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Twentieth Century-Fox signs a six-month player option and the stage name Marilyn Monroe is adopted

On 24 August 1946 Fox put Norma Jeane Dougherty under a six-month player option after a silent test. With Lyon she took the professional name Marilyn Monroe, using her mother’s maiden surname. In the causal graph this event strengthens the driver Labour-Market Tightness.

Sources: [1][2]

Read the full account

On 24 August 1946 Fox put Norma Jeane Dougherty under a six-month player option after a silent test. With Lyon she took the professional name Marilyn Monroe, using her mother’s maiden surname. This Fact is that option-and-name instrument, not Ladies of the Chorus and not the 1950s starring mill.

Context

A first studio option is labour access inside a seven-year-contract system that later constrained her.

Marilyn Monroe’s documented role is bounded by other offices and collaborators named in the sources below.

Ben Lyon and Fox legal staff executed the option; Grace McKee Goddard signed as guardian on earlier paper. Zanuck was unenthusiastic. The name is a studio-and-self choice, not a civil-registry rewrite of 1926.

Why it matters

A named player option is a labour-market door. Confidence high on the contract month, medium on any unique later coefficient from the option.

Who was responsible

Contribution type and responsibility level for each recorded actor — not sole-author shorthand.

  • Marilyn Monroe

    Person

    Direct responsibility

    responsibility level 0.4 · verified

What changed

Fact → Driver → Indicator. Relationship strength orders the paths; it is not the observed indicator movement.

    1. FactTwentieth Century-Fox signs a six-month player option and the stage name Marilyn Monroe is adopted
    2. strengthensDriverLabour-Market Tightness

    impact weight 0.5 · Effect from 24 August 1946 · verified

    A named player option is a labour-market door. Confidence high on the contract month, medium on any unique later coefficient from the option.

Evidence

The sources behind this fact and its verification state.

Verified2 sources on file
  1. 1.Britannica — Marilyn MonroeEncyclopaedia Britannica · High credibility · verified
  2. 2.AFI Catalog — Marilyn Monroe person recordAmerican Film Institute · High credibility · verified
What the sources establish

AFI person chronology and Britannica independently date the 1946 Fox option and the Monroe name.

Established: 1946 Fox option and public use of Marilyn Monroe.

Marilyn Monroe did not file a later UNESCO form, a later Loeb colophon, or a later museum label as a personal act. A six-month option is not MMP. Keep Lyon’s naming distinct from Zanuck’s later refusals.

Causal path

How this event connects to drivers and indicators in the graph.

  1. ActorMarilyn Monroe
  2. contributed toFactTwentieth Century-Fox signs a six-month player option and the stage name Marilyn Monroe is adopted
  3. strengthensDriverLabour-Market Tightness

Cite this page

Factrail. (2026). Twentieth Century-Fox signs a six-month player option and the stage name Marilyn Monroe is adopted. Factrail. https://factrail.ai/facts/mm-fox-contract-name-1946

https://factrail.ai/facts/mm-fox-contract-name-1946

Accessed 16 October 2026.

By the Factrail desk · Method: how we source and score · Last reviewed

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