Netflix aired the premier of Blonde, which is based on the life of Hollywood great Marilyn Monroe, on Wednesday, September 28. Directed by Andrew Dominic, Blonde is also based on Joyce Carol Oates’s authored novel with the same name. The novel was published in 2000.

Since its premiere at the Venice International Film Festival on September 8, Blonde has taken Marilyn Monroe fans by storm. It was released in the United States and the United Kingdom on September 16 and finally found its way on the OTT platform Netflix on September 28.

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The film has shown Monroe’s mother, Gladys, attempted to kill her daughter by drowning her in a bathtub. However, History vs Hollywood has reported that there is no evidence of the incident taking place.

The character of Gladys was played by Julianne Nicholson in Blonde. However, it remains true that in real life, Marilyn Monroe did not share a healthy relationship with her mother, Gladys. In fact, according to some Hollywood historians, when Monroe first arrived in Hollywood, she claimed that she did not have any knowledge of her mother and was an orphan.

According to reports, Gladys was not prepared for a child when her daughter was born. This resulted in her placing Marilyn in a foster home for many years. However, they reconciled later when Gladys bought a small home in Hollywood, before suffering a mental breakdown in 1934. It was at this time that she was diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia.

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The contact between Marilyn and her mother decreased after Gladys was sent to the Metropolitan State Hospital. Following this, Monroe lived in several homes before being placed in Los Angeles Orphans Home in September 1935.

After a tumultuous few years where she moved around several homes and molestation, she married James Dougherty, a 21-year-old factory worker, at the age of 16. The couple divorced in 1946 as James did not want her to pursue an acting career.

Gladys Pearl Baker, Monroe’s mother died in 1984, 22 years after Monroe’s death.