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For a start, her co-star, Frank Sinatra, was set to earn $5,000 a week against her $1,500. Even more insulting was the fact that Fox, the studio she had been tied to since 1951, had refused to let her see the script. But, to top it all, the order from Fox just confirmed her suspicion that the studio had no respect for her and thought she could only play dumb blondes. So she ignored the letter and continued her one-woman strike.

Today, a movie star who wants to be taken seriously as an actor might make a brief foray into independent filmmaking, take a turn on the West End stage or film a guest spot on a high-calibre TV show. Under the studio system that prevailed when Marilyn was at her peak, however, there were no such options. The studio signed actors to a contract, stuck them in a niche, and played them out until the public stopped caring. It could be soul-crushing, and it was Marilyn, so often dismissed as a blonde bimbo, who played a big part in taking it down.

By the mid-1950s, thanks to films such as “How to Marry a Millionaire” and “Gentlemen Prefer Blondes,” Monroe was the biggest star in the world. She was mobbed by fans when she stepped out in public, guarded by police in crowds and on the cover of magazines and newspapers almost daily. But privately she worried that she was being typecast and her career was at a dead end.

According to the standard contract she had signed with Fox, Monroe was being paid a fraction of the money of her peers and was obliged to work for Fox in whatever roles she was assigned. She was prohibited from all other radio, TV and theatre work, unless loaned out by the studio, and Fox could cancel her deal at any time. For a driven, determined star, the result was misery.