Marilyn Monroe had a difficult childhood. Born Norma Jean Mortensen on June 1, 1926 to a mentally unstable mother and absent father, she spent her childhood in a series of foster homes and an orphanage.

The identity of Norma's father is still unclear. Mother Gladys had married Martin Mortensen in 1924, although they separated in 1925, before her pregnancy with Norma, and divorced in 1928. After Norma's birth, Gladys changed her surname to Baker, the name of her first husband. Norma herself thought her father was a man called Charles Gifford.

As Gladys was mentally and financially incapable of caring for Norma, she placed her daughter with foster parents, where Norma stayed until she was seven. In 1933 her mother bought a house and took Marilyn to live with her, but shortly after she had the first of a series of mental crises. Marilyn became a ward of the state.