Who Was Marilyn Monroe’s Sister? All About Berniece Baker Miracle

Marilyn Monroe lived in the spotlight, as her sister Berniece Baker Miracle documented in the only authorized biography of the star’s life.

In 1994, he published Miracle My Sister Marilyn: The Memoirs of Marilyn Monroe, which she co-wrote with her daughter Mona Rae Miracle. The book details how the sisters grew closer despite their estrangement as children and the effects of Monroe’s fame.

Despite being in the public eye for much of Monroe’s life, she rarely spoke about her sister. Miracle was born in 1919, seven years before Monroe, to the same mother as the Hollywood star. The couple didn’t meet until Monroe was 18, but they formed a close relationship.

“She was a wonderful sister,” Miracle said The New York Times in 1994.

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Miracle and Monroe have the same mother

Young teenager Norma Jeane Baker poses with her half-sister Berniece Baker Miracle, circa 1944.

Screen Archive/Getty

Miracle was born to Gladys and Jasper Baker on July 30, 1919 in Venice, California.

In 1921, the Bakers divorced. According to The New York Times, Miracle was raised by his father and stepmother, with no relation to his biological mother.

Gladys married and divorced Martin Mortensen and then had a brief relationship with Charles Stanley Gifford. The couple welcomed Monroe (born Norma Jeane Mortensen) on June 1, 1926, but Gifford did not help raise her. Shortly after her birth, Gladys placed baby Norma Jeane in foster care.

They met when Monroe was 18 years old

According to The New York Times, the sisters found out about each other only in 1938, when Monroe was 12 and Miracle 19 years old.

At that time, the older sister was married to Paris Miracle and was about to become a mother. Monroe lived between family friends, foster parents and an orphanage, so the sisters did not meet until 1944.

“By then she was married to her first husband, Jim Dougherty, and she came to Detroit by train to visit us,” Miracle told times in 1994. “We’ve stayed in touch ever since. She called me when she was married to Arthur Miller and had problems.”

After they met in person, Monroe wrote a postcard to Miracle and her husband. “I just can’t tell you how much I enjoyed meeting you,” she wrote. “I want to thank you for everything, it was wonderful. With love, Norma Jean.”

Despite Monroe’s work and travel schedule, the sisters stayed in touch

A postcard written by Marilyn Monroe to Mr. and Mrs. Paris Miracle, her half-sister Berniece and her husband, postmarked October 28, 1944.

Courtesy of Sotheby’s/Newsmakers/Getty

In a 33rd birthday card Miracle sent Monroe in 1959, she wrote that she wanted them to get together soon.

“Dearest Marilyn, I would love to fly over and visit you this summer during part of my vacation,” Miracle wrote on the card, which is on display in the Marilyn Monroe Digital Collection. “Please call or write me when you will come home and when is the best time to come. Say hello to Arthur. With love, Berniece.”

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Miracle’s book was praised for its insight into Monroe’s life

Berniece Baker Miracle and daughter Mona Rae Miracle at the 94th Annual American Booksellers Convention and Expo on May 28, 1994.

Ron Galella, Ltd./Ron Galella Collection/Getty

Although there have been many unauthorized biographies of Monroe’s life, her sister’s 1994 account is the only one authorized by the family. Includes intimate personal stories and family photos.

“Berniece Miracle finally opens her family album — and translates the American legend into flesh and blood,” Life magazine wrote at the time of publication. “MY SISTER MARILYN is a big hug through the decades for a sweet, talented, loving girl.”

Miracle helped plan Monroe’s funeral

Joe DiMaggio attends the funeral of movie star Marilyn Monroe with his son Joe Junior and Monroe’s half-sister Bernice Miracle.

Keystone/Getty

When Monroe died in 1962, her ex-husband Joe DiMaggio, business manager Inez Melson and Miracle worked together to plan her funeral.

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A miracle said The The New York Times that along with the green dress in which the actress was buried, she chose Monroe’s coffin. Entertainment WeeklyMiracle’s book details how she pieced together “safety pins, a sheet and several garments of different sizes and thicknesses — to make the dress conform to Marilyn’s normal body shape” to make the actress look like herself.

To address the crowds they expected at Monroe’s services, Miracle, DiMaggio and Melson did not invite many of Monroe’s Hollywood friends and released a statement to explain this.

“We sincerely hope that Marilyn’s many friends will understand that we deeply appreciate their desire to pay their last respects to the Marilyn we all loved,” they wrote. “We hope that each person will understand that last rites must be as private as possible so that they can go to their final resting place in the silence they have always sought.”

The miracle died in 2014

Miracle died on May 25, 2014 at the age of 94.

Although she lived her final years in Florida and North Carolina, she is buried in Kentucky next to her husband, who died in 1990.

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Source: HIS Education