MM
Marilyn Monroe
Actor, Producer, Additional Credits
Born June 1, 1926Died August 5, 1962 (36 years)
Marilyn Monroe (born Norma Jeane Mortenson; 1 June 1926 – 4 August 1962) was a European-American actress. Famous for playing comedic "blonde bombshell" characters, she became one of the most popular sex symbols of the 1950s and early 1960s, as well as an emblem of the era's sexual revolution. She was a top-billed actress for a decade, and her films grossed $200 million (equivalent to $2 billion in 2021) by the time of her death in 1962. Long after her death, Monroe remains a major icon of pop culture. In 1999, the American Film Institute ranked her sixth on their list of the greatest female screen legends from the Golden Age of Hollywood. Multiple film critics and media outlets have cited Monroe as one of the best actors never to have received an Academy Award nomination.
Born and raised in Los Angeles, Monroe spent most of her childhood in a total of 12 foster homes and an orphanage; she married at age sixteen. She was working in a factory during World War II when she met a photographer from the First Motion Picture Unit and began a successful pin-up modeling career, which led to short-lived film contracts with 20th Century Fox and Columbia Pictures. After a series of minor film roles, she signed a new contract with Fox in late 1950. Over the next two years, she became a popular actress with roles in several comedies, including As Young as You Feel and Monkey Business, and in the dramas Clash by Night and Don't Bother to Knock. She faced a scandal when it was revealed that she had posed for nude photographs prior to becoming a star, but the story did not damage her career and instead resulted in increased interest in her films.
By 1953, Monroe was one of the most marketable Hollywood stars; she had leading roles in the film noir Niagara, which overtly relied on her sex appeal, and the comedies Gentlemen Prefer Blondes and How to Marry a Millionaire, which established her star image as a "dumb blonde". The same year, her nude images were used as the centerfold and on the cover of the first issue of Playboy. She played a significant role in the creation and management of her public image throughout her career, but she was disappointed when she was typecast and underpaid by the studio. She was briefly suspended in early 1954 for refusing a film project but returned to star in The Seven Year Itch (1955), one of the biggest box office successes of her career.
When the studio was still reluctant to change Monroe's contract, she founded her own film production company in 1954. She dedicated 1955 to building the company and began studying method acting under Lee Strasberg at the Actors Studio. Later that year, Fox awarded her a new contract, which gave her more control and a larger salary. Her subsequent roles included a critically acclaimed performance in Bus Stop (1956) and her first independent production in The Prince and the Showgirl (1957). She won a Golden Globe for Best Actress for her role in Some Like It Hot (1959), a critical and commercial success. Her last completed film was the drama The Misfits (1961).
Born and raised in Los Angeles, Monroe spent most of her childhood in a total of 12 foster homes and an orphanage; she married at age sixteen. She was working in a factory during World War II when she met a photographer from the First Motion Picture Unit and began a successful pin-up modeling career, which led to short-lived film contracts with 20th Century Fox and Columbia Pictures. After a series of minor film roles, she signed a new contract with Fox in late 1950. Over the next two years, she became a popular actress with roles in several comedies, including As Young as You Feel and Monkey Business, and in the dramas Clash by Night and Don't Bother to Knock. She faced a scandal when it was revealed that she had posed for nude photographs prior to becoming a star, but the story did not damage her career and instead resulted in increased interest in her films.
By 1953, Monroe was one of the most marketable Hollywood stars; she had leading roles in the film noir Niagara, which overtly relied on her sex appeal, and the comedies Gentlemen Prefer Blondes and How to Marry a Millionaire, which established her star image as a "dumb blonde". The same year, her nude images were used as the centerfold and on the cover of the first issue of Playboy. She played a significant role in the creation and management of her public image throughout her career, but she was disappointed when she was typecast and underpaid by the studio. She was briefly suspended in early 1954 for refusing a film project but returned to star in The Seven Year Itch (1955), one of the biggest box office successes of her career.
When the studio was still reluctant to change Monroe's contract, she founded her own film production company in 1954. She dedicated 1955 to building the company and began studying method acting under Lee Strasberg at the Actors Studio. Later that year, Fox awarded her a new contract, which gave her more control and a larger salary. Her subsequent roles included a critically acclaimed performance in Bus Stop (1956) and her first independent production in The Prince and the Showgirl (1957). She won a Golden Globe for Best Actress for her role in Some Like It Hot (1959), a critical and commercial success. Her last completed film was the drama The Misfits (1961).
Known For
Marilyn Monroe Filmography
| 2025 | |
| 2018 | Making Montgomery Clift · as Roslyn Taber |
| 2016 | All Governments Lie: Truth, Deception, and the Spirit of I.F. Stone · as The Girl (archive Footage) |
| 2015 | Women He's Undressed · as Cast |
| 2012 | Final Cut: Ladies and Gentlemen · as (archive Footage) |
| 2012 | Marilyn Monroe: In the Movies · as Cast |
| 2011 | Come Fly with Me: The Story of Pan Am · as Cast |
| 2008 | The Arrivals · as Cast |
| 2008 | The Jill & Tony Curtis Story · as Roslyn Taber |
| 2005 | Elton John: The Red Piano · as Footage 'candle In The Wind' |
| 2005 | Cuando España se desnudó · as Cast |
| 2001 | Larry and Vivien: The Oliviers in Love · as Cast |
| 2000 | Twentieth Century Fox: The Blockbuster Years · as Lorelei Lee |
| 1995 | The Casting Couch · as Cast |
| 1994 | That's Entertainment! III · as (archive Footage) |
| 1990 | Hollywood Heaven: Tragic Lives, Tragic Deaths · as (archive Footage) |
| 1982 | Hollywood: The Gift of Laughter · as Actress - 'some Like It Hot' |
| 1981 | Sixty Years of Seduction · as Cast |
| 1961 | The Misfits · as Roslyn Taber |
| 1960 | Let's Make Love · as Amanda Dell |
| 1959 | Ford Startime (TV Series) |
| 1959 | Some Like It Hot · as Sugar Kane Kowalczyk |
| 1957 | The Prince and the Showgirl · as Elsie |
| 1956 | Bus Stop · as Cherie |
| 1955 | The Seven Year Itch · as The Girl |
| 1954 | There's No Business Like Show Business · as Vicky |
| 1954 | River of No Return · as Kay Weston |
| 1953 | How to Marry a Millionaire · as Pola Debevoise |
| 1953 | Gentlemen Prefer Blondes · as Lorelei Lee |
| 1953 | |
| 1952 | We're Not Married! · as Annabel Jones |
| 1952 | O. Henry's Full House · as Streetwalker (segment "the Cop And The Anthem") |
| 1952 | Monkey Business · as Lois Laurel |
| 1952 | Don't Bother to Knock · as Nell Forbes |
| 1952 | Clash by Night · as Peggy |
| 1951 | Let's Make It Legal · as Joyce Mannering |
| 1951 | Love Nest · as Roberta 'bobbie' Stevens |
| 1951 | As Young as You Feel · as Harriet |
| 1951 | Home Town Story · as Iris Martin |
| 1950 | The Fireball · as Polly |
| 1950 | All About Eve · as Miss Caswell |
| 1950 | Right Cross · as Dusky Ledoux (uncredited) |
| 1950 | A Ticket to Tomahawk · as Clara |
| 1950 | The Asphalt Jungle · as Angela Phinlay |
| 1949 | Love Happy · as Grunion's Client |
| 1948 | Ladies of the Chorus · as Peggy Martin |
| 1948 | Scudda Hoo! Scudda Hay! · as Betty (uncredited) |
| 1948 | Green Grass of Wyoming · as Extra At Square Dance (uncredited) |
| 1948 | You Were Meant for Me · as Undetermined Minor Role |
| 1947 | Dangerous Years · as Evie |
| 1947 | The Shocking Miss Pilgrim · as Telephone Operator (voice) (uncredited) |
| 1957 | The Prince and the Showgirl · as Executive Producer |
| 1956 |
| 2012 | Love, Marilyn · as Personal Papers |