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Marilyn Monroe
(born Norma Jeane Mortenson, June 1, 1926 – August 5, 1962; baptized
Norma Jeane Baker) was an American actress, singer, model, and film
producer.
After spending much of her childhood in foster homes, Norma Jeane Baker
began a career as a model, which led to a film contract in 1946. Her
early roles were minor, but her performances in The Asphalt Jungle and
All About Eve (both 1950) were well received, and as her career
progressed she became known as a sex symbol. She was praised for her
comedic ability in such films as Gentlemen Prefer Blondes, How to Marry
a Millionaire and The Seven Year Itch, and became one of Hollywood's
most popular performers.
The typecasting of Monroe's "dumb blonde" persona limited her career
prospects, and she broadened her range. Her marriage to baseball player
Joe DiMaggio failed. While married to playwright Arthur Miller, she
studied at the Actors Studio and formed Marilyn Monroe Productions. Her
dramatic performance in William Inge's Bus Stop was hailed by critics,
and she won a Golden Globe Award for her performance in Some Like it
Hot.
The final years of Monroe's life were marked by illness, personal
problems and a reputation for being unreliable and difficult to work
with. The circumstances of her death, from an overdose of barbiturates,
have been the subject of conjecture. Though officially classified as a
"probable suicide", the possibility of an accidental overdose has not
been ruled out, while conspiracy theorists argue that she was murdered.
In 1999 Monroe was ranked as the sixth greatest female star of all time
by the American Film Institute.
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