Gladys Pearl Baker

Gladys Pearl Monroe (May 27, 1902 – March 11, 1984), also known as Gladys Pearl Monroe Baker Mortensen Eley, was the mother of American actress Marilyn Monroe (born Norma Jeane Mortenson). Born in Mexico, Baker grew up in the Los Angeles metro area. Her father died in 1909 after suffering from mental illness and alcoholism. Gladys was married three times for three to four years each marriage. She was married for the first time at age 14 to Jasper Newton Baker. They had two children, including American author Berniece Baker Miracle and Robert Jasper “Kermit” Baker. At the end of the marriage, Jasper kidnapped their two children and returned to his native Kentucky without his wife's knowledge. Gladys moved to Kentucky to be near her children but left after four months. She had limited contact thereafter. She moved to Hollywood, where she became a film cutter in the growing movie industry. There, she met Martin Edward Mortensen, with whom she had a short marriage that ended in divorce. Afterwards, she had a relationship with Charles Stanley Gifford while he was separated from his wife. Gladys became pregnant with her third child, Norma Jeane Mortenson (also called Norma Jeane Baker and later Marilyn Monroe). Gladys struggled to take care of her daughter and placed her with a foster family weeks after her birth. Prone to mood swings, Gladys had a mental breakdown after the death of her son, the suicide of her father, and news that her studio was shutting down. From 1934 until the 1960s, Gladys spent most of her time in psychiatric facilities. During that time, Gladys had a three-year marriage to John Stewart Eley, who died before she could divorce him. In her later years, she lived with her daughter Berniece before moving to a senior care facility.