Doris Elizabeth Gifford was born in Los Angeles County on September 22, 1920, to Charles Stanley and Lillian (Priester) Gifford. Doris is a significant role in Marilyn Monroe’s life despite her brief and terrible life. Doris, 12, died on May 11, 1933, leaving her family grieving.
Early Life of Doris Elizabeth Gifford
Because Marilyn Monroe’s mother, Gladys Pearl Baker, was married to Doris’s father, Charles Stanley Gifford, Doris’s family became famous. Her mother, Lillian Priester, was a housewife, and her father, Charles, was a businessman. Before their familial link to Monroe earned them notoriety, Doris, the sister of Charles Stanley Gifford Jr., lived in relative obscurity.
Doris’s early years are unknown, however she was close to her family. Doris was raised in Los Angeles County, a city that would become key to the entertainment industry, although she never had a noteworthy public career.
Doris Elizabeth Gifford’s Father: Charles Stanley Gifford
Born in Newport, Rhode Island, in 1898, Charles Stanley Gifford is best known as Marilyn Monroe’s biological father. Gifford had a brief romance with Marilyn’s mother, Gladys Pearl Baker, while a shift foreman at Consolidated Film Industries. DNA tests showed Gifford’s fatherhood to Marilyn Monroe after she was reared without him. Gifford has a daughter, Doris Elizabeth, and Marilyn. Doris grew up with her father, unlike Marilyn, who was rarely in Gifford’s life.
Personal and professional problems defined Charles Stanley Gifford. Lillian Priester, his wife, divorced him in the early 1940s after his romance with Gladys Baker. Gifford’s refusal to claim Marilyn Monroe as his daughter has been debated. His grandchildren, including Francine Gifford Deir, said Marilyn tried to meet him in the 1950s but he refused. Gifford’s reputation as Marilyn Monroe’s father has been established by historical research and familial accounts, including his daughter Doris Elizabeth Gifford’s. Charles Stanley Gifford died in 1965, leaving a complicated family dynamic that has captivated the public for decades.
Connection to Marilyn Monroe
Marilyn Monroe, Doris Elizabeth Gifford’s half-sister, greatly influenced her life and legacy. Marilyn was born in 1926, six years after Doris, to Gladys Pearl Baker, who had married Charles Stanley Gifford before marrying Monroe’s father, Edward Mortensen. Although Monroe’s real father was Doris’s father, Charles Gifford, the actress struggled with her identity, familial connections, and lack of a solid family life.
Doris died prematurely when Marilyn Monroe was six. Marilyn was in foster care since her mother was constantly hospitalized for mental health difficulties. Doris’s death likely had little direct impact on Marilyn’s childhood, but it’s part of her complicated family history. Doris’s death and Marilyn’s traumatic upbringing set the stage for Monroe’s sad life.
The Tragic Death of Doris Elizabeth Gifford
Limited information concerning Doris’s illness and death makes her death a mystery. Doris died at 12 on May 11, 1933. Her death may have been caused by disease, accident, or other factors. This early demise was very hard for her parents, Charles and Lillian Gifford.
Doris’s unexpected death bereft her family, yet genealogy records and public memorials honor her. Forest Lawn Memorial Park in Glendale, California, is where many Hollywood icons are interred, Marilyn Monroe.
Doris Elizabeth Gifford’s Legacy
Doris Elizabeth Gifford is part of Marilyn Monroe’s family heritage despite her brief life. Doris was not part of Monroe’s famed entertainment career, but her memory lives on in genealogical archives and websites. The complicated tapestry of Marilyn Monroe’s family includes her.
Family trees and memorial sites like Find a Grave and WikiTree record Doris’s birth and death. Doris represents Monroe’s early family’s tragedy of dysfunction, grief, and uncertainty. Marilyn Monroe said her broken home life shaped her and contributed to her public appeal.
The Gifford Family’s Tragedy and Marilyn Monroe’s Impact
Doris Elizabeth Gifford’s 1933 death and Marilyn Monroe’s troubled childhood depict a family troubled by loss and instability. Monroe sought stability in her latter years, but her family’s early absence and sister’s death tormented her. Another sad episode in Hollywood icon’s family history is Doris’s brief life.
Doris Elizabeth Gifford is a footnote in Marilyn Monroe’s sad life. Though devastating for her family, her death is part of the convoluted legacy of one of the world’s most beloved and sad actresses. Doris’s life and death are preserved in public records and memorials, revealing the Giffords’ hidden family history.
Conclusion
Doris Elizabeth Gifford’s short, mysterious existence and death are essential to Marilyn Monroe’s life. Doris’s 12-year-old death symbolizes Monroe and her extended family’s early loss, sadness, and dysfunction. A small girl whose brief existence intersected with one of Hollywood’s most renowned people is remembered alongside Doris.
