In this article we will tell you who Jim Dougherty is. A brief biography, his memoirs, statements will be considered in this material. Was he a companion of one of Hollywood's brightest stars, or… just a friend? So let's get started.
Jim Dougherty: biography
Jim Dougherty was born on April 12, 1921 in Los Angeles. The young man had a perky disposition: he liked to have fun with friends. Girls and communication with them, open handsome cars of those distant beautiful years were his joy. It was such a merry fellow and joker that Doherty Jim met on the way of the young and charming Marilyn Monroe. The childhood of the future husband of the fatal beauty was cloudless: the captain of the school football team, participation in the school theater. As a boy, he began to help his family, worked as a shoe shiner, a clerk in a funeral home. In 1941, a young man got a job at an aircraft factory.
Starting a relationship
Norma Jean Mortenson was born June 1, 1926, ironically, in a hospital locateda stone's throw from Hollywood. Norma's mother, suffering from alcoholism, was placed in a mental hospital. The girl soon ends up in an orphanage. Little, defenseless Norma lived for several years in an orphanage and changed several foster families. At the age of fifteen, she found herself in the foster family of a friend of her mother, in the neighborhood of which the family of her future first husband lived. "The Girl Next Door" becomes, at sixteen, the wife of twenty-two-year-old Jim Dougherty. Marriage at such an early age was simply necessary for Norma, as she faced a difficult dilemma: either she returns to the orphanage or gets married. The girl gratefully accepted the young man's offer.
Wedding. Joint years
The wedding of young people took place on June 19, 1941. A couple of months later, the newly-made spouse is taken to serve in the Navy. Norma gets a job at the same factory and paints aircraft fuselages. A military photographer noticed a beautiful girl, and soon her photos were full of photos in several magazines at once. Inspired by success, Norma began her modeling career. The husband was against such events, but Norma managed to insist on her own. Purposeful girl wanted more. In his memoirs, Jim wrote: "Our marriage was fine as long as she depended on me." As Norma's career progressed, the marriage gradually deteriorated. Later, Marilyn will say: “I did not love my husband, but it cannot be said that I was unhappy with him. We could not talk to him for days onlybecause we had nothing to say to each other…”.
Reflections of her glory
The divorce was issued on September 13, 1946. After that, their paths never crossed again. Marilyn Monroe, a few years later, mentioned her first husband in an interview only once. “Yes,” she says, “it was a mistake, we got divorced, my ex-husband remarried. In this marriage, I was dying of boredom and felt trapped.” And never again will Marilyn Monroe remember Jim Dougherty. On August 8, 1962, when the world said goodbye to Marilyn Monroe, the first husband, citing employment in the police department, did not appear at the funeral. In the memory of Marilyn herself, he forever remained a neighbor boy who once helped her escape from hopelessness, gave her the first warmth of a family hearth, but life (or rock itself) decreed otherwise. Quiet family everyday life with a simple guy did not keep her. Having gone through her difficult childhood, Marilyn wanted to achieve more.
Memories. Article. Movie
Jim Dougherty on Marilyn Monroe recalled repeatedly. In 1966, a few years after her death, he starred in the film The Legend of Marilyn Monroe, and later, in 2004, played himself in the film Marilyn's Man.
In 1953, Photoplay magazine published an article written by Jim Dougherty - "Marilyn Monroe was my wife." The ex-husband claimed that the relationship between them was real, the marriage was built on love, but the thirst for fame turned out to be more important for Marilyn Monroe than their relationship, it is for this reason that divorcebecame inevitable. Also, the ex-husband called Marilyn a hysteric, blackmailing him with suicide if he decides to leave her.
Did he understand her, did he feel her pain, did he know what she had to endure? After all, she was truly lonely. She was not only beautiful, she was not very stupid. The difficulties of childhood, the unreceived maternal love made her strong. Only a few years later, the Hollywood star will respond to this attack by the former spouse. In an interview, she admits her words. The young woman felt all the hopelessness of the current situation, boredom took first place in their relationship, the desire to break this marriage led Marilyn. But on June 19, 1942, a young family appeared, such happy and young Jim Dougherty and Monroe look at us from the picture. The photo, taken as a keepsake for the newly-married couple, has survived to this day. She smiled, she was happy at that moment. A beautiful, sweet, charming girl who has been through too much.
Conclusion. Outcome
Summarizing what has been said, I would like to note that despite the difficulties that arose between the heroes of our article, they simply became a victim of circumstances. She was his wife. She was in a hopeless situation. Memoirs, articles, a film, everything about her. Yes, of course, he was lucky, he was lucky to be her husband. The light emanating from this woman warmed him too. Unfortunately for our main character, he was only an insignificant event for her, which she soon forgot, which lost meaning for her.
