''Blonde'' is a 2001 American

made-for-television A television film, alternatively known as a television movie, made-for-TV film/movie, telefilm, telemovie or TV film/movie, is a film with a running time similar to a feature film that is produced and originally distributed by or to a Terrestr ...

biographical fiction When studying literature, biography and its relationship to literature is often a subject of literary criticism, and is treated in several different forms. Two scholarly approaches use biography or biographical approaches to the past as a tool for ...

film A film, also known as a movie or motion picture, is a work of visual art that simulates experiences and otherwise communicates ideas, stories, perceptions, emotions, or atmosphere through the use of moving images that are generally, sinc ...

on the life of

Marilyn Monroe Marilyn Monroe ( ; born Norma Jeane Mortenson; June 1, 1926 August 4, 1962) was an American actress and model. Known for playing comic "Blonde stereotype#Blonde bombshell, blonde bombshell" characters, she became one of the most popular sex ...

, with Australian actress

Poppy Montgomery Poppy Montgomery (born Poppy Petal Emma Elizabeth Deveraux Donahue; June 19, 1972) is an Australian-American actress. She played FBI agent Samantha Spade on the CBS mystery drama ''Without a Trace'' and Detective Carrie Wells on the CBS/ A&E p ...

in the lead role. The film was adapted from

Joyce Carol Oates Joyce Carol Oates (born June 16, 1938) is an American writer. Oates published her first book in 1963, and has since published 58 novels, a number of plays and novellas, and many volumes of short stories, poetry, and nonfiction. Her novels ''Black ...

's 2000

Pulitzer Prize The Pulitzer Prizes () are 23 annual awards given by Columbia University in New York City for achievements in the United States in "journalism, arts and letters". They were established in 1917 by the will of Joseph Pulitzer, who had made his fo ...

finalist novel of the same name.

Premise

A fictional biography of Marilyn Monroe mixed with a series of real events in her life. With glimpses into her childhood years, teenaged marriage to first husband Bucky Glazer, meeting with photographer Otto Ose, career with

20th Century Fox 20th Century Studios, Inc., formerly 20th Century Fox, is an American film studio, film production and Film distributor, distribution company owned by the Walt Disney Studios (division), Walt Disney Studios, the film studios division of the ...

, relationship with her mother, her foster parents,

Charles Chaplin Jr. Charles Spencer Chaplin III (May 5, 1925 – March 20, 1968), known professionally as Charles Chaplin Jr., was an American actor. He was the eldest son of Charlie Chaplin and Lita Grey, and is known for appearing in 1950s films such as '' The Be ...

(Cass),

Edward G. Robinson Jr. Edward G. "Manny" Robinson Jr. (March 19, 1933 – February 26, 1974) was an American actor. Early life Robinson was the son of actor Edward G. Robinson and his wife, Gladys Lloyd. Career Edward G. Robinson Jr. appeared in 23 films and tele ...

(Eddie G), and her marriages to baseball player

Joe DiMaggio Joseph Paul DiMaggio (; born Giuseppe Paolo DiMaggio, ; November 25, 1914 – March 8, 1999), nicknamed "Joltin' Joe", "the Yankee Clipper" and "Joe D.", was an American professional baseball center fielder who played his entire 13-year career ...

and playwright

Arthur Miller Arthur Asher Miller (October 17, 1915 – February 10, 2005) was an American playwright, essayist and screenwriter in the 20th-century American theater. Among his most popular plays are '' All My Sons'' (1947), '' Death of a Salesman'' (1 ...

Cast

as Norma Jeane Baker / Marilyn Monroe ** Skye McCole Bartusiak as Young Norma Jeane *

Patricia Richardson Patricia Castle Richardson (born February 23, 1951) is an American actress best known for her portrayal of Jill Taylor on the American Broadcasting Company, ABC sitcom ''Home Improvement (TV series), Home Improvement'', for which she was nominat ...

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 ...

Patrick Dempsey Patrick Galen Dempsey (born January 13, 1966) is an American actor and racing driver best known for playing neurosurgeon Derek Shepherd in ''Grey's Anatomy'' (2005–15; 2020–21). He is also known for his leading man romantic film roles, such ...

as Cass Bulut *

Jensen Ackles Jensen Ross Ackles (born March 1, 1978) is an American actor and musician. He gained recognition for his portrayal of Dean Winchester in The WB/The CW, CW dark fantasy drama series ''Supernatural (American TV series), Supernatural'' (2005–2020 ...

as Eddie G. *

Kirstie Alley Kirstie Louise Alley (January 12, 1951 – December 5, 2022) was an American actress. Her breakthrough role was as Rebecca Howe in the NBC sitcom ''Cheers'' (1987–1993), for which she received an Emmy Award and a Golden Globe in 1991. From 1 ...

as Elsie – Grace Goddard *

Ann-Margret Ann-Margret Olsson (born 28 April 1941), credited as Ann-Margret, is a Swedish-American actress and singer with a career spanning seven decades. Her many screen roles include '' Pocketful of Miracles'' (1961), ''State Fair'' (1962), '' Bye Bye B ...

as Della Monroe *

Wallace Shawn Wallace Michael Shawn (born November 12, 1943) is an American actor, essayist, playwright, and screenwriter. He is known for playing Vizzini in '' The Princess Bride'' (1987), Mr. Hall in '' Clueless'' (1995), Dr. John Sturgis in '' Young Sheldo ...

as I.E. Shinn – Johnny Hyde *

Titus Welliver Titus B. Welliver (born March 12, 1962) is an American actor. He is best known for his portrayals of the Man in Black in '' Lost'', Silas Adams in '' Deadwood'', Jimmy O'Phelan in '' Sons of Anarchy'', and the title role in the television ser ...

as The Baseball Player *

Griffin Dunne Thomas Griffin Dunne (; born June 8, 1955) is an American actor, director and producer. He is known for portraying Jack Goodman in ''An American Werewolf in London'' (1981) and Paul Hackett in '' After Hours'' (1985), for which he was nominat ...

as The Playwright *

Eric Bogosian Eric Michael Bogosian (; born April 24, 1953) is an American actor, playwright, monologuist, novelist, and historian. Descended from Armenian-American immigrants, he grew up in Watertown and Woburn, Massachusetts, and attended the University ...

as Otto Ose * Niklaus Lange as Bucky Glazer – James Dougherty *

Richard Roxburgh Richard Roxburgh (born 23 January 1962) is an Australian actor and filmmaker. He is the recipient of a number of accolades across film, television, and theatre, including several AFI and AACTA Awards, Logie Awards, and Helpmann Awards. He bega ...

as Mr. R –

Darryl F. Zanuck Darryl Francis Zanuck (; September 5, 1902December 22, 1979) was an American film producer and studio executive; he earlier contributed stories for films starting in the silent era. Best known as a co-founder of 20th Century Fox, he played a ...

Emily Browning Emily Jane Browning (born December 7, 1988) is an Australian actress. She made her film debut in the television film '' The Echo of Thunder'' (1998), and subsequently appeared in television shows such as '' High Flyers'' (1999), '' Something in ...

as Fleece * Matthew O'Sullivan as

Lee Strasberg Lee Strasberg (born Israel Strassberg; November 17, 1901 – February 17, 1982) was an American acting coach and actor. He co-founded, with theatre directors Harold Clurman and Cheryl Crawford, the Group Theatre in 1931, which was hailed ...

Andrew Clarke Andrew Clarke may refer to: * Andrew Clarke (British Army officer, born 1793) (1793–1847), Governor of Western Australia *Sir Andrew Clarke (British Army officer, born 1824) (1824–1902), Governor of the Straits Settlements, son of the above *An ...

Laurence Olivier Laurence Kerr Olivier, Baron Olivier ( ; 22 May 1907 – 11 July 1989) was an English actor and director. He and his contemporaries Ralph Richardson and John Gielgud made up a trio of male actors who dominated the British stage of the m ...

* Shayne Greenman as

Clark Gable William Clark Gable (February 1, 1901November 16, 1960) was an American actor often referred to as the "King of Cinema of the United States, Hollywood". He appeared in more than 60 Film, motion pictures across a variety of Film genre, genres dur ...

* Renee Henderson as

Jane Russell Ernestine Jane Geraldine Russell (June 21, 1921 – February 28, 2011) was an American actress, model, and singer. She was one of Hollywood's leading sex symbols in the 1940s and 1950s and starred in more than 20 films throughout her career. R ...

* Mark Lee as Porn Dealer * Mark Mitchell as Texas Oilman *

Brett Tucker Brett Alan Tucker (born 21 May 1972) is an Australian actor and singer. He was a series regular in '' The Saddle Club'', '' McLeod's Daughters'', and '' Mistresses''. He is also known for his role as Daniel Fitzgerald in ''Neighbours''. He pla ...

as Actor at White Party *

Bernard Curry Bernard Curry (born 27 March 1974) is an Australian actor, best known for his role as Jake Stewart in '' Wentworth'', Luke Handley in ''Neighbours'' and Hugo Austin in ''Home and Away''. Early life Alongside his actor brothers Stephen and And ...

as Assistant to Director J. * Steven Vidler as Warren * Richard Morgan as Buddy 2

Reception

In the United States' review aggregator, the

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review aggregator, review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee ...

, in the score where the site staff categorizes the opinions of

independent media Independent media refers to any media (communication), media, such as television, newspapers, or Internet-based publications free of influence by government or corporate interests. The term has varied applications. Independence stands as a corne ...

and

mainstream media In journalism, mainstream media (MSM) is a term and abbreviation used to refer collectively to the various large Mass media, mass news media that influence many people and both reflect and shape prevailing currents of thought.Noam Chomsky, Choms ...

only positive or negative, the film has an approval rating of 60% calculated based on five critics reviews. By comparison, with the same opinions being calculated using a

weighted arithmetic mean The weighted arithmetic mean is similar to an ordinary arithmetic mean (the most common type of average), except that instead of each of the data points contributing equally to the final average, some data points contribute more than others. Th ...

, the score achieved is 3.3/10. Steven Oxman of ''

Variety Variety may refer to: Arts and entertainment Entertainment formats * Variety (radio) * Variety show, in theater and television Films * ''Variety'' (1925 film), a German silent film directed by Ewald Andre Dupont * ''Variety'' (1935 film), ...

'' considered that ''Blondes approach as a work of fiction instead of a "based on true events" retelling allowed creators "to be far more imaginative in their suppositions about the characters' private thoughts" than similar works.

References

External links

* {{Joyce Chopra 2001 television films 2001 films 2001 biographical drama films 2000s English-language films 2000s American films CBS films American biographical drama films American drama television films Films about Marilyn Monroe Films based on American novels Films directed by Joyce Chopra Films scored by Patrick Williams (composer) Films set in Los Angeles Films set in the 1940s Films set in the 1950s Films set in the 1960s English-language biographical drama films

Premise

Cast

Reception

See also

References

External links