James Dougherty

James Dougherty (April 12, 1921 - August 15, 2005) is remembered as the first husband of the actress Marilyn Monroe.

Related Topics:
April 12 - 1921 - August 15 - 2005 - Actress - Marilyn Monroe

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James Dougherty was born in Los Angeles, California the youngest of five children of Edward and Ethel Dougherty, who had moved there about ten years earlier from Colorado. Edward Dougherty in 1930 was a blacksmith in a machine shop. The Dougherty family had endured a great deal of hardship during the Great Depression and had to live in a tent in Van Nuys, California, before being able to afford a small bungalow. Jim attended Van Nuys High School where he acted in school plays, was a star on the football team and ran for class president. During his time at school he helped support the family income by taking on odd jobs such as shoe shining, sandwich-making and even working in a mortuary. After graduation he gave up the chance to go to college in order to continue helping his family.

Related Topics:
Los Angeles, California - Colorado - Great Depression - Van Nuys, California - Football

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In 1941, Jim Dougherty was employed with the Lockheed Aircraft company when he met the fifteen-year-old Norma Jeane. At this time, Norma was living with her foster mother, Grace (McKee) Goddard who had been a friend of Norma's mother Gladys. Norma Jeane was smitten with the handsome twenty-year-old, but he felt she was too young for him. However that did not deter Grace Goddard's matchmaking; in December 1941, Grace managed to get Jim to take Norma Jeane to the Adel Precision Products Christmas party. Jim suddenly began to view Norma Jeane in a different light and Grace continued to encourage their relationship by paying for them to go on dates.

Related Topics:
1941 - Lockheed Aircraft

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In 1942, Doc Goddard. Grace's husband, was transferred to West Virginia and Norma Jeane was not invited. Grace saw the perfect solution - marriage to Jim Dougherty. Grace shared the idea with Jim's mother, Ethel who approached her son with the proposition. He was initially reluctant since Norma Jeane was so young, however he knew that if he did not agree to the marriage, Norma Jeane would have to go back to the orphanage until she was eighteen. Jim intended going into the service and felt that if he married Norma Jeane she would at least be able to live with his mother. The decision made, Norma Jeane left school and prepared for married life.

Related Topics:
1942 - West Virginia

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The wedding took place on June 19, 1942, eighteen days after Norma Jeane turned sixteen, and the newlyweds moved into a one-room bungalow in Sherman Oaks, California. Marriage was a daunting experience for the inexperienced Norma Jean who knew nothing about running a house or pleasing a husband. As the couple's social circle grew, Jim began to grow jealous of the attention Norma Jeane received from other men and this lead to arguments between them. In 1943, Jim joined the Merchant Marines (where he served alongside aspiring actor Robert Mitchum), and was ordered to boot camp on Santa Catalina Island, California, Norma Jeane joining him there by the end of the year. Norma Jeane soon found herself the centre of attention as she dressed in bikinis and skimpy outfits much to Jim's dismay. Norma Jeane wasn't going out of her way to deliberately attract men, she was aware she had a good figure and was determined to make the most of it. Jim's disapproval was evident and Norma Jeane was beginning to resent his efforts to control her.

Related Topics:
June 19 - 1942 - Sherman Oaks, California - 1943 - Merchant Marines - Robert Mitchum - Santa Catalina Island, California

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In 1944, Jim was stationed overseas, in the Pacific Ocean, and Norma Jeane went to live with his mother, Ethel. His leaving was the beginning of the end of their marriage. Not content to stay at home and wait for her husband to return from the war, Norma Jeane started to work for Radioplane Company and it was there that her life changed forever when she was invited to model for David Conover. Norma Jeane's new lifestyle was greeted with disapproval from Ethel Dougherty and she duly reported events to Jim by letter. Norma Jeane moved out of her mother-in-law's home and stopped her infrequent letters to Jim - spelling out the end of her marriage.

Related Topics:
1944 - Pacific Ocean - Radioplane Company

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When Jim returned from overseas in December 1945, their relationship was very distant and Norma Jeane soon left for another modelling job. Throughout 1946, Norma Jeane modelled for a variety of photographers, her social circle ever increasing, and it looked like she was about to make her childhood dreams a reality by screen testing for Fox Studios. However, her marriage to Jim was a major obstacle that could threaten her chances of becoming a movie star. Norma Jeane filed for divorce in Las Vegas, Nevada on the grounds of "extreme mental cruelty that has impaired the plaintiff's health" and it was finalised on September 13, 1946.

Related Topics:
December - 1945 - 1946 - Fox Studios - Las Vegas, Nevada - September 13

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As Norma Jeane moved aside and made way for screen legend Marilyn Monroe, Jim Dougherty continued to live his own life and would find himself inextricably linked forever with Hollywood's most glamourous icon. However Jim has always been careful to maintain that he was never married to Marilyn Monroe - he was married to a sweet-faced girl called Norma Jeane.

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Jim became a detective with the LAPD. In fact, he was one of the police officer's that held back the crowd at the premiere of his former wife's movie, The Asphalt Jungle. Jim married two more times after Norma Jeane. From 1947 until 1972, he was married to Patricia Scoman, with whom he had three daughters. He and his last wife Rita were married for nearly thirty years.

Related Topics:
Detective - LAPD - The Asphalt Jungle - 1947 - 1972

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He wrote a biography about his marriage to Norma Jeane shortly before he died, entitled "To Norma Jeane With Love, Jimmie", and signed copies are available from his website (see ). He died on August 15, 2005, in San Rafael, California, at the age of 84 from complications of leukemia. At the time of his death, he was the actress' last surviving husband, having been predeceased by his better-known successors Joe DiMaggio and Arthur Miller, who died on March 8, 1999, and February 10, 2005, respectively.

Related Topics:
August 15 - 2005 - San Rafael, California - Leukemia - Joe DiMaggio - Arthur Miller - March 8 - 1999 - February 10

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Sources:

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• The Marilyn Encyclopedia by Adam Victor (The Overlook Press, Woodstock, New York, 1999 Adam Victor, s.v. James Dougherty)
• http://www.geocities.com/andrea_w6/JimD.html
• http://www.marilyn-monroe.ws/lovemarilyn/jimbio.html