1926-06-01 Los Angeles, California, USA
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).
Dream Girl: The Making of Marilyn Monroe | Self (archive footage) | 2022-11-28 | |
The Mystery of Marilyn Monroe: The Unheard Tapes | Self (archive footage) | 2022-04-27 | |
Rat Pack | Self (archive footage) | 2022-01-11 | |
Una foto de Marilyn | Marilyn Monroe | 2022-04-14 | |
Devenir Marilyn | Self (archive) | 2022-08-07 | |
Cher: In Her Own Words | Self (archive footage) (uncredited) | 2021-05-04 | |
Marilyn Monroe: Beauty is Pain | Self | 2021-06-01 | |
Tunnel der Freiheit | Self (archive footage) | 2021-07-22 | |
I Am Jackie O | Self (archive footage) | 2020-11-26 | |
Signoret et Montand, Monroe et Miller : Deux couples à Hollywood | Self (archive footage) | 2020-12-07 | |
Hollywood, la vie rêvée de Lana Turner | Self (archive footage) | 2019-05-22 | |
Marilyn and I | Self | 2019-01-20 | |
Marilyn Monroe for Sale | Self | 2018-12-23 | |
Always at The Carlyle | Self (archive footage) | 2018-05-11 | |
Marilyn Monroe: Auction of a Lifetime | Self (archive footage) | 2017-04-05 | |
Arthur Miller: Writer | Self (archive footage) | 2017-12-08 | |
All Governments Lie: Truth, Deception, and the Spirit of I.F. Stone | The Girl (archive footage) | 2016-11-04 | |
Arthur Miller – Ein ehrgeiziges Herz | Self - Miller's 2nd Wife (archive footage) | 2015-10-17 | |
Marilyn Monroe Declassified | 2015-07-12 | ||
Love, Marilyn | Self (archive footage) | 2013-05-30 | |
Footsteps on the Ceiling | Miss Caswell (archive footage) | 2013-01-01 | |
Fascination: Unauthorized Story of Marilyn Monroe | 2012-05-15 | ||
Marilyn | 2012-04-02 | ||
Bert Stern: Original Madman | Self (archive footage) | 2011-09-02 | |
Smash His Camera | Self (archive footage) | 2010-07-30 | |
The Kennedy Detail | Self (archive footage) | 2010-12-02 | |
Marilyn Monroe - Ich möchte geliebt werden | (archive footage) | 2010-02-10 | |
Cameraman: The Life and Work of Jack Cardiff | Self (archive footage) | 2010-05-05 | |
Marilyn Monroe - Tod einer Ikone | Self (archive footage) | 2010-02-10 | |
La Rabbia di Pasolini | Self (archive footage) | 2008-09-05 | |
Marilyn, dernières séances | Herself (archive footage) | 2008-10-13 | |
Grace face à son destin | Self - Actress (archive footage) | 2006-09-16 | |
Jane Russell - Der Star aus dem Heu | Self (archive footage) | 2006-06-21 | |
Playboy: Celebrity Centerfolds | 2006-01-01 | ||
The Legacy of 'Some Like It Hot' | Self (archive footage) | 2006-06-25 | |
The Making of 'Some Like It Hot' | Self (archive footage) | 2006-06-25 | |
Playboy: 50 Years of Playmates | Self (archive footage) | 2004-09-14 | |
Sex at 24 Frames Per Second | Self (archive footage) | 2003-09-23 | |
Marilyn: Portrait of a Legend | 2002-07-30 | ||
Making 'The Misfits' | Self (archive footage) | 2002-10-02 | |
Marilyn Monroe: The Final Days | Self (archive footage) | 2001-06-01 | |
Cleopatra: The Film That Changed Hollywood | Self (archive footage) | 2001-04-03 | |
Clara Bow: Discovering the It Girl | Self (archive footage) | 1999-06-14 | |
Marilyn in Manhattan | Self | 1998-09-05 | |
Barbara Stanwyck: Straight Down The Line | Self (archive footage) | 1997-05-12 | |
Marilyn, divine et fragile | Herself (archive) | 1996-12-31 | |
The Good, The Bad, and the Beautiful | Self (archive footage) | 1996-03-17 | |
We Remember Marilyn | Herself (Archive Footage) | 1996-01-01 | |
Trinity and Beyond: The Atomic Bomb Movie | Self (archive footage) | 1995-09-29 | |
The Casting Couch | (archive footage) | 1995-01-01 | |
That's Entertainment! III | (archive footage) | 1994-07-01 | |
Marilyn Monroe: The Mortal Goddess | Self (archive footage) | 1994-10-17 | |
Robert Mitchum: The Reluctant Star | Self (archive footage) | 1991-03-10 | |
Barbara Stanwyck: Fire and Desire | Self (archive footage) | 1991-07-15 | |
Hollywood Heaven: Tragic Lives, Tragic Deaths | (archive footage) | 1990-01-01 | |
Marilyn: Something's Got to Give | Self (archive footage) | 1990-12-13 | |
Batmania: From Comics to Screen | Self | 1989-01-01 | |
John Huston: The Man, the Movies, the Maverick | Self (archive footage) | 1989-01-01 | |
Hollywood's Hidden Secrets | (Archival Footage) | 1987-01-01 | |
Hollywood Uncensored | Self (archive footage) | 1987-12-01 | |
Marilyn Monroe | (archive footage) | 1986-01-01 | |
Marilyn Monroe: Beyond the Legend | Self (archive footage) | 1986-04-19 | |
Hollywood Out-takes and Rare Footage | Self (archive footage) (uncredited) | 1983-02-25 | |
Oops, Those Hollywood Bloopers! | Self (archive footage) | 1982-01-01 | |
Mi Marilyn | Self (archive footage) | 1975-01-02 | |
The Men Who Made the Movies: Howard Hawks | Self (archive footage) | 1973-01-01 | |
Fake Newsreal | Herself | 1970-01-01 | |
I due Kennedy | Self | 1969-11-18 | |
The Love Goddesses | (archive footage) | 1965-03-03 | |
La rabbia | Self (archive footage) | 1963-04-13 | |
The Marilyn Monroe Story | Herself | 1963-06-01 | |
Marilyn | Self (archive footage) | 1963-04-18 | |
President Kennedy's Birthday Salute | Self | 1962-05-19 | |
Something's Got to Give | Ellen Wagstaff Arden | 1962-08-04 | |
The Misfits | Roslyn Taber | 1961-02-01 | |
Let's Make Love | Amanda Dell | 1960-09-08 | |
Some Like It Hot | Sugar Kane Kowalczyk | 1959-03-19 | |
The Prince and the Showgirl | Elsie | 1957-06-13 | |
Bus Stop | Cherie | 1956-08-31 | |
The Seven Year Itch | The Girl | 1955-06-03 | |
River of No Return | Kay Weston | 1954-04-30 | |
There's No Business Like Show Business | Vicky | 1954-12-16 | |
Niagara | Rose Loomis | 1953-01-26 | |
Gentlemen Prefer Blondes | Lorelei Lee | 1953-07-14 | |
How to Marry a Millionaire | Pola Debevoise | 1953-10-29 | |
Don't Bother to Knock | Nell Forbes | 1952-07-18 | |
Monkey Business | Lois Laurel | 1952-09-03 | |
Clash by Night | Peggy | 1952-05-30 | |
O. Henry's Full House | Streetwalker (segment "The Cop and the Anthem") | 1952-08-07 | |
We're Not Married! | Annabel Jones | 1952-07-11 | |
As Young as You Feel | Harriet | 1951-06-15 | |
Home Town Story | Iris Martin | 1951-05-18 | |
Love Nest | Roberta 'Bobbie' Stevens | 1951-10-10 | |
Let's Make It Legal | Joyce Mannering | 1951-10-31 | |
All About Eve | Miss Caswell | 1950-11-09 | |
The Asphalt Jungle | Angela Phinlay | 1950-05-12 | |
Right Cross | Dusky Ledoux (uncredited) | 1950-10-06 | |
A Ticket to Tomahawk | Clara | 1950-05-19 | |
The Fireball | Polly | 1950-11-09 | |
Love Happy | Grunion's Client | 1949-10-12 | |
Scudda Hoo! Scudda Hay! | Betty (uncredited) | 1948-03-10 | |
Green Grass of Wyoming | Extra at Square Dance (uncredited) | 1948-06-03 | |
Ladies of the Chorus | Peggy Martin | 1948-12-30 | |
Dangerous Years | Evie | 1947-12-07 | |
The Shocking Miss Pilgrim | Telephone Operator (voice) (uncredited) | 1947-01-04 |