For Marilyn Monroe was not the man-eating siren her image suggested.

Although she married and divorced three times, she was — though few people are aware of the fact — a lesbian by inclination.

She admitted to sexual encounters with actresses Joan Crawford, Barbara Stanwyck, Marlene Dietrich and Elizabeth Taylor, as well as with both her acting coaches, Natasha Lytess and Paula Strasberg.

Born illegitimately in 1926 to an unmarried mother in the charity ward of the Los Angeles General Hospital, she was originally known as Norma Jeane Mortenson, the child of a 24-year-old film negative cutter, Gladys Pearl Monroe Mortenson, who developed schizophrenia.

Both of Gladys’s parents, Otis Elmer Monroe and Della Monroe Grainger, lived out their twilight years in mental institutions, while Gladys’s brother, Marion, was diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia.

So it is small wonder that the child who became Marilyn Monroe grew up with a deep-rooted fear of genetic insanity.

This, according to Celeste Holm, gave Marilyn a lifelong terror of pregnancy.

In addition to her fear of giving birth to an abnormal child, Marilyn suffered from devastating bouts of endometriosis, a gynaecological condition causing intense pelvic pain, severe cramps and painful periods.

It made normal sexual intercourse difficult and uncomfortable.

‘Because of this,’ Holm explained,

‘Marilyn was never able to enjoy sex with men.

Shortly before Marilyn signed with Columbia Pictures in 1948, she met Natasha Lytess, a failed actress who was a drama coach at the studio.

Marilyn told her close friend, actor Ted Jordan, that she and Natasha were sleeping together.

Another female star Marilyn pursued and propositioned was Judy Garland, who married three gay men among her five husbands.

沪江娱乐：今年是美国女星玛丽莲·梦露去世50周年。美国南加州大学历史和性学教授洛伊丝·邦纳近日出版了一本新书《玛丽莲：激情和自相矛盾》，称她是女权主义者。但这并没有引起更多关注，反而是另一本劲爆的书《梦露：私人和秘密》吸引人们的眼球该书披露，梦露其实是一名女同性恋，她同许多女明星发生过性关系。

报道称，梦露1926年出生在洛杉矶市立医院，其母是一名电影软片剪辑师，后患上精神分裂症。事实上，梦露的很多亲人都患有精神方面的疾病。因担心精神病遗传，梦露一直害怕怀孕。此外，梦露患有子宫内膜异位症，这种妇科疾病会导致盆腔疼痛，正常性交时会出现困难或不舒服。去世不久的演员西莱斯特·霍姆生前曾透露：“正是因为这些原因，梦露从来没有从男人那里获得性爱享受。”

1948年，梦露认识了娜塔莎·利特斯，后来两人同居。米歇尔·摩根的新书说，虽然梦露结过3次婚，但就性取向而言，她是一个女同性恋。除娜塔莎外，梦露还承认同女星琼·克劳馥、芭芭拉·斯坦威克和伊丽莎白·泰勒等人有过关系。根据西莱斯特的说法，梦露迷恋女星葛莱宝多年，葛莱宝曾说梦露对她的追求有点吓人。梦露追求过的女演员还有朱迪·加兰，而朱迪的5任丈夫中有3个是同性恋。

1962年8月5日，导演让·尼古拉斯哥计划拜访梦露前，梦露被发现死在卧室内。一些人认为梦露是同性恋的“揭秘”过于牵强。美国历史学家称，梦露公开承认同多名男子上过床，而且上世纪五六十年代女同性恋还很少见。但也有不少研究梦露生平的人士说，梦露很困惑，她希望得到爱，她的确存在不少问题，事实上，她和一些女演员关系暧昧。