Just finished The Secret Life of Marilyn Monroe, by Randy Tomborelli. Great book!
Interestingly, it focuses a lot on Marilyn’s female blood relatives:
- Her mother, Gladys Baker
- Her half-sister, Berniece Miracle
- Her niece, Mona Rae Miracle
Now, Marilyn Monroe is arguably the most beautiful woman ever. If nothing else, she’s definitely the most photogenic. What comes as something of a surprise, though, is how attractive her relatives were as well.
Unfortunately, Marilyn was also a mess. She was addicted to drugs, had manic-depressive episodes, heard voices & was hospitalized for mental health issues. Turns out her mother was even worse. Luckily, Berniece and Mona Rae were spared.
Gladys
Gladys Pearl Monroe was born in Mexico, where her father was painting rail cars. He was an alcoholic and would be institutionalized with (and later die from) neurosyphilis. Her mother, who would later become schizophrenic, would marry 2 more times, both to alcoholics.
Gladys herself was married 3 times, the first at age 14. That marriage, to Jasper Baker, produced 2 children, Berniece (see below) & Robert (disabled after falling out of a car, he died at 15). Baker, another alcoholic, kidnapped the 2 children and moved to Kentucky.
Gladys married 2 more times, but without producing any more children. She did, however, have an illegitimate child, Marylin, with her boss, Charles Stanley Gifford. She was working at the time as a film cutter, in Hollywood.
With mental struggles of her own, Gladys was unable to care for Marilyn (born Norma Jean) and put her up for foster care & adoption. Indeed, Gladys, a paranoid schizophrenic, would spend almost the next 30 years in mental institutions.
Berniece
Berniece grew up in Kentucky. She married at age 19, to the interestingly named Paris Miracle. They would remain married until his death in 1990. Their union would produce one child, Mona Rae (see below).
Gladys told Berniece of Marilyn’s existence only when she became pregnant with Mona Rae. The two half-sisters met in 1944, visited each other over the years, and kept up a steady correspondence.
With her daughter, Berniece would author a book about the two half-sisters’ relationship, called My Sister Marilyn. Otherwise, Berniece largely avoided the spotlight, and worked in various occupations as she and her family moved around the southeast. She passed away in 2014, at the age of 94.
Mona Rae
Mona Rae was born in 1939, in Kentucky. She has a bachelor’s and master’s, and has worked in communications, training, library science & teaching. She is also a published writer and poet.
Mona married one William Joseph Booth. It doesn't appear that they had any children.
Francine
Marilyn’s father had 2 children other than Marilyn. One, Charles Gifford Jr., would go on to have a couple of daughters.
I could find information only on one, Francine. A mother of 4, she also owns an insurance agency. She’s the one who provided DNA that confirmed that her grandfather was Marilyn’s father. She disingenuously states, “I don’t have delusions that Marilyn and I look similar, but we both have big feet.”
