Marilyn Monroe filmography

Marilyn Monroe in Gentlemen Prefer Blondes (1953)

Monroe in one of her breakthrough performances as a mistress to an aging criminal in The Asphalt Jungle (1950).

Marilyn Monroe (June 1, 1926 – August 5, 1962) was an American actress, model, singer, and sex symbol who starred in several commercially successful motion pictures during the 1950s and the early 1960s. Monroe was born as Norma Jeane Mortensen (later Baker and Dougherty). She grew up in foster care and at times in an orphanage until she married Jim Dougherty in 1942, at the age of 16. She would eventually divorce Dougherty and begin modeling in 1945, while her husband was overseas fighting in the war. She signed a one-year contract with 20th Century-Fox in 1946 and played minor roles in several minor movies for the studio. She garnered attention for playing a top role in Columbia Pictures' low-budget musical Ladies of the Chorus (1948). She went on a New York City tour to promote Love Happy (1949), in which she played a small uncredited role opposite Groucho Marx.

In 1950, Monroe earned critical attention for her performances in The Asphalt Jungle for Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer and All About Eve for 20th Century-Fox. And although the roles were small, she earned a longer contract with Fox starting at $500 a week. She played dumb blondes in several quick comedies, but, in 1952, she played her first starring role in the film noir Don't Bother to Knock and appeared in Monkey Business (1952), with Ginger Rogers and Cary Grant. Monroe's major breakthrough came in the 1953 Technicolor film noir, Niagara, alongside Joseph Cotten and Jean Peters. She would go on to star in Gentlemen Prefer Blondes (1953) with Jane Russell (in which Monroe was nominated for a Golden Globe Award); How to Marry a Millionaire (1953) with Betty Grable and Lauren Bacall; River of No Return (1954) with Robert Mitchum; and There's No Business Like Show Business (1954), with Ethel Merman, Dan Dailey and Donald O'Connor. Her white dress scene in 1955's The Seven Year Itch is considered iconic and has been parodied.

Monroe's dramatic star turn in Bus Stop (1956) was well received by critics. Her production studio, Marilyn Monroe Productions, produced the romance film The Prince and the Showgirl (1957) which starred Monroe and Laurence Olivier. Some Like It Hot (1959), with Tony Curtis and Jack Lemmon, may be Monroe's most remembered film and proved to be her greatest success of her entire career. Her last two film appearances, Let's Make Love (1960) with Yves Montand and Tony Randall, and The Misfits (1961) with Clark Gable and Montgomery Clift, weren't successful critically or commercially. The filming of Something's Got to Give in 1962 was suspended after Monroe's death. The film went unfinished until it was rebooted in 1963 as Move Over, Darling with Doris Day and James Garner.

Film appearances