Marilyn Monroe was born Norma Jeane Mortensen in Los Angeles on 1 June 1926.
Most of Marilyn Monroe’s childhood was spent in foster homes because of the mental illness of her mother. Monroe became a photographer’s model in 1946. After several small parts she started to land more significant roles from 1952 onwards.
In 1952 Marilyn Monroe appeared in Clash by Night. The director, Fritz Lang said of her: “She was a very peculiar mixture of shyness and uncertainty and—I wouldn’t say ‘star allure’—but… she knew exactly her impact on men”.
Amongst Marilyn Monroe’s other significant roles were those as a sexy dumb blonde in How to Marry a Millionaire (1953) and Gentlemen Prefer Blondes (1953).
Marilyn Monroe also starred in two excellent Billy Wilder comedies, The Seven Year Itch (1955) and Some Like It Hot (1959), as well as Joshua Logan’s Bus Stop (1956) and Huston’s The Misfits (1961), which was scripted by her husband Arthur Miller.
She was fired from her last project, Something’s Got to Give directed by George Cukor for persistent lateness.
Shortly after, Marilyn Monroe commited suicide, by an overdose of sleeping pills, on 4 August 1962.
