven’s patients were involuntarily admitted due to alcoholism and messy divorces among other things.

When Gladys heard news of her daughter’s death, she made several suicide attempts and even managed to escape in 1963. She was found in a church with a bible in one hand and a christian science book in the other. This led to her staying at Rockhaven until 1967 when she was released to live with her eldest daughter Berniece. When Berniece could no longer care for her mother, she moved her to Collins Court Home for Aged People in Gainesville, Florida. Gladys quietly passed away at the age of 84 on March 11 1984.

Gladys was a complicated woman who loved her children dearly. Unfortunately her own battles made it hard for her to show that.

Resources:

https://www.biography.com/news/marilyn-monroe-family-genealogy

https://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=4809027

http://irishmarilynmonroefanclub.com/gladys-pearl-monroe-pt1/

http://www.cursumperficio.net/FicheAB3.html