All the Men Marilyn Monroe Reportedly Had Relationships With Throughout Her Short Life

James Dougherty ​(1942-1946)

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Marilyn Monroe‘s first marriage was before she became a superstar, and it wasn’t a happy union. Monroe recounted to Express that she actually married her first husband James Dougherty ​due to an ultimatum. She said her foster home mother arranged it. “She and her husband were going to West Virginia and they were gonna put me in a home, you know like I had been before, or I could marry this boy who was 21 at the time. So I married.” Monroe was only 16 she tied the knot.

However, their union lasted four years, with it soon fell apart soon after he joined the Merchant Marines. Because he left for that, she began modeling, and he ended up telling People in 1976, “If I hadn’t gone into the Merchant Marines during World War II, she would still be Mrs. Dougherty today.”

They officially divorced in 1946.

Elia Kazan (1947)

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Despite introducing Marilyn Monroe to her third husband, Elia Kazan said he “was not sorry” about having a brief affair with Monroe while he was married. In unearthed letters per People, he said, “I’m not sorry about it. I’m not ashamed at all, not a damn bit, of having been attracted to her. She is nothing like what she appears to be now, or even appears to have turned into now. She was a little stray cat when I knew her.”

Charlie Chaplin, Jr. (1947)

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There were a bunch of rumors that Marilyn Monroe and Charlie Chaplin Jr had a brief fling in 1947. More rumors spread that the lowkey relationship ended when Chaplin found Monroe in bed with his brother. He more or less confirmed all of this in his autobiography My Father, Charlie Chaplin.

Jerry Lewis (1949)

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Former My Friend Irma co-stars Jerry Lewis and Marilyn Monroe had a lot of rumors flying around as well, with fans wondering if the two had something going on. Lewis somewhat confirmed they had a brief relationship in a 2011 interview with GQ, saying, “I’m telling you what I know. Never! And the only reason I know is because I did. Okay? She needed that [sexual] contact to be sure it was real.” He added that the affair was “long,” saying “I was crippled for a month. And I thought Marlene Dietrich was great!”

Milton Berle (1948)

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Milton Berle and Marilyn met on the set of Ladies of the Chorus in 1948 (and worked together again in 1960 for Let’s Make Love) and he confirmed the two had an affair on set while he was dating Adele Jergens. In his self-titled autobiography, he said, “Marilyn was on the climb in Hollywood, but there was nothing cheap about her. She wasn’t one of the starlets around town that you put one meal into and threw into the sack. Maybe she didn’t know exactly who she was, but she knew she was worth something. She had respect for herself. Marilyn was a lady.”

Joe DiMaggio (1952-1954)

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One of the most iconic and toxic Hollywood romances of the golden age was undeniably Joe DiMaggio and Marilyn Monroe. They met back in 1952 through a friend of DiMaggio’s, hitting it off soon after. Per Donald Spoto’s book Marilyn Monroe: The Biography, Monroe said, “I expected a flashy New York sports type, and instead, I met this reserved guy who didn’t make a pass at me right away. He treated me like something special.”

According to Joel Brokaw via New York Post, they met through I Love Lucy star William Frawley, who told Monroe that DiMaggio wanted to meet her. While they were at the Brown Derby, Fawley came up to Monroe to tell her this. He said, “William Frawley … came over to the table and he said … ‘I’m having dinner with Joe D. He would like to meet the young lady. We’ll stop by your table after we’re done.’ Marilyn turned to my dad and said, ‘Who’s Joe D?’ She had no idea who Joe DiMaggio was. She obviously wasn’t a baseball fan. So, he had to give her a quick history of the importance of Joe DiMaggio.”

They dated for two years before tying the knot in San Francisco in 1954 and honeymooning in Japan. However, their love was a rocky one and marital bliss didn’t last long. Only nine months later, they divorced, which shocked fans everywhere. 

DiMaggio was uncomfortable with Monroe’s sex symbol status, wanting her to be a more motherly figure and become a stay-at-home wife. But Monroe wanted both a family and a career. The “last straw” was her iconic white dress scene in The Seven Year Itch, which she recalled, per Biography, “[DiMaggio] said … exposing my legs and thighs, even my crotch — that was the last straw.”

According to The New York Times, they remained friends until her death, which he handled funeral arrangements for. Along with that, he sent roses to her grave three times a week for over two decades.

Arthur Miller (1955-1961)

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So Marilyn Monroe and Arthur Miller met in 1950, before she even met Joe DiMaggio. They met through their mutual friend Elia Kazan (who later confirmed he and Monroe had a brief affair!) Despite Miller being married, the two fell for each other quickly and started an affair, marrying soon after his divorce in 1956.

“We’re so congenial, This is the first time I’ve been really in love. Arthur is a serious man, but he has a wonderful sense of humour. We laugh and joke a lot. I’m mad about him,” she said in 1956, per Daily Star.

But their relationship began to fall apart while filming The Misfits, with him being a harsh director. She noted in her diary, saying per Vanity Fair, “I still feel hopeless. I think I hate it here because there is no love here anymore…” And soon after, they divorced in Aug 1962 after five years of marriage.

Yves Montand (1960)

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Many wondered if former Let’s Make Love co-stars Yves Montand, and Marilyn Monroe had something going on behind the scenes. He later confirmed that they had an affair while filming the 1960 hit film, per Daily Mail, despite Montand being married to French icon Simone Signoret. There were also rumors Monroe carried his baby at one point, per the Sun.

Frank Sinatra (1961)

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Frank Sinatra and Marilyn Monroe had a brief, low-key fling soon after her divorce from Arthur Miller. However, the romance lasted less than a year, and the two remained best friends until her death the following year in 1962, per People.