Full Description

When Norma Jeane Baker became famous as Marilyn Monroe in the 1950s, she said her mother, Gladys Baker, was either dead or not a part of her life, depending on the publicity campaign of the moment. However, neither was true. In fact, Marilyn's mentally ill mother was very much present in her world, and the complex family dynamic that unfolded behind the scenes, as the star went from actress to icon, is a story that has never before been told ... until now." "In this groundbreaking work, J. Randy Taraborrelli draws detailed and sympathetic portraits of the women so influential in the life of the actress, including her mother, her foster mother, and her legal guardian. He tells the heartbreaking story of a world-famous daughter dealing secretly with a parent's severe paranoid schizophrenia and exposes the shocking scope of Marilyn's own mental deterioration and her desperate attempts to help both herself and her mother.