When Marilyn Monroe died on Aug. 4, 1962, countless conspiracy theories were born.
The Los Angeles County Coroner determined that the 36-year-old—who was born Norma Jeane Baker on June 1, 1926—died of acute barbiturate poisoning and ruled her overdose a probable suicide.
But that verdict has simply never sat well with people who suspected she suffered an even darker fate.
“I’ve learned a lot that I wouldn’t trade for anything,” Monroe told Life magazine in a July interview published two days before her death. “I wouldn’t want a child of mine to go through what I’ve been through.”
The Some Like It Hot star added, “I hope to ultimately be able, through my work, to illuminate for some people some things I’ve learned. Maybe it’s just a dream. But I’m also entitled to my dreams.”
At the same time, it wasn’t a secret Monroe had been struggling. Her battles with substance abuse and depression were well-documented, and she was fired in June from the romantic comedy Something’s Got to Give for, as 20th Century Fox put it, “spectacular absenteeism.”