Marilyn Monroe

Career / Biography

Marilyn Monroe was one the great Hollywood actrerss's of the 1950's, who was both sexy and coy at the same time. She was as notorious for her private life as she was famous for her acting. Marilyn Monroe's real name was Norma Jean Mortensen. and had a s She had a difficult childhood and had a short marriage in the 1940's as a way out of the care system. After appearing as a model she got her break into films in 1950 with The Asphalt Jungle and then a small role in All About Eve. She appeared in the first edition of playboy magazine and in life magazine and had a short marriage to baseball player Joe DiMaggio. Her firat staring role was in the 1952 Don't Bother To Knock. This was not a success, so she changed to the platimnum blonde hair and played the dizzy blonde in Monkey Business. This was refined into her classic look in Niagara and the dunmb blonde appraoch was used in films like Gentelmen prefer blondes. WHilst popular with film goers, directors found her difficult to work with. She wanted to change her image and be a serious actor and that opportunity came in RIver Of No Return. In the Seven Year Itch she was the main character but she frustrated director Billy Wilder and upset her husband Joe DiMaggio with the iconic white dress scene over the subway vent. She then married playwright Arthur Miller and they were very different characters. Following this she set up her own production company and made The Prince And The Showgirl directed by Laurence Olivier. At this time her insecureties surfaced and she was under a psychiatrist and using barbiturates. This was one of her memorable films despite her increasingly difficult attitude on set whilst filming that frustrated director Billy Wilder. Increasingly the influence of Paula Strasberg was having a negative effect on her career. One of her great scenes is Diamonds Are A Girls Best Friend in Gentlemen Prefer Blondes as she dances, sings and shows her sexuality. Before the end of her life she got involved in the Rat Pack and potentially organised crime. She died from an overdose of drugs.

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An actress is not a machine, but they treat you like a machine. A money machine. First, I’m trying to prove to myself that I’m a person. Then maybe I’ll convince myself that I’m an actress.
There’s nothing more important than your own voice.
Hollywood is a place where they'll pay you a thousand dollars for a kiss and fifty cents for your soul.
I don’t want to be a superstar. I want to be known for what I do, not how I look.
We are all of us stars, and we deserve to twinkle.
A star is born, but the only thing that counts is what you do after you become one.
I’ve been on a calendar, but never on time.

Career / Biography

Films

Oscars

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