![]() ![]() “ with her mental illness affecting her intensely, she’d become firmly convinced that the doctors at Rockhaven had been poisoning her food. At the time, Gladys used to refuse medicines that were prescribed to control her schizophrenia since the medicines didn’t align with her religious teachings. As per reports, Gladys used to write to Monroe regularly, pleading for her release from the establishment. Image Credit: Marilyn18/Find a Graveĭuring her stay at Rockhaven, Gladys was found unconscious in her room with her left wrist slit. After Eley’s death, Gladys’ condition worsened and she got admitted to Rockhaven Sanitarium, presently located in Glendale, California. At the time, she was working at the Homestead Lodge nursing home in Eagle Rock, California. In 1949, she married an electrician named John Stewart Eley, with whom she lived for three years until Eley’s death due to a heart infection. After getting diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia, Gladys was released from San Jose’s Agnews State Hospital in 1946. At the time, she was staying at a retirement home in Gainesville, Florida. ![]() Whilst Gladys would at times speak of Norma Jeane, in her later years, when questioned about her, Gladys did not seem sure who Norma Jeane was or what had become of her.Gladys Pearl Baker died on March 11, 1984, at the age of 81, due to heart failure. Having been unsuccessful at living independently, Gladys returned to Berniece and entered a Florida nursing home where she lived out her days until she died of congenitive heart failure on 11th March 1984, at the age of eighty one. This stay lasted a short time due to Gladys having more than a few misadventures, including once leaving the iron burning through the ironing board as she sat reading a book.īy the time Marilyn’s will came through, according to Berniece, in 1977, Gladys had run away and was nowhere to be found. In 1965, following a suicide attempt, Berniece removed Gladys from the sanitarium and brought her to Florida to live with her. Gladys was reported to have told the clergyman that she had never wanted Marilyn to become an actress and that her career never did Marilyn any good. Gladys was later found in a Baptist church and spoke to one of the clergyman before she returned to the sanitarium. Gladys escaped from Rockhaven by climbing down a rope of knotted sheets, a Christian Science manual and a bible in her hand. Rockhaven moved Gladys to a smaller room in order to try to accommodate her and, in an out of character gesture by the owner, allowed her to stay free of charge for two years. There was no money readily available immediately following Marilyn’s death to provide for Gladys’ care at Rockhaven, and the cost of living there had become unmanageable. God bless you all for your goodness.įollowing Marilyn’s death it took years to organise her will and get it out of probate. She is at peace and at rest now and may our God bless her and help her always: Wanted her to be happy and joyous. I am very grateful for your kind and gracious help toward Beniece and myself and to dear Norma Jeane. Three weeks following Marilyn’s death Gladys wrote a letter to Inez Melson – Marilyn’s business manager – in which she discussed Norma Jeane. Whilst living there Gladys attempted suicide several times and was involved in altercations with some of the patients. Rockhaven was a beautiful sanitarium but the fact that it wasn’t run by Chrisian Scientists bothered Gladys and, as Berniece noted, Gladys would not be happy anywhere that she was confined. Prior to Marilyn’s death, Gladys was moved to Rockhaven Sanitarium in Los Angeles where she lived for eight years. It wasn’t until an article appeared in the media disclosing that Gladys was alive and well, that people realised Marilyn wasn’t an orphan. ![]() As Marilyn’s star began to rise, she even led people to believe her mother was dead. Little is known of this period of Gladys’ life due to Marilyn wanting her privacy respected. Over the period of time that Marilyn was making a living as an actress, she paid for Glady’s care with her earnings. The couple lived in Los Angeles but Eley died just three years later of a heart infection.ĭuring Marilyn’s career Gladys spent the majority of her time in and out of care facilities or hospitals. However Eley neglected to inform Gladys that he was already married – his first wife living in Boise, Idaho. ![]() In 1949, Gladys Baker married John Stewart Eley, an electrician. ![]()
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |