Marilyn Monroe
June 1, 1926 — August 5, 1962
Marilyn Monroe was an American actress and model whose luminous screen presence, comic timing, and barely-concealed vulnerability made her one of the most enduring cultural icons in history — a woman who was simultaneously Hollywood's biggest star and one of its most misunderstood artists.
From Norma Jeane to Marilyn
Born Norma Jeane Mortenson on June 1, 1926 in Los Angeles, Monroe spent much of her childhood in foster care and orphanages while her mother was institutionalized for mental illness. She married at 16 to avoid returning to an orphanage, then launched a modeling career that caught the attention of Twentieth Century Fox. The studio renamed her Marilyn Monroe, bleached her hair, and began grooming her for stardom. Her early film roles were small, but her magnetic screen presence was impossible to ignore — in a Hollywood full of glamorous women, she radiated something entirely her own.
Comedy, Drama, and Serious Ambition
Monroe's breakthrough came as Lorelei Lee in Gentlemen Prefer Blondes (1953) alongside Jane Russell. She followed it with How to Marry a Millionaire the same year and The Seven Year Itch (1955), whose iconic scene of her white dress billowing over a subway grate became the most reproduced image in Hollywood history. Despite being typecast as the dizzy blonde, Monroe was deeply serious about her craft. She studied at the Actors Studio in New York under Lee Strasberg, forming a bond with Strasberg's wife Paula that would last for the rest of her life. Her performance in Bus Stop (1956) earned some of her best critical notices.
Did You Know?
Marilyn Monroe founded her own production company, Marilyn Monroe Productions, in 1955 — one of the first times a major Hollywood star had done so. She used the leverage to renegotiate her contract with Fox, winning creative approval rights and a significant salary increase. Many historians credit her as a pioneering figure in the commercialization of celebrity and star power long before such concepts became standard in the industry.
Some Like It Hot and Later Years
Her funniest and most beloved performance came in Billy Wilder's Some Like It Hot (1959), a screwball comedy in which her timing was so perfect that co-star Tony Curtis allegedly described kissing her as "like kissing Hitler" after the number of tortured takes involved. The film is regularly named one of the greatest comedies ever made. She married playwright Arthur Miller in 1956; the marriage became strained during the troubled production of The Misfits (1961), written by Miller as a vehicle for her and co-starring Clark Gable. It was the final completed film for both Monroe and Gable. Monroe and Miller divorced in 1961.
Legacy
Monroe died on August 5, 1962, at age 36, from an overdose of barbiturates. Her death was ruled a probable suicide, though the circumstances have fueled speculation for decades. In the years since, her image has become one of the most reproduced in the world — appearing on Andy Warhol silkscreens, magazine covers, and in countless tribute performances. She remains a symbol of Hollywood glamour and feminine vulnerability, but also increasingly recognized as a talented comedian and actor who was rarely given the full respect her abilities deserved. Time magazine included her on its list of the 100 most important people of the twentieth century.