Marilyn Monroe

Probably the most celebrated of all actresses, Marilyn Monroe was born Norma Jean Mortenson on June 1, 1926, in Los Angeles General Hospital. Thirty-six years later, on August 5, 1962, her housekeeper found her dead body, nude and lying face down on her bed, apparently the victim of an overdose of sedatives. She made only 30 films in her lifetime, but her legendary status and mysticism will remain with film history forever. Abandoned by her father, she grew up in poverty with her mentally-ill mother who had a series of relationships, further confusing her daughter as to who it was who fathered her. In 1942, at the age of 16, Norma Jean married 21-year-old aircraft plant worker James Dougherty. The marriage only lasted four years, and they divorced in 1946. By this time Marilyn began to model swimsuits and bleached her hair blond. Bit parts in the movies followed but movie fans remembered her ditzy but very sexy blonde performance. In 1951, Marilyn got a fairly sizable role in 'Love Nest.' She had an intoxicating quality of volcanic sexuality wrapped in an aura of almost childlike innocence. In 1952, she made 'Monkey Business', where she was seen for the first time as a platinum blonde, a look that became her trademark. Over the next decade she made a several classic movies, including 'Gentlemen Prefer Blondes ' and 'How to Marry a Millionaire,' and became an unmatched sex symbol and superstar. In 'The Seven Year Itch', which showcased her considerable comedic talent and contained what is arguably one of the most memorable moments in cinema history: Marilyn standing above a subway grating and the wind from a passing subway blowing her white dress up. In 1953, Marilyn she married American baseball legend JoeDiMaggio. The union lasted only eight months. Signs of her troubled emotional state begun to appear and she was suspended by Fox for not reporting for work on 'How to Be Very, Very Popular'. Her work was slowing down, due to her habit of being continually late to the set, her illnesses (whether real or imagined) and generally being unwilling to cooperate with her producers, directors, and fellow actors. In 'Bus Stop' in 1956, however, Marilyn finally showed critics that she could play a straight dramatic role. It was also the same year she married playwright, Arthur Miller (they divorced in 1960), dubbed by the press as, 'the great American brain marrying the great American beauty.' After a year off in 1958, Marilyn returned to the screen the next year for the delightful comedy, 'Some Like It Hot' with Tony Curtis and Jack Lemmon. The film was an absolute smash hit, with Curtis and Lemmon pretending to be females in an all-girl band, so they can get work. This was to be Marilyn's only film for the year. Her last film 'The Misfits '(1961) also proved to be the final film for the legendary Clark Gable , who died later that year of a heart attack. The film was popular with critics and the public alike. In 1962 Marilyn was chosen to star in Fox's 'Something's Got to Give'. Again, her absenteeism caused serious delays and she was fired. It looked as though her career was finished. Studios just didn't want to take a chance on her because it would cost them thousands of dollars in delays. She went into seclusion in her home in L.A; and it was there, on August 5, that she was discovered - dead of either an accidental or intentional overdose of sedatives.