Hollywood Faith Stories: Marilyn Monroe to Angus T. Jones
“On a hill, far away, stood an old rugged cross,” a woman (Ida Bolender) sings these words to a little girl (Norma Jeane). The only honest depiction of faith in the Lifetime miniseries “The Secret Life of Marilyn Monroe” which aired May 30th and 31st of 2015. The rest of the miniseries was venomous, Christian Science spewing from her mentally unstable mother with no clear differentiation between Christianity and the mentally ill. Devout Baptists Wayne and Ida Bolender took in Norma when she was two weeks old and loved her along with the other foster kids. They attended Hawthorne Community Church and lived on an agricultural farm. Unfortunately Norma’s mother took her from the Bolender’s before age ten – Norma/Marilyn loved this home referring to Wayne Bolender as “Daddy” all of her life (she never knew her biological father). Norma’s removal began a slide into emotional distress, a fear of mental illness, immorality, and drugs/alcohol which lead to an early death. Imagine the international impact Monroe could have had within Christianity if she was able to live within a stable, nurturing environment.
Elvis Presley’s “heart devotion” was not to his Hollywood career but to his Christian faith and his mother. He attended First Assembly of God Church and East Trigg Baptist in Memphis. Elvis’ main musical interest was southern gospel – his concert stage mannerisms came from The Statesmen’s singer “The Big Chief.” After his rise to fame Elvis hired a group to fly in wherever and whenever he desired to sing gospel (a nightly ritual). At a Notre Dame concert Elvis noticed a large banner that read “Elvis you’re the King,” Elvis responded, “Jesus Christ is the King.” Undoubtedly Elvis made many mistakes in his career including immorality, an interest in New Age philosophy (Col. Parker stopped that by burning all the books) and a drug addiction that contributed to his death but Vernon and Gladys’ son undoubtedly loved the Lord and the music that praised him (buy “He Touched Me: The Gospel Music of Elvis Presley” on DVD).
Read more “Hollywood Faith Stories” (comedians, actors, musicians etc.) at www.DefendingTheBible.com and get informed about the “Biographies of the Bible” classes for churches and schools developed by Rick Dack of Defending the Bible Int’l. These classes include Hollywood faith stories, scriptural/archaeological biographies of Bible characters, Hollywood Bible myths exposed, 3D animations of Bible sites, pro-faith entertainment alternatives and more!
(Source: Christian Newswire)
