''The Secret Life of Marilyn Monroe'' is a 2015 American drama

miniseries A miniseries or mini-series is a television series that tells a story in a predetermined, limited number of episodes. "Limited series" is another more recent US term which is sometimes used interchangeably. , the popularity of miniseries format h ...

Marilyn Monroe Marilyn Monroe (; born Norma Jeane Mortenson; 1 June 1926 4 August 1962) was an American actress. Famous for playing comedic " blonde bombshell" characters, she became one of the most popular sex symbols of the 1950s and early 1960s, as wel ...

. It stars

Kelli Garner Kelli Brianne Garner (born April 11, 1984) is an American actress who has appeared in a variety of independent and mainstream films, television, and theater. A native of Southern California, Garner made her feature film debut at age seventeen ...

Susan Sarandon Susan Abigail Sarandon (; née Tomalin; born October 4, 1946) is an American actorMcCabe, Bruce"Susan Sarandon, the 'actor'" ''Boston Globe''. April 17, 1981. Retrieved January 21, 2021. and activist. She is the recipient of various accolades, ...

Emily Watson Emily Margaret Watson (born 14 January 1967) is an English actress. She began her career on stage and joined the Royal Shakespeare Company in 1992. In 2002, she starred in productions of ''Twelfth Night'' and ''Uncle Vanya'' at the Donmar War ...

Jeffrey Dean Morgan Jeffrey Dean Morgan (born April 22, 1966) is an American actor of television and film, best known for playing the character Negan in the AMC horror drama series '' The Walking Dead'' (2016–2022), for which he has received critical acclaim. He ...

, and

Eva Amurri Martino Eva Amurri (born March 15, 1985) is an American lifestyle blogger and actress. Early life Amurri was born on March 15, 1985 in New York City, to Italian director Franco Amurri and American actress Susan Sarandon (whose mother's ancestry was It ...

and was first aired on Lifetime on May 30 and 31, 2015. The (two-hour forty-seven minute) miniseries is based on ''The New York Times'' bestseller of the same name by J. Randy Taraborrelli. It was nominated for three

Creative Arts Emmy Awards The Creative Arts Emmys are a class of Emmy Awards presented in recognition of technical and other similar achievements in American television programming. They are commonly awarded to behind-the-scenes personnel such as production designers, set ...

Premise

A chronicle of Marilyn Monroe's family life, her relationship with her mother, Gladys Pearl Baker, and how she succeeded in hiding her most intimate secrets from the press and an invasive world.

Cast

Main characters

Gladys Pearl Baker Gladys Pearl Baker Mortensen Eley ( Monroe; May 27, 1902 – March 11, 1984) was the mother of American actress Marilyn Monroe. Early life Gladys Pearl Monroe was born on May 27, 1902 in Piedras Negras, Coahuila Mexico. Her mother, Della Mae Mo ...

, Marilyn's mother *

as Grace McKee, Marilyn's foster mother, later called "aunt" *

Jack Noseworthy Jack Evan Noseworthy Jr. (born December 21, 1964) is an American actor known for his roles in ''Event Horizon'', '' U-571'', ''Barb Wire'' and ''Killing Kennedy''. Early life Noseworthy earned a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree from the Boston Conse ...

as Alan DeShields, Marilyn's therapist *

Giacomo Gianniotti Giacomo Keaton Gianniotti (born 19 June 1989) is an Italian-Canadian film and television actor. He studied theater at Humber College and made his acting debut in the Italian television series ''Medicina Generale'' in 2010. He went on to play rec ...

as Jimmy Dougherty, Marilyn's first husband *

Joe DiMaggio Joseph Paul DiMaggio (November 25, 1914 – March 8, 1999), nicknamed "Joltin' Joe", "The Yankee Clipper" and "Joe D.", was an American baseball center fielder who played his entire 13-year career in Major League Baseball for the New York Yank ...

, Marilyn's second husband *Stephen Bogaert as

Arthur Miller Arthur Asher Miller (October 17, 1915 – February 10, 2005) was an American playwright, essayist and screenwriter in the 20th-century American theater. Among his most popular plays are '' All My Sons'' (1947), ''Death of a Salesman'' ( ...

, Marilyn's third husband *

Matthew Bennett Matthew Ray Bennett (born April 9, 1968) is a Canadian actor, writer and director. He is best known for portraying Detective Len Harper on ''Cold Squad'' and his recurring roles as Aaron Doral cylon model number five in the reimagined ''Battles ...

as Whitey, Marilyn's makeup artist *

Embeth Davidtz Embeth Jean Davidtz (born August 11, 1965) is an American-South African actress. Her screen roles include movies such as ''Army of Darkness'', ''Schindler's List, '' ''Matilda'', ''Mansfield Park'', ''Bicentennial Man'', ''Fallen,'' '' Junebug,' ...

as Natasha Lytess, Marilyn's acting coach *

Peter MacNeill Peter MacNeill is a Canadian film and television actor and voice-over artist who has starred in numerous television series and films. His film credits have included '' The Hanging Garden'' (for which MacNeill won a Genie Award for Best Support ...

as Mr. Schenck, Chairman of

Fox Studios 20th Century Studios, Inc. (previously known as 20th Century Fox) is an American film production company headquartered at the Fox Studio Lot in the Century City area of Los Angeles. As of 2019, it serves as a film production arm of Walt Dis ...

Tony Nardi Tony Nardi (born 1958) is an Italian-Canadian actor, playwright and theatre director based in Toronto, who has performed on stage and in film and television. Fluent in four languages; he has appeared in French, Italian and English-language pro ...

Johnny Hyde Johnny Hyde (23 April 1895 – 18 December 1950) was an American talent agent who developed the career of Marilyn Monroe. Early life Hyde was born to a Jewish family as Iván Haidabura in Russia and moved to the United States in April 1898 ...

, Marilyn's agent *Barry Flatman as Mr. Zanuck, Studio Head of

20th Century Fox 20th Century Studios, Inc. (previously known as 20th Century Fox) is an American film production company headquartered at the Fox Studio Lot in the Century City area of Los Angeles. As of 2019, it serves as a film production arm of Walt Dis ...

*Angela Vint as

Patricia Newcomb Margot Patricia "Pat" Newcomb Wigan (born July 9, 1930) is an American publicist and producer. After working for Pierre Salinger, she was hired by the agency of Arthur P. Jacobs and briefly represented Marilyn Monroe in 1956. In 1960, she became M ...

, Marilyn's publicist *

Tamara Hickey Tamara Hickey is a Canadian film and television actress."'Hon, just take off your shirt'". ''The Globe and Mail'', February 24, 2001. Early life and education Born in Halifax, Nova Scotia,"Television: Three to Watch". ''The Globe and Mail'', D ...

Patricia Kennedy Lawford Patricia Helen Kennedy Lawford (May 6, 1924 – September 17, 2006) was an American socialite, and the sixth of nine children of Rose and Joseph P. Kennedy Sr. She was a sister of President John F. Kennedy, Senator Robert F. Kennedy, and Senator ...

Supporting characters

as young Gladys Pearl Baker *Gloria Gruber as Ida Bolender, Marilyn's caretaker as a child, also called "aunt" *Vickie Papavs as Mrs. Murray, Marilyn's housekeeper *

Morgan Kelly Morgan Kelly (born 23 June, 1976) is a Canadian actor, best known for his roles on ''Being Erica'' and '' Killjoys''. Career Kelly is known for his role on '' Fries with That?'' as Alexander "Alex" Kurzi. He also appears on ''Falcon Beach'' as ...

as Tom Kelly, photographer *Michael Rash as

Billy Wilder Billy Wilder (; ; born Samuel Wilder; June 22, 1906 – March 27, 2002) was an Austrian-American filmmaker. His career in Hollywood spanned five decades, and he is regarded as one of the most brilliant and versatile filmmakers of Classic Holl ...

, Marilyn's director *Norm Owen as Richard Sherman *

Neil Crone Neil Crone (born May 29, 1960) is a Canadian actor, comedian, writer and motivational speaker. He is known for portraying Fred Tupper in ''Little Mosque on the Prairie'', Jerry Whitehall in '' Cube 2: Hypercube'' and the voices of Gordon, Diesel ...

as Don Lyon *Jeff Kassel as Dr. Ennis, Gladys' doctor *Sarah Booth as Mrs. Kelly *

Carolina Bartczak Carolina Bartczak (born October 5, 1985) is a Canadian actress of Polish descent. She is known for her role as Magda Lehnsherr, the wife of Erik Lehnsherr/Magneto, in '' X-Men: Apocalypse'' and as Maura Mackenzie in the CBC film ''An Audience ...

as Phyllis * Lindsay G Merrithew as the Beverly Hill Physician *Ella Allan as young Marilyn Monroe (Norma Jeane) *Mia Allan as young Marilyn Monroe (Norma Jeane)

Reception

Critical reception

''The Secret Life of Marilyn Monroe'' garnered mixed reviews. Keith Ulrich of ''

The Hollywood Reporter ''The Hollywood Reporter'' (''THR'') is an American digital and print magazine which focuses on the Cinema of the United States, Hollywood film industry, film, television, and entertainment industries. It was founded in 1930 as a daily trade pap ...

'' writes, "There's little that's surprising or inspired in Lifetime's two-part miniseries about iconic Hollywood celebrity Marilyn Monroe." While, Brian Lowry of ''

Variety Variety may refer to: Arts and entertainment Entertainment formats * Variety (radio) * Variety show, in theater and television Films * ''Variety'' (1925 film), a German silent film directed by Ewald Andre Dupont * ''Variety'' (1935 film), ...

'' writes, "What sets this latest rehash of the star's existence apart, marginally, is a knockout performance by Kelli Garner and, to a lesser degree, Susan Sarandon's turn as her mentally disturbed mother." A positive review by Jordan Appugliesi of ''

US Weekly ''Us Weekly'' is a weekly celebrity and entertainment magazine based in New York City. ''Us Weekly'' was founded in 1977 by The New York Times Company, who sold it in 1980. It was acquired by Wenner Media in 1986, and sold to American Media Inc ...

'' states, "Surprise! It's Actually Good." On

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wang ...

the series has an approval of 55% based on 11 reviews with an average rating of 6/10. The site's critical consensus reads, "Offering few revelations, ''The Secret Life of Marilyn Monroe'' treads the same well-worn path as many other Monroe biopics, despite an admirable performance by Kelli Garner". On

Metacritic Metacritic is a website that review aggregator, aggregates reviews of films, TV shows, music albums, video games and formerly, books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted arithmetic mean, weighted average). M ...

, the series has a score of 55 out of 100 based on 12 critics, indicating "mixed or average".

Accolades

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Secret Life of Marilyn Monroe, The 2010s American television miniseries Works about Marilyn Monroe Lifetime (TV network) films Cultural depictions of Joe DiMaggio