Marilyn Monroe
Acting • Born 1926-06-01 – Died 1962-08-05
Biography
Marilyn Monroe (born Norma Jeane Mortenson; 1 June 1926 – 4 August 1962) 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).
Filmography
119 credits
Some Like It Hot
Movie • 1959
Sugar Kane Kowalczyk
All About Eve
Movie • 1950
Miss Caswell
Gentlemen Prefer Blondes
Movie • 1953
Lorelei Lee
John Huston: The Man, the Movies, the Maverick
Movie • 1988
Self (archive footage)
How to Marry a Millionaire
Movie • 1953
Pola Debevoise
River of No Return
Movie • 1954
Kay Weston
Arthur Miller: Writer
Movie • 2017
Self (archive footage)
The Seven Year Itch
Movie • 1955
The Girl
The Making of 'Some Like It Hot'
Movie • 2006
Self (archive footage)
The Legacy of 'Some Like It Hot'
Movie • 2006
Self (archive footage)
The Misfits
Movie • 1961
Roslyn Taber
There's No Business Like Show Business
Movie • 1954
Vicky
Green Grass of Wyoming
Movie • 1948
Extra at Square Dance (uncredited)
Let's Make It Legal
Movie • 1951
Joyce Mannering
Clash by Night
Movie • 1952
Peggy
We're Not Married!
Movie • 1952
Annabel Jones
Don't Bother to Knock
Movie • 1952
Nell Forbes
O. Henry's Full House
Movie • 1952
Streetwalker (segment "The Cop and the Anthem")
Monkey Business
Movie • 1952
Lois Laurel
Bus Stop
Movie • 1956
Cherie
The Prince and the Showgirl
Movie • 1957
Elsie
Let's Make Love
Movie • 1960
Amanda Dell
Love Happy
Movie • 1949
Grunion's Client
Home Town Story
Movie • 1951
Iris Martin
Love Nest
Movie • 1951
Roberta 'Bobbie' Stevens
Fake Newsreal
Movie • 1970
Self (archive footage)
As Young as You Feel
Movie • 1951
Harriet
The Asphalt Jungle
Movie • 1950
Angela Phinlay
Marilyn and I
Movie • 2019
Self (archive footage)
Ladies of the Chorus
Movie • 1948
Peggy Martin
Hollywood Uncensored
Movie • 1987
Self (archive footage)
Niagara
Movie • 1953
Rose Loomis
Hollywood Out-takes and Rare Footage
Movie • 1983
Self (archive footage) (uncredited)
The Fireball
Movie • 1950
Polly
Dangerous Years
Movie • 1947
Evie
Trinity and Beyond: The Atomic Bomb Movie
Movie • 1995
Self (archive footage)
Marilyn Monroe: Beauty is Pain
Movie • 2021
Self (archive footage)
Marilyn in Manhattan
Movie • 1998
Self (archive footage)
Cleopatra: The Film That Changed Hollywood
Movie • 2001
Self (archive footage)
A Ticket to Tomahawk
Movie • 1950
Clara
Oops, Those Hollywood Bloopers!
Movie • 1982
Self (archive footage)
The Men Who Made the Movies: Howard Hawks
Movie • 1973
Self (archive footage)
Right Cross
Movie • 1950
Dusky Ledoux (uncredited)
Clara Bow: Discovering the "It" Girl
Movie • 1999
Self (archive footage)
Playboy: Celebrity Centerfolds
Movie • 2006
Self (archive footage)
Una foto de Marilyn
Movie • 2022
Self (archive footage)
Becoming Marilyn
Movie • 2022
Self (archive footage)
Marilyn: Something's Got to Give
Movie • 1990
Self (archive footage)
Marilyn Monroe Declassified
Movie • 2015
Self (archive footage)
Marilyn Monroe for Sale
Movie • 2018
Self (archive footage)
Marilyn: Portrait of a Legend
Movie • 2002
Self (archive footage)
Fascination: Unauthorized Story of Marilyn Monroe
Movie • 2012
Self (archive footage)
Rat Pack
Movie • 2022
Self (archive footage)
Hollywood Heaven: Tragic Lives, Tragic Deaths
Movie • 1990
(archive footage)
Scudda Hoo! Scudda Hay!
Movie • 1948
Betty (uncredited)
Robert Mitchum: The Reluctant Star
Movie • 1991
Self (archive footage)
Barbara Stanwyck: Straight Down the Line
Movie • 1997
Self (archive footage)
Playboy: 50 Years of Playmates
Movie • 2004
Self (archive footage)
Marilyn
Movie • 2012
Self (archive footage)
Final Cut: Ladies and Gentlemen
Movie • 2012
(archive footage)
Marilyn Monroe: The Mortal Goddess
Movie • 1994
Self (archive footage)
Marilyn on Marilyn
Movie • 2001
Self (archive footage)
Something's Got to Give
Movie • 1962
Ellen Wagstaff Arden
That's Entertainment! III
Movie • 1994
(archive footage)
Barbara Stanwyck: Fire and Desire
Movie • 1991
Self (archive footage)
All Governments Lie: Truth, Deception, and the Spirit of I.F. Stone
Movie • 2016
The Girl (archive footage)
The Shocking Miss Pilgrim
Movie • 1947
Telephone Operator (voice) (uncredited)
Marilyn
Movie • 1963
Self (archive footage)
Mi Marilyn
Movie • 1975
Self (archive footage)
Arthur Miller: A Man of His Century
Movie • 2015
Self - Miller's 2nd Wife (archive footage)
Making 'The Misfits'
Movie • 2002
Self (archive footage)
La Rabbia
Movie • 1963
Self (archive footage)
Marilyn Monroe
Movie • 1986
Self (archive footage)
Cameraman: The Life and Work of Jack Cardiff
Movie • 2010
Self (archive footage)
President Kennedy's Birthday Salute
Movie • 1962
Self
Grace Kelly: Destiny of a Princess
Movie • 2006
Self - Actress (archive footage)
Batmania: From Comics to Screen
Movie • 1989
Self (archive footage)
The Marilyn Monroe Story
Movie • 1963
Self (archive footage)
Footsteps on the Ceiling
Movie • 2013
Miss Caswell (archive footage)
Hollywood Singing and Dancing: A Musical History - The 1950s: The Golden Era of the Musical
Movie • 2009
Self (archive)
Marilyn Monroe: Still Life
Movie • 2006
Self (archive footage)
Marilyn Magdalena
Movie • 1972
Nobody's Perfect: The Making of Some Like It Hot
Movie • 2001
Self (archive footage)
Hollywood-Diven von ihrer erotischen Seite
Movie • 2017
Self (archive footage)
Hidden Hollywood: Treasures from the 20th Century Fox Film Vaults
Movie • 1997
Self (Archival Footage)
Beautiful Like a Poem
Movie • 2020
Self (archive footage)
The Legend of Marilyn Monroe
Movie • 1966
Self (archive footage)
Marilyn Monroe: Portrait of a Legend...Suicide Or Murder?
Movie • 1995
Prayer for Marilyn Monroe
Movie • 1998
Portrait of Norma Jeane
Movie • 2025
Say Goodbye to the President: Marilyn and The Kennedys
Movie • 1985
Self (archive footage)
The Life And Music Of Marilyn Monroe
Movie • 2006
Herself
Marilyn Monroe: Unclaimed Baggage
Movie • 2012
Self (archive footage)
Marilyn Monroe: A Life in Pictures
Movie • 2005
Self
Dream Girl: The Making of Marilyn Monroe
Movie • 2022
Zwischen Glück und Krone
Movie • 1959
Lykke og krone
Movie • 1962
Mythos Côte d'Azur - Liebe, Luxus, Leidenschaft
Movie • 2021
Playboy Playmates: The Early Years
Movie • 1992
Playboy's 50th Anniversary Celebration
Movie • 2003
Murderers, Mobsters, & Madmen: Volume 6: Hollywood Police Files
Movie • 1992
Faces of Death Part VII
Movie • 1992
Marilyn's Man
Movie • 2004
Self (archive footage)
Arthur Miller on Home Ground
Movie • 1979
Un film et son époque
TV • 2003
Self (archive footage)
Mentiras verdaderas
TV • 2011
Self (archive footage)
Pretty Baby: Brooke Shields
TV • 2023
Self (archive footage)
Startime
TV • 1959
The Jack Benny Program
TV • 1950
Marilyn Monroe
Spécial cinéma
TV • 1974
Self (archive footage)
Intimate Portrait
TV • 1993
Self (archive footage)
The Century of Icons
TV • 2022
Self (archive footage)
The Bob Hope Show
TV • 1950
Self
The Jack Benny Program
TV • 1950
Self
First Ladies
TV • 2020
Self (archive footage)
Golden Globe Awards
TV • 1944
Self - Nominee
ABC Stage 67
TV • 1966
Self (archive footage)
Код доступа
TV • 2017
Self
Marilyn Monroe, La Célébrité à tout prix
TV • 2022
Marilyn Monroe