Norma Jeane Mortenson was born in 1926 in Los Angeles and spent much of childhood in foster care and an orphanage. A wartime factory job led to modeling and a screen contract with Twentieth Century-Fox, where she adopted the stage name Marilyn Monroe. Bleached hair, a breathy voice, and comic timing turned bit parts into stardom by the early 1950s.

Monroe headlined hits including Gentlemen Prefer Blondes (1953), The Seven Year Itch (1955), and Billy Wilder's Some Like It Hot (1959). She studied at the Actors Studio to deepen her craft and fought Fox for better scripts and pay, briefly forming Marilyn Monroe Productions. High-profile marriages to Joe DiMaggio and Arthur Miller, plus friendships with artists and politicians, kept her in global tabloids.

Anxiety, insomnia, and dependence on medication marked her final years. She died in August 1962 from an overdose of barbiturates at age thirty-six; the manner of death was ruled probable suicide. Monroe's image—blonde glamour, vulnerability, and wit—outlived the studio system and became one of the most reproduced faces of twentieth-century popular culture.

1. 1926

   Birth in Los Angeles

   Born Norma Jeane Mortenson, she faced an unstable childhood before marrying James Dougherty at sixteen.

2. 1946

   Fox Contract

   She signed with Twentieth Century-Fox and began the transformation into Marilyn Monroe with dyed hair and screen training.

3. 1953

   Breakthrough Stardom

   Niagara, Gentlemen Prefer Blondes, and How to Marry a Millionaire made her Fox's top box-office draw.

4. 1955

   New York Study

   Monroe left Hollywood temporarily to train with Lee Strasberg and renegotiate her studio contract.

5. 1962

   Death in Brentwood

   Found unresponsive at her home, she died at thirty-six; her funeral drew celebrities and massive public mourning.