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Gladys Baker

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Celebrity's Relative

The Resume

    (May 27, 1902-March 11, 1984)
    Born in Piedras Negras, Coahuila , Mexico
    Film laboratory worker at RKO Studios
    Birth name was Gladys Pearl Monroe
    Also known as Gladys Monroe Baker, Gladys Mortensen and Gladys Eley
    Gave birth to her third child, Norma Jean Baker (later Marilyn Monroe), on June 1, 1926
    Consented for her best friend, Grace McKee, to became Norma Jean's legal guardian (1933)
    Declared insane and 'mentally incompetent' by the Los Angeles courts; committed to Norwalk State Mental Hospital (Jan. 1935)
    Portrayed by Susan Sarandon in the Lifetime Original Movie, 'The Secret Life of Marilyn Monroe' (2015)

Why she might be annoying:

    She became a Christian Scientist in later years.
    She brought her daughter to work dressed in Mary Pickford-style attire.
    She was a paranoid schizophrenic who regularly heard voices.
    As a child, Norma Jean allegedly knew her as just 'the woman with the red hair.'
    She frequently accused those around her of plotting to kill her (relatives, nurses, etc.).
    She attacked people with knives on at least two occasions (including her first son-in-law, Jim Dougherty).
    She opted not to give Marilyn up for adoption and allow her to drift between foster homes, even though there were several upstanding families that were interested.
    She and Grace McKee were accused of ignoring Marilyn's claims of sexual abuse at the hands of friends/relatives.
    She regularly wore a nurse's uniform even though she wasn't one (it gave her a feeling of control).
    Her fundamentalist leanings made her unappreciative of her daughter's success as a movie sex symbol.
    She frequently accused her daughter of being 'a slut' and 'a whore.'
    Some believe that these accusations led Marilyn to subconsciously seek to reinforce her mother's claims (dressing revealingly, posing nude, etc.).
    She was wholly dependent on Marilyn, who kept her in the best health care system of the time on the meager wages she was getting.

Why she might not be annoying:

    At least she wasn't a stage mother...
    The man she conceived Marilyn with allegedly looked like Clark Gable.
    She allegedly traced her ancestry to President James Monroe.
    She attempted suicide at least once after her daughter's death.
    She was played by actresses as diverse as Sheree North and Patricia Richardson.
    Male biographers accused her of 'abandoning' Marilyn, which wasn't technically true.
    Her mother was violent and a certified manic-depressive who once attempted to suffocate her own granddaughter.
    Her nervous breakdown was brought on by the news of her son's death from Tuberculosis, her grandfather's suicide, and the disappearance of her brother.
    She managed to make a down payment on a large house by the Hollywood Bowl, which was uncommon for a single woman in the 30s (she only had it for three months before being committed).

Credit: BoyWiththeGreenHair


Featured in the following Annoying Collections:

Year In Review:

    For 2024, as of last weekly ranking, Out of 73 Votes: 64.38% Annoying
    In 2023, Out of 5 Votes: 60.0% Annoying
    In 2022, Out of 7 Votes: 42.86% Annoying
    In 2021, Out of 10 Votes: 60.0% Annoying
    In 2020, Out of 18 Votes: 11.11% Annoying
    In 2019, Out of 3 Votes: 66.67% Annoying
    In 2018, Out of 12 Votes: 50.0% Annoying
    In 2017, Out of 4 Votes: 50.0% Annoying
    In 2016, Out of 9 Votes: 100% Annoying
    In 2015, Out of 52 Votes: 53.85% Annoying