FAMILY BIOS
Here you will find brief bio's on Marilyn's mother, possible biological father, birth certificate father, half-brother, half-sister and niece.
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GLADYS PEARL MONROE | MAY 27, 1900 - MARCH 1984
MOTHER
Gladys Monroe was born on May 27, 1900 and is the mother of Norma Jeane / Marilyn Monroe. Gladys was seperated from her second husband, Martin E. Mortensen, when she became pregnant with Norma Jeane. At this time she was dating Charles Stanley Gifford, who is believed to be Norma Jeane's biological father.
Gladys had two children in her first marriage to Jasper "Jap" Baker, prior to the birth of Norma Jeane. Her two children (Berniece and Robert aka Jackie) were taken from her by their father after their divorce and lived in Kentucky. In 1933 Robert passed away from kidney failure at the age of 15. Gladys became depressed and was unable to take care of young Norma Jeane.
Gladys's state became worse throughout 1934 and she had a complete breakdown in early 1935. On January 15, 1935, Gladys was declared insane and committed to the state institution at Norwalk. After Marilyn's death in 1962, guardianship of Gladys was transferred to her daughter, Berniece. In Gainesville, Florida, Berniece cared for her mother until Gladys’ death in 1984. Gladys married a man named John Eley as her last name was listed as Gladys Eley on her death certificate.
CHARLES STANLEY GIFFORD | 1898 - 1965
POSSIBLE BIOLOGICAL FATHER
Charles Stanley Gifford began working with Gladys at Consolidated Films, after his wife, Lillian Priester, divorced him. In her divorce petition, Lillian charged Gifford with addiction to narcotics, abuse and associating with women of 'low character'. Gifford, a hypershooter and developer at Consolidated, had began an affair with Gladys earlier that spring. It is believed that Gifford deserted her when she informed him of her pregnancy. Throughout her life Marilyn always believed that Gifford was her father.
He settled in Gilman Hot Springs, Riverside County, California and became the owner of cottage apartments. He moved to nearby San Jacinto where he was successful in founding and operating the Red Rock Dairy in the 1960s with a drive through window in the front where customers could obtain dairy products without getting out of their cars. According to employees, it seemed Marilyn would do just that on occasion while en route to Palm Springs, California, while riding in her chauffeur driven limo thus forcing the unbelieving father to fill her order. Marilyn tried many times to contact Gifford but he would never give her his time or aknowledge her as his daughter. However, after reading the book My Sister Marilyn by Berniece and Mona Rae Miracle, it states that Marilyn told Berniece that her father visited her while she was in the hospital and begged Bernience to never tell who her father was, perhaps to keep reporters from bothering him. Gifford passed away in 1965 and is buried in the San Jacinto Valley Cemetary.
MARTIN EDWARD MORTENSEN | FEBRUARY 26, 1897 - FEBRUARY 10, 1981
BIRTH CERTIFICATE FATHER
Martin Edward Mortensen was the second husband of Gladys. He was also divorced but had no children when he and Gladys met. Mortensen was looking for an ideal wife and thought he found that perfect woman in Gladys. They married on October 11, 1924 and Gladys left him about four to six months later. Apparently Gladys missed her single life and moved in with her best friend, Grace McKee. It's said that Mortensen had a difficult time recovering from the seperation.
A year after she left Mortensen, Gladys gave birth to her last child, Norma Jeane. She named Mortensen as the child's father although she was dating Charles Stanley Gifford at the time of her pregnancy and was seperated from Mortensen. It is believed that she named Mortensen as the father due to Gifford wanting no part in Gladys and their new child's life and so Norma Jeane wouldn't be seen as an illegitimate child. Gladys later baptised Norma Jeane with the last name of her first husband, Baker, so that all three of her children would have the same last name.
Mortensen had always claimed to be Norma Jeane / Marilyn Monroe's father and after he died of a heart attack on February 10, 1981, a copy of Norma Jeane's birth certificate was found among his belongings.
ROBERT KERMIT "JACKIE" BAKER | 1917/18 - 1933
HALF-BROTHER
Robert Kermit "Jackie" Baker is the first child of Gladys and her first husband, Jasper "Jap" Baker. Jackie was born in 1917 or 1918, although a birth certificate of Jackie cannot be found. Some say Gladys and Jasper kept it hidden to hide the fact that Jackie was conceived before their marriage. Jackie fell out of his parents moving car while they were having an arguement and a cast was put on his leg that didn't allow his leg to properly grow, leaving one leg shorter than the other. Jackie was later diagnosed with tuberculosis of the bone and would be in and out of the hospital for the remainder of his life.
On one Forth of July event, Jackie put a firecracker in a glass bottle and when it exploded he lost his right eye. Against the advice of the doctors, Jasper took his son home. Jackie's kidneys began to fail him because they could not carry off the infection from his eye. It is at home that Jap Baker catherized his son and Jackie would die a short time later from kidney failure. It is believed this happened in 1933, Jackie was about 14 or 15 years old.
BERNIECE INEZ GLADYS BAKER MIRACLE | JULY 30, 1919
HALF-SISTER
Berniece Baker is the second child of Gladys and her first husband, Jasper "Jap" Baker. On October 07, 1938, Berniece married Paris Miracle and had their only child, Mona Rae Miracle, in 1939. It was also in 1939 when Norma Jeane was notified about her half-sister by Grace McKee Goddard (whom she was staying with at the time).
Norma Jeane wrote to Berniece and although Berniece was surprised to know that she had a half-sister, she was also surprised to know that their Mother was alive, as she thought her Mother may have died. Berniece and Norma Jeane kept in constant contact through letters and phone calls until the met each other face-to-face for the first time around 1944, when Norma Jeane visited Berniece and her family in Detroit. Berniece would also visit Norma Jeane and Gladys in California. The two sisters would be in constant contact via telephone and private visits until Marilyn's death in 1962, where Bernience and Joe DiMaggio looked after Marilyn's funeral arrangements.
Berniece is still alive today and co-wrote a book with her daughter, Mona Rae Miracle, in 1994 called My Sister Marilyn.
MONA RAE MIRACLE | JULY 18, 1939
NIECE
Mona Rae Miracle is the daughter of Berniece and Paris Miracle and is also Marilyn's neice. Mona Rae does not state if she has ever been married or had any children on her web site, although it is stated in her book (My Sister Marilyn) that she was engaged.
Marilyn has other distant relatives living today, including her cousins children.
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