Warning: This post contains spoilers for Blonde
After much anticipation, Blonde has finally been released on Netflix, and one of its biggest mysteries is the identity of Marily Monroe’s father. Starring Ana de Armas as Norma Jeane Mortensen (known best as Marilyn Monroe), Blonde is written and directed by Andrew Dominik and is based on the novel by Joyce Carol Oates, which fictionalized many aspects of Monroe’s inner life.
Marilyn Monroe’s father is absent in Blonde. Excluding a picture that hangs in her mother Gladys’ room, the actress’ parent is treated as a secret that must remain hidden. Gladys tells Norma Jeane that her father is a famous actor, which is why they can’t speak of him. Marilyn Monroe’s father’s absence colors her entire life experience, which often leads her to find father figures in other men, going so far as to call two of her husbands — ex-athlete Joe DiMaggio and playwright Arthur Miller — “Daddy” instead of by their given names. Blonde insinuates that many of Norma Jeane’s life experiences are influenced by the fact that she never knew her father. Though she searches for him, all Norma Jeane has is a picture to go on, and he is never once mentioned by name. So who really is Marilyn Monroe’s father?
In Blonde, Marilyn Monroe’s father is presumed to be an actor, and Gladys reportedly told her daughter the very same in real life. While the Netflix film keeps his identity under wraps, Marilyn Monroe’s biological father was Charles Stanley Gifford, Gladys’ co-worker from her time working as a film cutter at RKO Pictures. The two had an affair in 1925, which ended before Marilyn Monroe was born in June of 1926. Similar to Blonde’s depiction of events, no one really knew the identity of the actress’ father. However, there was always speculation that Charles Stanley Gifford was indeed Marilyn Monroe’s biological father, and not Martin Mortensen as it stated on her birth certificate. It was only in 2022 that Charles Stanley Gifford was confirmed as Marilyn Monroe’s biological father, following DNA testing, which proved once and for all who he was after so many years.
Did Marilyn Monroe Ever Learn Her Father’s Identity?
Blonde suggests Marilyn Monroe never discovered the identity of her father, though she was tricked into believing he was writing her letters implying he wanted to meet the actress. However, per Marilyn Monroe herself, who wrote in My Story — the autobiography that covers Norma Jeane's life up until 1954, but was only released over a decade after her death — that she had never heard her biological father’s voice. She also used to lie about him and her mother in the early years of her career because she was ashamed of what people would think about her home life. In her autobiography, Marilyn Monroe admitted she did eventually learn her father’s identity, as well as how he lived in the same apartment building as her mother before she was born.
According to Marilyn Monroe: The Private Life of a Public Icon by Charles Casillo, Monroe tracked down her father in 1952, ten years before her death. The book alleges that Charles Stanley Gifford was not pleased to see her, that he didn’t have anything to say to Marilyn Monroe, and that she should call his lawyer. All told, Marilyn Monroe’s relationship with her absent father in Blonde is traumatic, and it’s something that affected her in real life as well. Although the identity of Marilyn Monroe’s father was never made official during her lifetime, the mystery can finally be put to rest.