108 Facts About Marilyn Monroe

Marilyn Monroe was an American actress and model.

Marilyn Monroe 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.

Marilyn Monroe faced a scandal when it was revealed that she had posed for nude photographs prior to fame, but the story resulted in increased interest in her films.

Marilyn Monroe became one of the most marketable Hollywood stars in 1953.

Marilyn Monroe played a significant role in the creation and management of her public image, but felt disappointed when typecast and underpaid by the studio.

Marilyn Monroe was briefly suspended in early 1954 for refusing a film project but returned to star in The Seven Year Itch, one of the biggest box office successes of her career.

Marilyn Monroe dedicated 1955 to building the company and began studying method acting under Lee Strasberg at the Actors Studio.

Marilyn Monroe won a Golden Globe for her role in Some Like It Hot, a critical and commercial success.

Marilyn Monroe's last completed film was the drama The Misfits.

Marilyn Monroe remains a pop culture icon, with the American Film Institute ranking her as the sixth-greatest female screen legend from the Golden Age of Hollywood.

Marilyn Monroe was born Norma Jeane Mortenson at Los Angeles General Hospital on June 1,1926.

Marilyn Monroe's mother, Gladys Pearl Baker, was born in Piedras Negras, Coahuila, Mexico, into a poor Midwestern family who migrated to California at the turn of the century.

Marilyn Monroe first learnt about her sister when she was 12 years old, and met her for the first time in her late teens.

Marilyn Monroe lived there for six months until she was forced to move back to the city for employment.

Marilyn Monroe spent the rest of her life in and out of hospitals and was rarely in contact with Monroe.

Marilyn Monroe became a ward of the state, and her mother's friend Grace Goddard took responsibility over her and her mother's affairs.

Marilyn Monroe's second stay with the Goddards lasted only a few months because Doc allegedly molested her.

Marilyn Monroe then lived for brief periods with her relatives and Grace's friends and relatives in Los Angeles and Compton.

Marilyn Monroe found a more permanent home in September 1938, when she began living with Grace's aunt Ana Lower in Sawtelle.

Marilyn Monroe was enrolled at Emerson Junior High School and went to weekly Christian Science services with Lower.

Marilyn Monroe excelled in writing and contributed to the school newspaper, but was otherwise a mediocre student.

Marilyn Monroe found herself and Dougherty mismatched, and later said she was "dying of boredom" during the marriage.

In 1943, Dougherty enlisted in the Merchant Marine and was stationed on Santa Catalina Island, where Marilyn Monroe moved with him.

Marilyn Monroe straightened her naturally curly brown hair and dyed it platinum blonde.

Marilyn Monroe spent her first six months at Fox learning acting, singing, and dancing, and observing the film-making process.

Marilyn Monroe returned to modeling while doing occasional odd jobs at film studios, such as working as a dancing "pacer" behind the scenes to keep the leads on point at musical sets.

Marilyn Monroe was determined to make it as an actress, and continued studying at the Actors' Lab.

Marilyn Monroe had a small role in the play Glamour Preferred at the Bliss-Hayden Theater, but it ended after a couple of performances.

At Columbia, Marilyn Monroe's look was modeled after Rita Hayworth and her hair was bleached platinum blonde.

Marilyn Monroe began working with the studio's head drama coach, Natasha Lytess, who would remain her mentor until 1955.

Marilyn Monroe screen-tested for the lead role in Born Yesterday, but her contract was not renewed in September 1948.

When her contract at Columbia ended, Marilyn Monroe returned again to modeling.

Marilyn Monroe shot a commercial for Pabst beer and posed for artistic nude photographs by Tom Kelley for John Baumgarth calendars, using the name 'Mona Monroe'.

Marilyn Monroe had previously posed topless or clad in a bikini for other artists including Earl Moran, and felt comfortable with nudity.

Marilyn Monroe was a very ambitious girl, [and] knew what she wanted [and was] very serious about it.

In 1951, Marilyn Monroe had supporting roles in three moderately successful Fox comedies: As Young as You Feel, Love Nest, and Let's Make It Legal.

Marilyn Monroe found herself at the center of a scandal in March 1952, when she revealed publicly that she had posed for a nude calendar in 1949.

The studio had learned about the photos and that she was publicly rumored to be the model some weeks prior, and together with Marilyn Monroe decided that to prevent damaging her career it was best to admit to them while stressing that she had been broke at the time.

Marilyn Monroe had begun taking acting classes with Michael Chekhov and mime Lotte Goslar soon after beginning the Fox contract, and Clash by Night and Don't Bother to Knock showed her in different roles.

Marilyn Monroe received positive reviews for her performance: The Hollywood Reporter stated that "she deserves starring status with her excellent interpretation", and Variety wrote that she "has an ease of delivery which makes her a cinch for popularity".

The latter was a thriller in which Marilyn Monroe starred as a mentally disturbed babysitter and which Zanuck used to test her abilities in a heavier dramatic role.

Marilyn Monroe was often late or did not show up at all, did not remember her lines, and would demand several re-takes before she was satisfied with her performance.

Marilyn Monroe's problems have been attributed to a combination of perfectionism, low self-esteem, and stage fright.

Marilyn Monroe disliked her lack of control on film sets and never experienced similar problems during photo shoots, in which she had more say over her performance and could be more spontaneous instead of following a script.

In some scenes, Marilyn Monroe's body was covered only by a sheet or a towel, considered shocking by contemporary audiences.

Marilyn Monroe continued to attract attention by wearing revealing outfits, most famously at the Photoplay Awards in January 1953, where she won the "Fastest Rising Star" award.

Marilyn Monroe's role was originally intended for Betty Grable, who had been 20th Century-Fox's most popular "blonde bombshell" in the 1940s; Marilyn Monroe was fast eclipsing her as a star who could appeal to both male and female audiences.

Marilyn Monroe was listed in the annual Top Ten Money Making Stars Poll in both 1953 and 1954, and according to Fox historian Aubrey Solomon became the studio's "greatest asset" alongside CinemaScope.

Marilyn Monroe had become one of 20th Century-Fox's biggest stars, but her contract had not changed since 1950, so that she was paid far less than other stars of her stature and could not choose her projects.

Marilyn Monroe called it a "Z-grade cowboy movie in which the acting finished second to the scenery and the CinemaScope process", but it was popular with audiences.

Marilyn Monroe took classes with Constance Collier and attended workshops on method acting at the Actors Studio, run by Lee Strasberg.

Marilyn Monroe grew close to Strasberg and his wife Paula, receiving private lessons at their home due to her shyness, and soon became a family member.

Marilyn Monroe replaced her old acting coach, Natasha Lytess, with Paula; the Strasbergs remained an important influence for the rest of her career.

Marilyn Monroe started undergoing psychoanalysis, as Strasberg believed that an actor must confront their emotional traumas and use them in their performances.

Marilyn Monroe continued her relationship with DiMaggio despite the ongoing divorce process; she briefly dated actor Marlon Brando.

Marilyn Monroe began a more serious affair with playwright Arthur Miller.

Marilyn Monroe would be free to make one film with MMP per each completed film for Fox.

Marilyn Monroe began 1956 by announcing her win over 20th Century-Fox.

Marilyn Monroe played Cherie, a saloon singer whose dreams of stardom are complicated by a naive cowboy who falls in love with her.

Broadway director Joshua Logan agreed to direct, despite initially doubting Marilyn Monroe's acting abilities and knowing of her difficult reputation.

Marilyn Monroe disliked the constant presence of Paula Strasberg, Monroe's acting coach, on set.

Marilyn Monroe had an ectopic pregnancy in mid-1957, and a miscarriage a year later; these problems were most likely linked to her endometriosis.

Marilyn Monroe returned to Hollywood in July 1958 to act opposite Jack Lemmon and Tony Curtis in Billy Wilder's comedy on gender roles, Some Like It Hot.

Marilyn Monroe privately likened the production to a sinking ship and commented on her co-stars and director saying why should I worry, I have no phallic symbol to lose.

Marilyn Monroe angered him by asking to alter many of her scenes, which in turn made her stage fright worse, and it is suggested that she deliberately ruined several scenes to act them her way.

Marilyn Monroe chose George Cukor to direct and Miller rewrote some of the script, which she considered weak.

Marilyn Monroe accepted the part solely because she was behind on her contract with Fox.

The last film Marilyn Monroe completed was John Huston's The Misfits, which Miller had written to provide her with a dramatic role.

Marilyn Monroe played Roslyn, who has just received a quickie divorce in Reno, Nevada and befriends three aging cowboys, played by Clark Gable, Eli Wallach and Montgomery Clift.

Marilyn Monroe resented that he had based Roslyn partly on herself and thought the character inferior to the male roles.

Marilyn Monroe struggled with Miller's habit of rewriting scenes the night before filming.

Marilyn Monroe's health was failing: she was in pain from gallstones, and her drug addiction was so severe that her makeup usually had to be applied while she was still asleep under the influence of barbiturates.

Marilyn Monroe would go deep down within herself and find it and bring it up into consciousness.

Marilyn Monroe did not film any new projects in 1961 but instead focused on her health.

Marilyn Monroe had surgery for her endometriosis and gall bladder problems, and underwent four weeks of hospital treatment for depression.

Marilyn Monroe first admitted herself to the Payne Whitney Psychiatric Clinic, but was erroneously placed on a ward meant for people with psychosis, where she was locked in a padded cell and not allowed to move to a more suitable ward or leave the hospital.

Marilyn Monroe returned to the public eye in the spring of 1962.

Marilyn Monroe received a "World Film Favorite" at the 19th Golden Globe Awards and began to shoot a film for Fox, Something's Got to Give, a remake of My Favorite Wife.

Marilyn Monroe was too sick to work for most of the next six weeks, but despite confirmations by multiple doctors, the studio pressured her by alleging publicly that she was faking it.

Marilyn Monroe drew attention with her costume: a beige, skintight dress covered in rhinestones, which made her appear as if she were nude.

Marilyn Monroe next filmed a scene for Something's Got to Give in which she swam naked in a swimming pool.

Marilyn Monroe was replaced by Lee Remick, but after Martin refused to make the film with anyone other than Monroe, Fox sued him as well and shut down the production.

Marilyn Monroe was planning on starring in a biopic of Jean Harlow.

Marilyn Monroe saw light from under Monroe's bedroom door but was unable to get a response and found the door locked.

Marilyn Monroe found a nude Monroe dead in her bed, covered by a sheet, with her hand clamped around a telephone receiver.

The possibility that Marilyn Monroe had accidentally overdosed was ruled out because the dosages found in her body were several times the lethal limit.

Marilyn Monroe's doctors stated that she had been "prone to severe fears and frequent depressions" with "abrupt and unpredictable mood changes", and had overdosed several times in the past, possibly intentionally.

Marilyn Monroe barred most of Hollywood from attending and believed that they held a responsibility for her death.

The speculation that Monroe had been murdered first gained mainstream attention with the publication of Norman Mailer's Marilyn: A Biography in 1973, and in the following years became widespread enough for the Los Angeles County District Attorney John Van de Kamp to conduct a "threshold investigation" in 1982 to see whether a criminal investigation should be opened.

Marilyn Monroe devised many of her publicity strategies, cultivated friendships with gossip columnists such as Sidney Skolsky and Louella Parsons, and controlled the use of her images.

The comparison was prompted partly by Marilyn Monroe, who named Harlow as her childhood idol, wanted to play her in a biopic, and even employed Harlow's hair stylist to color her hair.

Marilyn Monroe often used a breathy, childish voice in her films, and in interviews gave the impression that everything she said was "utterly innocent and uncalculated", parodying herself with double entendres that came to be known as "Monroeisms".

Marilyn Monroe was often positioned in film scenes so that her curvy silhouette was on display, and frequently posed like a pin-up in publicity photos.

Marilyn Monroe's distinctive, hip-swinging walk drew attention to her body and earned her the nickname "the girl with the horizontal walk".

Marilyn Monroe often wore white to emphasize her blondness and drew attention by wearing revealing outfits that showed off her figure.

In press stories, Marilyn Monroe was portrayed as the embodiment of the American Dream, a girl who had risen from a miserable childhood to Hollywood stardom.

Marilyn Monroe was far from dumb, although she was not formally educated, and she was very sensitive about that.

Marilyn Monroe had to be both to beat the Hollywood studio system in the 1950s.

Marilyn Monroe studied comedy in classes by mime and dancer Lotte Goslar, famous for her comic stage performances, and Goslar instructed her on film sets.

In Gentlemen Prefer Blondes, one of the films in which she played an archetypal dumb blonde, Marilyn Monroe had the sentence "I can be smart when it's important, but most men don't like it" added to her character's lines.

Marilyn Monroe was perceived as a specifically American star, "a national institution as well known as hot dogs, apple pie, or baseball" according to Photoplay.

Marilyn Monroe has been the subject of numerous films, plays, operas, and songs, and has influenced artists and entertainers such as Andy Warhol and Madonna.

Marilyn Monroe remains a valuable brand: her image and name have been licensed for hundreds of products, and she has been featured in advertising for brands such as Max Factor, Chanel, Mercedes-Benz, and Absolut Vodka.

Marilyn Monroe's enduring popularity is tied to her conflicted public image.

Marilyn Monroe has been written about by scholars and journalists who are interested in gender and feminism; these writers include Gloria Steinem, Jacqueline Rose, Molly Haskell, Sarah Churchwell, and Lois Banner.

Marilyn Monroe remains a cultural icon, but critics are divided on her legacy as an actress.

In contrast, Peter Bradshaw wrote that Marilyn Monroe was a talented comedian who "understood how comedy achieved its effects", and Roger Ebert wrote that "Marilyn Monroe's eccentricities and neuroses on sets became notorious, but studios put up with her long after any other actress would have been blackballed because what they got back on the screen was magical".

In 2024, the Los Angeles City Council approved Marilyn Monroe's house being designated as a Historic Cultural Monument.