Marilyn Monroe was married three times before her tragic death in 1962. The iconic Hollywood actress’ most famous marriage was to baseball player Joe DiMaggio, who she was married to from 1954 to 1955. Ms Monroe’s most mysterious marriage happened when she was only 16-years-old, when her foster parents “married her off”.
In 1996 documentary “Marilyn Monroe: The Mortal Goddess”, biographer Donald Spoto said: “Marilyn was married off because her foster parents and her relatives didn’t want the burden of caring for a teenager and being responsible for her.”
Mr Spoto added: “The minute she turned marriageable legal age according to the state of California, they married her off to a perfectly affable decent young man.”
Marilyn – then known by her birth name Norma Jean – married James Dougherty in 1942, and is believed to have enjoyed married life.
The pair first met in 1941, with James Dougherty explaining his first impression of Norma was that she was “beautiful, shy and spoke in a soft voice”.
Mr Dougherty said: “Grace [Marilyn’s foster parent] asked my mother if I would marry her, and if I wanted to marry her.
“I thought she’s pretty young but she’s going to be in an orphanage or another foster home, so I agreed to it.”
He added that Marilyn turned 16 on June 1st and they married on the 19th, James had only turned 21 that April.
Speaking of his life with Norma, James said the Hollywood icon was a “wonderful wife” and she “enjoyed being married”.
Marilyn was even eager to have a baby before James went to war, so that if he was to die she would “have a piece of him”.
However, the pair decided against it as James felt Marilyn was too young to be having children.
While being married “gave Norma a chance to develop a family of her own”, the marriage went downhill as the star’s career took off.
While James was at war, Marilyn was approached by an army photographer looking for “pretty girls to boost troop moral”, and later signed a contract with a modelling agency.
As her career took off, James said that he told his wife: “When I’m back you’re going to have to make a choice. You’re either going to be Mrs Dougherty or an actress.”
The couple divorced when James returned from war in 1946 after four years of marriage.