Biography
Marilyn Monroe (born Norma Jeane Mortenson; June 1, 1926 – August 4, 1962) was an American actress renowned for her comedic "blonde bombshell" roles. She emerged as one of the most iconic sex symbols of the 1950s and early 1960s and became a symbol of the sexual revolution during that period. Monroe was a leading actress for a decade, with her films earning $200 million (about $2 billion in 2021) by the time of her death in 1962. Decades later, she remains a significant pop culture icon. In 1999, the American Film Institute ranked her sixth among the greatest female screen legends from Hollywood's Golden Age. Numerous critics and media sources have recognized Monroe as one of the finest actors never nominated for an Academy Award.
Raised in Los Angeles, Monroe spent much of her childhood in 12 foster homes and an orphanage, marrying at sixteen. During World War II, while working in a factory, she met a photographer from the First Motion Picture Unit, which led to a successful pin-up modeling career and brief film contracts with 20th Century Fox and Columbia Pictures. After several minor film roles, she secured a new contract with Fox in late 1950. Over the next two years, Monroe gained popularity with roles in comedies such as As Young as You Feel and Monkey Business, and dramas like Clash by Night and Don't Bother to Knock. A scandal arose when it was revealed she had posed for nude photographs before her rise to fame, but rather than harming her career, it sparked greater interest in her films.
By 1953, Monroe was among Hollywood's most marketable stars, starring in the film noir Niagara, which emphasized her sex appeal, and in the comedies Gentlemen Prefer Blondes and How to Marry a Millionaire, which cemented her "dumb blonde" persona. That same year, nude photos of her appeared as the centerfold and cover of Playboy’s inaugural issue. Monroe played a key role in shaping and managing her public image but grew frustrated with being typecast and underpaid by the studio. After briefly being suspended in early 1954 for refusing a film project, she returned to star in The Seven Year Itch (1955), one of her career’s biggest box office hits.
When the studio hesitated to revise her contract, Monroe founded her own film production company in 1954. She spent 1955 establishing the company and studying method acting with Lee Strasberg at the Actors Studio. Later that year, Fox granted her a new contract that offered greater control and a higher salary. Her later roles included a critically praised performance in Bus Stop (1956) and her first independent production, The Prince and the Showgirl (1957). She earned a Golden Globe for Best Actress for her role in Some Like It Hot (1959), which was both a critical and commercial triumph. Her final completed film was the drama The Misfits (1961).
