Who was Marilyn Monroe’s sister Berniece Baker?
MARILYN Monroe's legacy as a Hollywood icon lives on after her untimely death in 1962.
But many fans are still curious about the American sweetheart's family life, and the fact that she had a sister called Berniece Baker.
Who was Marilyn Monroe's half-sister Berniece?
Berniece Inez Gladys Miracle (Baker) was born in Venice, California on July 30, 1919.
She was the daughter of Gladys Pearl Baker and Jasper Newton.
After Gladys filed for divorce in 1921, Jasper kidnapped Berniece and her brother, Robert Kermit, and raised them in his native Kentucky.
Robert tragically died from kidney failure in 1933 – aged 14.
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Two years later, Berniece began attending Pineville High School before marrying Paris Miracle in 1938.
Their only child, Mona Rae Miracle, was born a year later - some twelve days before Miracle's 20th birthday.
It was during her pregnancy that Berniece received a letter from her mother, informing her that she had a half sister.
Norma, as Marilyn was called then, was in her teens when the half-sisters eventually met in 1944 after exchanging letters and pictures.
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As Marilyn’s fledgling career in the modelling and film industry took off, the pair regularly kept in touch.
The actress is said to have visited Berniece in her New York home in 1961 after she underwent surgery for her cholecystectomy.
The Hollywood star died a year later and left Berniece $10,000 in her final will.
When did Berniece die?
Berniece died in Asheville, North Carolina, on May 25, 2014, at the age of 94.
She spent most of her life avoiding media attention.
During her life Berniece worked as a manufacturing inspector, bookkeeper and costume designer.
What did Berniece say about her sister Marilyn?
In 1994, Berniece wrote a memoir about their sisterly bond called My Sister Marilyn: A Memoir Of Marilyn Monroe.
Within the pages of the memoir, Berniece spoke highly of her famous sister writing: “There was no chance of missing her.
“None of the passengers looked anything like her: tall, so pretty and fresh, and wearing what she had described, a cobalt wool suit and a hat with a heart shape dip in the brim.”
In an interview, Berniece also dismissed the idea that Marilyn's cause of death was suicide.
She said: “It could have been an accident because I had just talked to her a short time before.
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“She told me what she had planned to do, she had just bought a new house and she was working on the curtains of the windows.
"She had so many things to look forward to and she was so happy."