Marilyn Monroe

Born Norma Jeane Mortenson, Marilyn Monroe rose from a fractured childhood to become the defining icon of mid-century American glamour. Her luminous presence on screen concealed a sharp intelligence and a genuinely gifted comic timing that critics often underestimated. She studied at the Actors Studio, founded her own production company, and sought roles that challenged the image the industry had built around her. Her beauty was real; so was the vulnerability beneath it.