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Photo of Marilyn Monroe

Marilyn Monroe

Actor, Producer, Additional Credits
Born June 1, 1926Died August 5, 1962 (36 years)
Marilyn Monroe (born Norma Jeane Mortenson) was an 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).

Movies & Shows on Plex

  • Niagara
  • Home Town Story
  • Death in Hollywood
  • Hollywood Heaven: Tragic Lives, Tragic Deaths

Known For

  • Some Like It Hot
  • The Seven Year Itch
  • How to Marry a Millionaire
  • The Misfits
  • Gentlemen Prefer Blondes
  • Niagara
  • All About Eve
  • The Prince and the Showgirl
  • Let's Make Love
  • River of No Return
  • Don't Bother to Knock
  • Monkey Business
  • There's No Business Like Show Business
  • Clash by Night
  • Love, Marilyn
  • Ladies of the Chorus
  • We're Not Married!
  • O. Henry's Full House
  • Love Nest
  • As Young as You Feel
  • Let's Make It Legal
  • Home Town Story
  • The Fireball

Featured Videos

    Filmography

    2025
    My Mom Jayne · as Self
    2025
    2024
    Famously Haunted: Hollywood · as Self - Actress
    2024
    2024
    2024
    2024
    2023
    2023
    Stan Lee · as Self
    2023
    Pretty Baby: Brooke Shields (TV Series) · as Self (archive Footage)
    2022
    Dream Girl: The Making of Marilyn Monroe · as Self (archive Footage)
    2022
    2022
    2022
    2022
    Becoming Marilyn · as Self (archive Footage)
    2022
    2022
    2022
    Reframed: Marilyn Monroe (TV Series) · as Self (archive Footage)
    2022
    2021
    2021
    2021
    Tunnel der Freiheit · as Self (archive Footage)
    2021
    Marilyn Monroe: Beauty is Pain · as Self (archive Footage)
    2021
    Cher: In Her Own Words · as Self (archive Footage) (uncredited)
    2021
    2020
    2020
    2020
    I Am Jackie O · as Self (archive Footage)
    2020
    Canaan Land · as Self
    2020
    Blitzed! · as Self
    2020
    First Ladies (TV Series) · as Self (archive Footage)
    2020
    2020
    2019
    2019
    2019
    2019
    2019
    Icons (2019) (TV Series) · as Self
    2018
    Always at The Carlyle · as Self (archive Footage)
    2018
    2017
    2017
    Arthur Miller: Writer · as Self (archive Footage)
    2017
    2017
    2017
    2017
    Marilyn Monroe: Auction of a Lifetime · as Self (archive Footage)
    2017
    Mansfield 66/67 · as Self - Actress
    2017
    Andy Warhol, Fluorescent · as Self (archive Footage)
    2016
    Before the Flood · as Self
    2016
    Marilyn Monroe Declassified · as Self (archive Footage)
    2016
    Dear Eleanor · as Self
    2016
    2015
    Soaked in Bleach · as Self
    2015
    2014
    Famous Nathan · as Self
    2013
    2013
    2012
    Love, Marilyn · as Self (archive Footage)
    2012
    2012
    2012
    2012
    Året var 1962 · as Self (archive Footage)
    2011
    2011
    2011
    2011
    2010
    2010
    The Kennedy Detail · as Self (archive Footage)
    2010
    The Clock · as Self
    2010
    Smash His Camera · as Self (archive Footage)
    2010
    2010
    2009
    Mysteries in the Archives (TV Series) · as Self
    2009
    2008
    2008
    La rabbia di Pasolini · as Self (archive Footage)
    2008
    2008
    2008
    2008
    2006
    Grace Kelly: Destiny of a Princess · as Self - Actress (archive Footage)
    2006
    Marilyn Monroe: Still Life · as Self (archive Footage)
    2006
    2006
    Playboy: Celebrity Centerfolds · as Self (archive Footage)
    2005
    The World's Most Photographed (TV Series) · as Self
    2005
    2004
    Marilyn's Man · as Self
    2004
    Playboy: 50 Years of Playmates · as Self (archive Footage)
    2004
    2004
    Hit Celebrity TV Commercials · as Self - For Union Oil Royal Trident Gas
    2003
    2003
    2003
    2003
    2002
    The Biographer · as Self
    2002
    2001
    2001
    Cleopatra: The Film That Changed Hollywood · as Self (archive Footage)
    2000
    2000
    L'idée noire · as Self - (archives)
    2000
    1999
    1999
    1999
    Clara Bow: Discovering the It Girl · as Self (archive Footage)
    1999
    1999
    The Rat Pack (TV Series) · as Self
    1999
    1998
    Marilyn in Manhattan · as Self (archive Footage)
    1998
    1998
    1998
    1997
    The Fifties (TV Series) · as Self (with Gis In Korea)
    1997
    1997
    1997
    Barbara Stanwyck: Straight Down The Line · as Self (archive Footage)
    1997
    1996
    Ayn Rand: A Sense of Life · as Self - Visits Korea
    1996
    1996
    We Remember Marilyn · as Self (archive Footage)
    1995
    Trinity and Beyond: The Atomic Bomb Movie · as Self (archive Footage)
    1995
    1994
    Marilyn Monroe: The Mortal Goddess · as Self (archive Footage)
    1993
    1993
    Fame in the 20th Century (TV Series) · as Self
    1992
    1992
    Death Scenes 2 · as Self
    1991
    Barbara Stanwyck: Fire and Desire · as Self (archive Footage)
    1991
    Robert Mitchum: The Reluctant Star · as Self (archive Footage)
    1990
    Marilyn: Something's Got to Give · as Self (archive Footage)
    1990
    Intimate Portrait (TV Series) · as Self (archive Footage)
    1989
    Heavy Petting · as Self
    1989
    Batmania from Comics to Screen · as Self (archive Footage)
    1989
    1988
    1988
    1988
    1987
    Hollywood Uncensored · as Self (archive Footage)
    1987
    The Family · as Self
    1986
    Marilyn Monroe: Beyond the Legend · as Self (archive Footage)
    1986
    Baby Love · as Self
    1986
    Women in Rock · as Self
    1985
    Volunteers · as Self
    1985
    1983
    1983
    Hollywood Out-takes and Rare Footage · as Self (archive Footage) (uncredited)
    1983
    1982
    Oops, those Hollywood Bloopers! · as Self (archive Footage)
    1980
    1979
    1973
    The Men Who Made the Movies: Howard Hawks · as Self (archive Footage)
    1969
    I due Kennedy · as Self (archive Footage)
    1966
    ABC Stage 67 (TV Series) · as Self (archive Footage)
    1965
    1965
    1963
    1963
    Marilyn · as Self (archive Footage)
    1963
    Anger · as Self (archive Footage)
    1963
    1962
    1962
    1962
    Lykke og krone · as Self
    1959
    1959
    Zwischen Glück und Krone · as Self (archive Footage)
    1953
    Person to Person (TV Series) · as Self
    1952
    1950
    The Jack Benny Program (TV Series) · as Self
    1950
    The Bob Hope Show (TV Series) · as Self
    1944
    Golden Globe Awards (TV Series) · as Self - Nominee

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