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Did Marilyn Monroe REALLY Know Who Her Father Was?
Roots & Beginnings

Did Marilyn Monroe REALLY Know Who Her Father Was?

By Laura Saxby // Roots & Beginnings

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Laura Saxby
May 14, 2025
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Beyond the Myth
Beyond the Myth
Did Marilyn Monroe REALLY Know Who Her Father Was?
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Norma Jeane always believed that the man in the photograph on Gladys’s wall was her father—Charles Stanley "Stan" Gifford. She knew little about him beyond the stories whispered by her mother, yet she clung to his image, etched in her memory. In her lifetime, paternity tests didn’t exist, so nothing could be confirmed. Still, Marilyn often referred to Stan with quiet conviction, hinting she knew the truth in her heart.

But was he truly her father? And who was this elusive man? How did he come into Gladys’s life—and why did he vanish? And why did he decide to get in touch so many years after Marilyn had reached out?

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