Early Life
Born Norma Jeane Mortenson in Los Angeles, Monroe spent much of her childhood in foster homes and an orphanage. She married at 16, worked in a factory during World War II, and was discovered by a photographer who introduced her to modeling.
Hollywood Career
She signed with 20th Century Fox in 1946 and rose to stardom in the early 1950s with films including Gentlemen Prefer Blondes and How to Marry a Millionaire (both 1953) and The Seven Year Itch (1955). In 1955 she founded her own company, Marilyn Monroe Productions, and studied at the Actors Studio in New York. She won a Golden Globe for Some Like It Hot (1959), and her last completed film was The Misfits (1961).
Cultural Legacy
Monroe married the baseball star Joe DiMaggio in 1954 and the playwright Arthur Miller in 1956. She sang a famous rendition of “Happy Birthday” to President John F. Kennedy in 1962 and died later that year, at 36; her death was ruled a probable suicide. Her image, from the white halter dress to the beauty mark, remains among the most recognizable in popular culture.
Sources and further reading
Last updated: 2026-09-24