Marilyn Monroe

Actor

Name at birth: Norma Jeane Mortenson

Marilyn Monroe's sex appeal, talent and untimely death combined to make her an enduring star and one of Hollywood's most recognizable icons. Early in her film career she starred as a dumb blonde in movies like How to Marry a Millionaire (1953). Her va-va-voom beauty made her an international celebrity, and she won acclaim as a talented actress in the films Bus Stop (1956) and Some Like It Hot (1959, with Jack Lemmon). Her personal life was famously untidy; her husbands included baseball star Joe DiMaggio (1954) and playwright Arthur Miller (1956-61). Her last film was Miller's drama The Misfits (1961, co-starring Clark Gable). She was found dead in 1962 of an overdose of sleeping pills, and her death was officially ruled a probable suicide.

Extra credit: Monroe was married three times in all: to Jimmy Dougherty (1942-1946), whom she married when she was 16; to Joe DiMaggio (1954), and to Arthur Miller (1956-1961)... Elton John's memorial tribute to Lady Di, "Candle in the Wind", was originally written for Marilyn... According to the official site of her estate, though the name on her birth certificate was Norma Jean Mortenson, she was later baptized as Norma Jeane Baker.

Monroe appears with Cindy Crawford in our loop Mole Mania, with Robert F. Kennedy in the loop Autopsy By Noguchi, and with Anne Boleyn in the loop Supposed to be Ghosts.

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