Marilyn Monroe
Known for: Acting
Marilyn Monroe (born Norma Jeane Mortenson; June 1, 1926 – August 4, 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
Series
Golden Globe Awards
Self - Nominee
1944
Series
Spécial cinéma
Self (archive footage)
1974
Series
Intimate Portrait
Self (archive footage)
1993
Series
Mentiras verdaderas
Self (archive footage)
2011
Series
The Bob Hope Show
Self
1950
Series
The Jack Benny Program
Marilyn Monroe
1950
Film
Some Like It Hot
Sugar Kane Kowalczyk
1959
Series
Pretty Baby: Brooke Shields
Self (archive footage)
2023
Series
ABC Stage 67
Self (archive footage)
1966
Film
All About Eve
Miss Caswell
1950
Film
The Misfits
Roslyn Taber
1961
Film
Love Happy
Grunion's Client
1949
Film
Gentlemen Prefer Blondes
Lorelei Lee
1953
Film
The Seven Year Itch
The Girl
1955
Film
How to Marry a Millionaire
Pola Debevoise
1953
Film
The Asphalt Jungle
Angela Phinlay
1950
Film
Let's Make Love
Amanda Dell
1960
Film
River of No Return
Kay Weston
1954
Film
Niagara
Rose Loomis
1953
Film
Bus Stop
Cherie
1956
Series
First Ladies
Self (archive footage)
2020
Film
Final Cut: Ladies and Gentlemen
(archive footage)
2012
Series
Код доступа
Self
2017
Film
The Prince and the Showgirl
Elsie
1957
Film
Barbara Stanwyck: Fire and Desire
Self (archive footage)
1991
Series
Un film et son époque
Self (archive footage)
2003
Film
Lykke og krone
1962
Film
Don't Bother to Knock
Nell Forbes
1952
Film
Monkey Business
Lois Laurel
1952
Film
Hollywood Invasion
archive footage
2011
Film
Playboy's 50th Anniversary Celebration
2003
Film
Andy Warhol, Fluorescent
2016
Film
That's Entertainment! III
(archive footage)
1994
Film
O. Henry's Full House
Streetwalker (segment "The Cop and the Anthem")
1952
Film
Bardot
archive footage
2025
Series
Reframed: Marilyn Monroe
archive footage
2022
Film
Portrait of Norma Jeane
Self(archive footage)
2027
Film
Crushtime
L'actrice blonde
2025
Film
There's No Business Like Show Business
Vicky
1954
Series
The Century of Icons
Self (archive footage)
2022
Series
Marilyn and the Mob
archive footage
2026
Film
Clash by Night
Peggy
1952
Film
Disney Celebrates America: The Pursuit of Happiness
Self (archival footage)
2026
Film
Jayne Mansfield: The Tragedy of a Blonde
Self (archive footage)
2015
Film
Let's Make It Legal
Joyce Mannering
1951
Film
Hollywood Uncensored
Self (archive footage)
1987
Film
Playboy: Celebrity Centerfolds
Self (archive footage)
2006
Film
Love, Marilyn
archive footage
2013
Film
Zwischen Glück und Krone
1959
Film
A Ticket to Tomahawk
Clara
1950
Film
As Young as You Feel
Harriet
1951
Film
Cinema Through the Eye of Magnum
Self(archive footage) (voice)
2017
Film
Mansfield 66/67
Self - Actress(archive footage)
2017
Film
We're Not Married!
Annabel Jones
1952
Film
Fatal Addiction: Marilyn Monroe
archive footage
2022
Film
Playboy's Playmates: The Early Years
Self (archive footage)
1992
Film
Bert Stern - Original Madman
2011
Film
Cameraman: The Life and Work of Jack Cardiff
Self (archive footage)
2010
Film
Marilyn, Her Final Secret
2022
Film
Arthur Miller: Writer
Self (archive footage)
2017
Film
Clara Bow: Discovering the "It" Girl
Self (archive footage)
1999
Film
Barbara Stanwyck: Straight Down the Line
Self (archive footage)
1997
Film
The Casting Couch
1995
Film
The Good, The Bad, and the Beautiful
Self (archive footage)
1996
Film
Robert Mitchum: The Reluctant Star
Self (archive footage)
1991
Film
All Governments Lie: Truth, Deception, and the Spirit of I.F. Stone
The Girl (archive footage)
2016
Film
Hollywood Out-takes and Rare Footage
Self (archive footage) (uncredited)
1983
Film
Trinity and Beyond: The Atomic Bomb Movie
Self (archive footage)
1995
Film
Playboy: 50 Years of Playmates
Self (archive footage)
2004
Film
The Fabulous Allan Carr
Self (archive)
2017
Film
Ladies of the Chorus
Peggy Martin
1948
Remembering Marilyn
Self (archive footage)
1988
Film
Rat Pack
Self (archive footage)
2022
Film
The Legacy of 'Some Like It Hot'
Self (archive footage)
2006
Marilyn Monroe: The Last Torments
archive footage
2011
Film
Faces of Death VII
1992
Film
Prayer for Marilyn Monroe
1998
Film
Arthur Miller on Home Ground
1979
Film
The Shocking Miss Pilgrim
Telephone Operator (voice) (uncredited)
1947
Film
100 Years of Marilyn Monroe
Herself
2026
Film
Marilyn
1970
Film
Footsteps on the Ceiling
Miss Caswell (archive footage)
2013
Series
Marilyn Monroe, la célébrité à tout prix
Self (archive) - actress, subject
2022
Film
John Huston: The Man, the Movies, the Maverick
Self (archive footage)
1988
Film
Oops, Those Hollywood Bloopers!
Self (archive footage)
1982
The Prince, The Showgirl and Me
Self (archive footage)
2004
Film
Norma Jean Alias Marilyn Monroe
archive footage
1987
Film
Destins secrets d’étoiles - Grace, Jackie, Liz, Marilyn…
2015
Film
The Myth of Marilyn Monroe
Self (archival footage)
2023
Film
Grace Kelly: Destiny of a Princess
Self - Actress (archive footage)
2006
Film
Arthur Miller: A Man of His Century
Self - Miller's 2nd Wife (archive footage)
2015
Film
Right Cross
Dusky Ledoux (uncredited)
1950
Film
Marilyn, a woman of today
archive footage
2022
Film
Marilyn Monroe: The Final Days
archive footage
2001
Film
Marilyn Monroe: Beyond the Legend
archive footage
1986
Film
Home Town Story
Iris Martin
1951
Murderers, Mobsters, & Madmen: Volume 6: Hollywood Police Files
(archive footage) (uncredited)
1992
Film
Mi Marilyn
Self (archive footage)
1975
Film
The Fireball
Polly
1950
Film
Marilyn Monroe Declassified
Self (archive footage)
2015
Film
Becoming Marilyn
Self (archive footage)
2022
Film
Love Nest
Bobbie Stevens
1951
Film
Marilyn
Self (archive footage)
1963
Film
Marilyn's Man
Self (archive footage)
2004
Film
Nobody's Perfect: The Making of Some Like It Hot
Self (archive footage)
2001
Film
Marilyn in Manhattan
Self (archive footage)
1998
Film
Una foto de Marilyn
Self (archive footage)
2022
Film
The Making of 'Some Like It Hot'
Self (archive footage)
2006
Film
Marilyn: Portrait of a Legend
Self (archive footage)
1992
Film
My Life as Marilyn
archive footage
2023
Hollywood-Diven von ihrer erotischen Seite
Self (archive footage)
2017
Film
Hollywood Heaven: Tragic Lives, Tragic Deaths
(archive footage)
1990
Film
Fascination: Unauthorized Story of Marilyn Monroe
Self (archive footage)
2012
Film
La Rabbia
Self (archive footage)
1963
Film
Green Grass of Wyoming
Extra at Square Dance (uncredited)
1948
Film
Hidden Hollywood: Treasures from the 20th Century Fox Film Vaults
Self (Archival Footage)
1997
Film
Marilyn, dernières séances
Self(archive footage)
2008
The Discovery Of Marilyn Monroe
1991
Film
Eve and Marilyn
archive footage
1987
Marilyn Monroe: In The Movies
2012
Film
Marilyn at the Movies
Self (archive footage)
2011
Film
Mythos Côte d'Azur - Liebe, Luxus, Leidenschaft
2021
Film
Death In Hollywood
1990
Film
Marilyn vs Marilyn
archive footage
2002
Film
President Kennedy's Birthday Salute
Self
1962
Film
Marilyn Monroe: The Rise of an Icon
Self
2026
Film
Cleopatra: The Film That Changed Hollywood
Self (archive footage)
2001
Film
The Legend of Marilyn Monroe
Self (archive footage)
1966
Film
The Men Who Made the Movies: Howard Hawks
Self (archive footage)
1973
Film
We Remember Marilyn
archive footage
1996
Film
Batmania: From Comics to Screen
Self (archive footage)
1989
Film
Scudda Hoo! Scudda Hay!
Betty (uncredited)
1948
Film
Marilyn despite herself
2012
Film
Hollywood Singing and Dancing: A Musical History - The 1950s: The Golden Era of the Musical
Self (archive)
2009
Film
Backstory: 'All About Eve'
Self (archive footage)
2000
Film
Beautiful Like a Poem
Self (archive footage)
2020
Film
Marilyn: Something's Got to Give
Self (archive footage)
1990
Film
Making 'The Misfits'
Self (archive footage)
2002
Two Tragic Blondes - Marilyn Monroe And Jean Harlow
Self (archive footage)
1989
Film
Marilyn Monroe: Still Life
Self (archive footage)
2006
Film
Voyage to Nowhere
(archive footage)(uncredited)
1986
Film
The Complete Marilyn Monroe
Self
2001
Film
Celebrity Crime Scene: Marilyn Monroe
Self (archive footage)
2026
Film
Dangerous Years
Evie
1947
The Body of Marilyn Monroe
archive footage
2004
Film
Marilyn Monroe: I Want to Be Loved
archive footage
2010
Film
Marilyn Monroe: The Mortal Goddess
Self (archive footage)
1994
Film
Signoret and Montand, Monroe and Miller: Two couples in Hollywood
Self(archive footage)
2020
Series
Scandalous: The Death of Marilyn Monroe (Director's Cut)
archive footage
2019
The Marilyn Files
Self(archive footage)
1992
Film
Bettie Page: The Girl in the Leopard Print Bikini
2004
Film
Aliens Uncovered: Marilyn Monroe Exposed
Self (archive footage)
2024
Film
Marilyn Monroe
Self (archive footage)
1986
Film
Say Goodbye to the President: Marilyn and The Kennedys
Self (archive footage)
1985
Film
Marilyn on Marilyn
Self (archive footage)
2001
Marilyn
Self (archive footage)
2012
Film
Marilyn and I
Self (archive footage)
2019
Film
Marilyn Monroe: A Life in Pictures
Self
2005
Hollywood Hall Of Fame - Marilyn Monroe
1998
Film
Marilyn Monroe for Sale
Self (archive footage)
2018
Film
Marilyn Magdalene
1972
Film
Marilyn Monroe: Portrait of a Legend...Suicide Or Murder?
1995
Film
Marilyn Monroe: Beauty is Pain
Self (archive footage)
2021
Film
The Marilyn Monroe Story
Self (archive footage)
1963
Film
Marilyn Monroe: Unclaimed Baggage
Self (archive footage)
2012
Fake Newsreal
Self (archive footage)
1970
Film
Marilyn Monroe: The Story of Her Iconic Life
Self
2012
Film
The Life And Music Of Marilyn Monroe
Herself
2006