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Marilyn Monroe
Acting
Biography
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 a…
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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).
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BODY OF WORK
Marilyn Monroe's Filmography
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Portrait of Norma Jeane
as (archive footage)
Celebrity Crime Scene: Marilyn Monroe
as Self (archive footage)
Marilyn Monroe: The Rise of an Icon
as Self (archive footage)
100 Years of Marilyn Monroe
as Self (archive footage)
Bardot
as archive footage
Crushtime
as L'actrice blonde
Aliens Uncovered: Marilyn Monroe Exposed
as Self (archive footage)
The Myth of Marilyn Monroe
as Self (archival footage)
My Life as Marilyn
as archive footage
Fatal Addiction: Marilyn Monroe
as (archive footage)
Becoming Marilyn
as Self (archive footage)
Marilyn, Her Final Secret
Marilyn, a woman of today
as archive footage
Una foto de Marilyn
as Self (archive footage)
Rat Pack
as Self (archive footage)
Andy Warhol's America
Mythos Côte d'Azur - Liebe, Luxus, Leidenschaft
Marilyn Monroe: Beauty is Pain
as Self (archive footage)
Signoret and Montand, Monroe and Miller: Two couples in Hollywood
as Self(archive footage)
Beautiful Like a Poem
as Self (archive footage)
Marilyn and I
as Self (archive footage)
Marilyn Monroe for Sale
as Self (archive footage)
Arthur Miller: Writer
as Self (archive footage)
Cinema Through the Eye of Magnum
as Self(archive footage) (voice)
No Poster
Hollywood-Diven von ihrer erotischen Seite
as Self (archive footage)
The Fabulous Allan Carr
as Self (archive footage)
Mansfield 66/67
as Self - Actress(archive footage)
Andy Warhol, Fluorescent
as (archive footage)
All Governments Lie: Truth, Deception, and the Spirit of I.F. Stone
as The Girl (archive footage)
Destins secrets d’étoiles - Grace, Jackie, Liz, Marilyn…
Arthur Miller: A Man of His Century
as Self - Miller's 2nd Wife (archive footage)
Marilyn Monroe Declassified
as Self (archive footage)
Jayne Mansfield: The Tragedy of a Blonde
as Self (archive footage)
Love, Marilyn
as archive footage
Footsteps on the Ceiling
as Miss Caswell (archive footage)
No Poster
Marilyn Monroe: In The Movies
Marilyn despite herself
Fascination: Unauthorized Story of Marilyn Monroe
as Self (archive footage)
No Poster
Marilyn
as Self (archive footage)
Marilyn Monroe: Unclaimed Baggage
as Self (archive footage)
Final Cut: Ladies and Gentlemen
as (archive footage)
Marilyn Monroe: The Story of Her Iconic Life
as Self
No Poster
Marilyn Monroe: The Last Torments
as archive footage
Marilyn at the Movies
as Self (archive footage)
Bert Stern - Original Madman
Cameraman: The Life and Work of Jack Cardiff
as Self (archive footage)
Marilyn Monroe: I Want to Be Loved
as archive footage
Hollywood Singing and Dancing: A Musical History - The 1950s: The Golden Era of the Musical
as Self (archive)
Marilyn, dernières séances
as Self(archive footage)
The Life And Music Of Marilyn Monroe
as Herself
Grace Kelly: Destiny of a Princess
as Self - Actress (archive footage)
Marilyn Monroe: Still Life
as Self (archive footage)
The Legacy of 'Some Like It Hot'
as Self (archive footage)
The Making of 'Some Like It Hot'
as Self (archive footage)
Playboy: Celebrity Centerfolds
as Self (archive footage)
Marilyn Monroe: A Life in Pictures
as Self
James Dean: Forever Young
as Self (archive footage)
Marilyn's Man
as Self (archive footage)
Playboy: 50 Years of Playmates
as Self (archive footage)
The Prince, The Showgirl and Me
as Self (archive footage)
No Poster
The Body of Marilyn Monroe
as archive footage
Bettie Page: The Girl in the Leopard Print Bikini
as Self (archive footage)
Playboy's 50th Anniversary Celebration
Making 'The Misfits'
as Self (archive footage)
Marilyn vs Marilyn
as archive footage
Nobody's Perfect: The Making of Some Like It Hot
as Self (archive footage)
Marilyn Monroe: The Final Days
as archive footage
Cleopatra: The Film That Changed Hollywood
as Self (archive footage)
The Complete Marilyn Monroe
as Self
Marilyn on Marilyn
as Self (archive footage)
Backstory: 'All About Eve'
as Self (archive footage)
Clara Bow: Discovering the "It" Girl
as Self (archive footage)
Prayer for Marilyn Monroe
Marilyn in Manhattan
as Self (archive footage)
No Poster
Hollywood Hall Of Fame - Marilyn Monroe
Hidden Hollywood: Treasures from the 20th Century Fox Film Vaults
as Self (Archival Footage)
Barbara Stanwyck: Straight Down the Line
as Self (archive footage)
The Good, The Bad, and the Beautiful
as Self (archive footage)
We Remember Marilyn
as archive footage
Trinity and Beyond: The Atomic Bomb Movie
as Self (archive footage)
The Casting Couch
Marilyn Monroe: Portrait of a Legend...Suicide Or Murder?
Marilyn Monroe: The Mortal Goddess
as Self (archive footage)
That's Entertainment! III
as (archive footage) (uncredited)
No Poster
The Marilyn Files
as Self(archive footage)
Marilyn: Portrait of a Legend
as Self (archive footage)
No Poster
Murderers, Mobsters, & Madmen: Volume 6: Hollywood Police Files
as (archive footage) (uncredited)
Playboy's Playmates: The Early Years
as Self (archive footage)
Faces of Death VII
as Self (archive footage)
No Poster
The Discovery Of Marilyn Monroe
Barbara Stanwyck: Fire and Desire
as Self (archive footage)
Robert Mitchum: The Reluctant Star
as Self (archive footage)
Marilyn: Something's Got to Give
as Self (archive footage)
Death In Hollywood
as Self (archive footage)
Hollywood Heaven: Tragic Lives, Tragic Deaths
as Self (archive footage)
No Poster
Two Tragic Blondes - Marilyn Monroe And Jean Harlow
as Self (archive footage)
Batmania: From Comics to Screen
as Self (archive footage)
John Huston: The Man, the Movies, the Maverick
as Self (archive footage)
No Poster
Remembering Marilyn
as Self (archive footage)
Hollywood Uncensored
as Self (archive footage)
Eve and Marilyn
as Self (archive footage)
Norma Jean Alias Marilyn Monroe
as archive footage
Voyage to Nowhere
as (archive footage)(uncredited)
Marilyn Monroe: Beyond the Legend
as archive footage
Marilyn Monroe
as Self (archive footage)
Say Goodbye to the President: Marilyn and The Kennedys
as Self (archive footage)
Hollywood Out-takes and Rare Footage
as Self (archive footage) (uncredited)
Oops, Those Hollywood Bloopers!
as Self (archive footage)
Arthur Miller on Home Ground
as Self (archive footage)
Mi Marilyn
as Self (archive footage)
The Men Who Made the Movies: Howard Hawks
as Self (archive footage)
Marilyn Magdalene
Marilyn
No Poster
Fake Newsreal
as Self (archive footage)
The Legend of Marilyn Monroe
as Self (archive footage)
The Marilyn Monroe Story
as Self (archive footage)
Marilyn
as Self (archive footage)
La Rabbia
as Self (archive footage)
President Kennedy's Birthday Salute
as Self
Lykke og krone
as Self (archive footage) (uncredited)
The Misfits
as Roslyn Taber
Let's Make Love
as Amanda Dell
Some Like It Hot
as Sugar Kane Kowalczyk
Zwischen Glück und Krone
as Self (archive footage)
The Prince and the Showgirl
as Elsie
Bus Stop
as Cherie
The Seven Year Itch
as The Girl
There's No Business Like Show Business
as Vicky
River of No Return
as Kay Weston
How to Marry a Millionaire
as Pola Debevoise
Gentlemen Prefer Blondes
as Lorelei Lee
Niagara
as Rose Loomis
O. Henry's Full House
as Streetwalker (segment "The Cop and the Anthem")
Monkey Business
as Lois Laurel
Don't Bother to Knock
as Nell Forbes
We're Not Married!
as Annabel Jones
Clash by Night
as Peggy
Let's Make It Legal
as Joyce Mannering
Love Nest
as Bobbie Stevens
As Young as You Feel
as Harriet
Home Town Story
as Iris Martin
All About Eve
as Miss Caswell
The Fireball
as Polly
Right Cross
as Dusky Ledoux (uncredited)
A Ticket to Tomahawk
as Clara
The Asphalt Jungle
as Angela Phinlay
Love Happy
as Grunion's Client
Ladies of the Chorus
as Peggy Martin
Green Grass of Wyoming
as Extra at Square Dance (uncredited)
Scudda Hoo! Scudda Hay!
as Betty (uncredited)
Dangerous Years
as Evie
The Shocking Miss Pilgrim
as Telephone Operator (voice) (uncredited)