Marilyn Monroe: Difference between revisions

{{Use American English|date=August 20202024}}

{{Use mdy dates|date=FebruaryAugust 20232024}}

| birth_place = [[Los Angeles, California]], U.S.

| burial_place = [[Pierce Brothers Westwood Village Memorial Park and Mortuary|Westwood Village Memorial Park Cemetery]]

| mother relatives = [[Gladys Pearl Baker]] (mother)<br />[[Berniece Baker Miracle]] (half-sister)

'''Marilyn Monroe''' (<!--IPA necessary for millions of nonnative English speakers-->{{IPAc-en|ˈ|m|æ|r|ə|l|ɪ|n|_|m|ə|n|ˈ|r|oʊ}} {{respell|MARR|ə|lin|_|mən|ROH}}; born '''Norma Jeane Mortenson'''; June 1, 1926{{spnd}} August 4, 1962) was an American actress and model.<!--Keep most notable jobs here per [[MOS:ROLEBIO]].--> Known for playing comic "[[Blonde stereotype#Blonde bombshell|blonde bombshell]]" characters, she became one of the most popular [[sex symbol]]s of the 1950s and early 1960s, as well as an emblem of the era's [[sexual revolution]]. She was a top-billed actress for a decade, and her films grossed $200&nbsp;million (equivalent to ${{Inflation|USD|0.2|1962}} billion in {{Inflation/year|USD}}2024) by the time of [[Death of Marilyn Monroe|her death]] in 1962.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.latimes.com/local/obituaries/archives/la-me-marilyn-monroe-19620806-story.html|title=Marilyn Monroe Dies; Pills Blamed|work=Los Angeles Times|date=August 6, 1962|access-date=September 23, 2015|first1=Howard|last1=Hertel|first2=Don|last2=Heff|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150925094726/http://www.latimes.com/local/obituaries/archives/la-me-marilyn-monroe-19620806-story.html|archive-date=September 25, 2015|url-status=live}}</ref> Long after her death, Monroe remains a [[Popular culture|pop culture icon]].{{sfnm|1a1=Chapman|1y=2001|1pp=542–543|2a1=Hall|2y=2006|2p=468}} In 1999, the [[American Film Institute]] ranked her as [[AFI's 100 Years...100 Stars|the sixth-greatest female screen legend from the Golden Age of Hollywood]].

Born and raised in Los Angeles County, Monroe spent most of her childhood in a total of twelve foster homes and an orphanage<ref>{{cite encyclopedia|url=https://www.britannica.com/biography/Marilyn-Monroe |title=Marilyn Monroe |encyclopedia=[[Encyclopædia Britannica Online]] |access-date=April 14, 2023}}</ref> before marrying [[James Dougherty (police officer)|James Dougherty]] at age sixteen. She was working in a factory during [[World War II]] when she met a photographer from the [[First Motion Picture Unit]] and began a successful [[pin-up model]]ing career, which led to short-lived film contracts with [[20th Century Fox]] and [[Columbia Pictures]]. After a series of minor film roles, she signed a new contract with Fox in late 1950. Over the next two years, she became a popular actress with roles in several comedies, including ''[[As Young as You Feel]]'' and ''[[Monkey Business (1952 film)|Monkey Business]]'', and in the dramas ''[[Clash by Night]]'' and ''[[Don't Bother to Knock]]''. Monroe faced a scandal when it was revealed that she had posed for nude photographs prior to becoming a star, but the story did not damage her career and instead resulted in increased interest in her films.

By 1953, Monroe was one of the most marketable Hollywood stars. She had leading roles in the film noir ''[[Niagara (1953 film)|Niagara]]'', which overtly relied on her sex appeal, and the comedies ''[[Gentlemen Prefer Blondes (1953 film)|Gentlemen Prefer Blondes]]'' and ''[[How to Marry a Millionaire]]'', which established her star image as a "[[Blonde stereotype|dumb blonde]]". The same year, her nude images were used as the [[centerfold]] and cover of the first issue of ''[[Playboy]]''. Monroe played a significant role in the creation and management of her public image throughout her career, but felt disappointed when [[Typecasting|typecast]] and underpaid by the studio. She was briefly suspended in early 1954 for refusing a film project but returned to star in ''[[The Seven Year Itch]]'' (1955), one of the biggest box office successes of her career.

Monroe's troubled private life received much attention. Her marriages to retired baseball star [[Joe DiMaggio]] and to playwright [[Arthur Miller]] were highly publicized; both ended in divorce. On August 4, 1962, [[Death of Marilyn Monroe|she died]] at age 36 of an overdose of [[barbiturate]]s at [[12305 Fifth Helena Drive|her Los Angeles home]]. Her death was ruled a probable suicide. Long after her death, Monroe remains a [[Popular culture|pop culture icon]],{{sfnm|1a1=Chapman|1y=2001|1pp=542–543|2a1=Hall|2y=2006|2p=468}} with the [[American Film Institute]] ranking her as [[AFI's 100 Years...100 Stars|the sixth-greatest female screen legend from the Golden Age of Hollywood]].<ref name="afi">{{cite web|title=AFI's 100 Years...100 Stars: The 50 Greatest American Screen Legends|url=https://www.afi.com/afis-100-years-100-stars/|access-date=November 10, 2019|publisher=[[American Film Institute]]}}</ref>

Monroe was born Norma Jeane Mortenson{{efn|Monroe onhad Juneher 1screen name made into her legal name in early 1956.<ref>{{Cite magazine|url=https://time.com/5368339/marilyn-monroe-real-name-story/|title=How Did Marilyn Monroe Get Her Name? This Photo Reveals the Story |first=Olivia B. |last=Waxman |magazine=Time |date=September 5, 19262018}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/4468031.stm|title=Monroe divorce papers for auction|date=April 21, at2005|via=BBC theNews}}</ref>}} at [[LAC+USC Medical Center|Los Angeles General Hospital]] inon LosJune Angeles1, California1926.{{sfnm|1a1=Spoto|1y=2001|1pp=3, 13–14|2a1=Banner|2y=2012|2p=13}} Her mother, [[Gladys Pearl Baker]] (née Monroe; 1902–1984), was born in [[Piedras Negras, Coahuila]], [[Mexico]]<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.biography.com/news/marilyn-monroe-family-genealogy | title=Inside Marilyn Monroe's Family Tree |first=Juliana |last=Szucs | date=November 17, 2020 }}</ref> to a poor [[Midwestern United States|Midwestern]] family who migrated to California at the turn of the century.{{sfnm|1a1=Spoto|1y=2001|1pp=9–10|2a1=Rollyson|2y=2014|2pp=26–29}} At age 15, Gladys had married John Newton Baker, an abusive man nine years her senior. They had two children together, Robert (1918–1933){{sfnm|1a1=Miracle|1a2=Miracle|1y=1994|1p=see family tree|2a1=Banner|2y=2012|2pp=19–20|3a1=Leaming|3y=1998|3pp=52–53}} and [[Berniece Baker Miracle|Berniece]] (1919–2014).{{sfnm|1a1=Spoto|1y=2001|1pp=7–9|2a1=Banner|2y=2012|2p=19}} She successfully filed for divorce and sole custody of her two oldest in 1923, but Baker kidnapped the children soon after and moved with them to his native [[Kentucky]].{{sfnm|1a1=Spoto|1y=2001|1p=9 for the exact year when divorce was finalized|2a1=Banner|2y=2012|2p=20|3a1=Leaming|3y=1998|3pp=52–53}}

Monroe was not told that she had a sister until she was 12,<ref>{{Cite web |last=Ott |first=Tim |date=2020-09-09 |title=How Marilyn Monroe's Childhood Was Disrupted by Her Mother's Paranoid Schizophrenia |url=https://www.biography.com/actors/marilyn-monroe-mother-relationship |access-date=2024-09-08 |website=Biography |language=en-US}}</ref> and they met for the first time in 1944 when Monroe was 17 or 18.{{sfnm|1a1=Spoto|1y=2001|1p=88, for first meeting in 1944|2a1=Banner|2y=2012|2p=72, for mother telling Monroe of sister in 1938}} Following the divorce, Gladys worked as a film negative cutter at [[Consolidated Film Industries]].{{sfnm|1a1=Churchwell|1y=2004|1p=150, citing Spoto and Summers|2a1=Banner|2y=2012|2pp= 24–25}} Her second marriage occurred in 1924 when she married Martin Edward Mortensen, but they separated just months later and divorced in 1928.{{sfnm|1a1=Churchwell|1y=2004|1p=150, citing Spoto and Summers|2a1=Banner|2y=2012|2pp= 24–25}}{{efn|Gladys named Mortensen as Monroe's father in the birth certificate (although the name was misspelled),{{sfn|Churchwell|2004|p=150, citing Spoto, Summers and Guiles}} but it is unlikely that he was the father as their separation had taken place well before she became pregnant.{{sfnm|1a1=Churchwell|1y=2004|1pp=149–152|2a1=Banner|2y=2012|2p=26|3a1=Spoto|3y=2001|3p=13}} Biographers Fred Guiles and [[Lois Banner]] stated that her father was likely Charles Stanley Gifford, Gladys's superior at RKO Studios, with whom she had an affair in 1925,<ref>{{cite web |last1=Miller |first1=Korin |last2=Spanfeller |first2=Jamie |title=Did Marilyn Monroe Ever Meet Her Biological Father? All About Charles Stanley Gifford |url=https://www.womenshealthmag.com/life/a41425153/marilyn-monroe-father-charles-stanley-gifford/ |website=Women's Health |date=September 29, 2022 |access-date=September 30, 2022}}</ref> whereas [[Donald Spoto]] thought that another co-worker was probably the father.{{sfnm|1a1=Churchwell|1y=2004|1p=152|2a1=Banner|2y=2012|2p=26|3a1=Spoto|3y=2001|3p=13}}}} In 2022, DNA testing indicated that Monroe's father was Charles Stanley Gifford (1898–1965),<ref>{{cite web|url= https://variety.com/2022/tv/global/marilyn-monroe-documentary-charles-stanley-gifford-mediawan-1235222789/ |title= Marilyn Monroe's Biological Father Revealed in Documentary 'Marilyn, Her Final Secret'|first1= Elsa |last1= Keslassy |magazine= [[Variety (magazine)|Variety]]|date= April 4, 2022 |access-date= April 4, 2022}}</ref><ref>[https://www.mirror.co.uk/3am/celebrity-news/marilyn-monroe-could-still-alive-27671585 EXCLUSIVE: Marilyn Monroe could still be alive if she hadn't been rejected by her dad, niece says] in ''[[Daily Mirror]]'' by Graeme Culliford August 5, 2022</ref><ref>San Jacinto Valley Cemetery records, San Jacinto, California plot R-3-W-H</ref> a co-worker of Gladys, with whom she had an affair in 1925,{{sfnm|1a1=Churchwell|1y=2004|1p=152|2a1=Banner|2y=2012|2p=26|3a1=Spoto|3y=2001|3p=13}} though until then, her father was thought to be Mortensen.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Ap |date=1981-02-February 13, 1981 |title=Birth of Marilyn Monroe Shown to Be Legitimate |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1981/02/13/arts/birth-of-marilyn-monroe-shown-to-be-legitimate.html |access-date=2024-06-June 11, 2024 |work=The New York Times |language=en-US |issn=0362-4331}}</ref> Monroe also had two other half-siblings from Gifford's marriage with his first wife,; a sister, Doris Elizabeth (1920–1933), and a brother, Charles Stanley (1922–2015).<ref>{{Cite web |last=Anagnoson |first=Alex |date=October 2, 2022 |title=The Truth About Marilyn Monroe's Siblings |url=https://www.nickiswift.com/1034834/the-truth-about-marilyn-monroes-siblings/ |access-date=November 12, 2022 |website=Nicki Swift}}</ref>[[File:Marilyn monroe as an infant brightened.jpg|right|thumb|upright|alt=Monroe as an infant, wearing a white dress and sitting on a sheepskin rug|Monroe as an infant, {{circa|1927}}]]Although Gladys was mentally and financially unprepared for a child, Monroe's early childhood was stable and happy.{{sfnm|1a1=Spoto|1y=2001|1pp=17–26|2a1=Banner|2y=2012|2pp=32–35}} Gladys placed her daughter with [[evangelicalism|evangelical Christian]] foster parents Albert and Ida Bolender in the suburban town of [[Hawthorne, California|Hawthorne]]. She also lived there for six months, until she was forced to move back to the city for employment.{{sfnm|1a1=Spoto|1y=2001|1pp=16–26|2a1=Churchwell|2y=2004|2p=164|3a1=Banner|3y=2012|3pp=22–35}} She then began visiting her daughter on weekends.{{sfnm|1a1=Spoto|1y=2001|1pp=17–26|2a1=Banner|2y=2012|2pp=32–35}} In the summer of 1933, Gladys bought a small house in [[Hollywood, Los Angeles|Hollywood]] with a loan from the [[Home Owners' Loan Corporation]] and moved seven-year-old Monroe in with her.{{sfnm|1a1=Spoto|1y=2001|1pp=26–28|2a1=Banner|2y=2012|2pp=35–39|3a1=Leaming|3y=1998|3pp=54–55}} They shared the house with lodgers, actors George and Maude Atkinson and their daughter, Nellie.{{sfnm|1a1=Spoto|1y=2001|1pp=26–28|2a1=Banner|2y=2012|2pp=35–39}} In January 1934, Gladys had a mental breakdown and was diagnosed with [[paranoid schizophrenia]].{{sfn|Churchwell|2004|pp=155–156}} After several months in a rest home, she was committed to the [[Metropolitan State Hospital (California)|Metropolitan State Hospital]].{{sfnm|2a1=Banner|2y=2012|2pp=39–40|1a1=Churchwell|1y=2004|1pp=155–156}} She spent the rest of her life in and out of hospitals and was rarely in contact with Monroe.{{sfnm|2a1=Banner|2y=2012|2pp=39–42, 45–47, 62, 72, 91, 205|1a1=Spoto|1y=2001|1pp=100–101, 106–107, 215–216}} Monroe became a [[ward (law)|ward of the state]], and her mother's friend Grace Goddard took responsibility over her and her mother's affairs.{{sfnm|1a1=Spoto|1y=2001|1pp=40–49|2a1=Churchwell|2y=2004|2p=165|3a1=Banner|3y=2012|3pp=40–62}}

OverFor the next four years, Monroe's living situation changed often. For the first 16 months, sheMonroe continued living with the Atkinsons, and may have been [[child sexual abuse|sexually abused]] during this time.{{sfnm|1a1=Spoto|1y=2001|1pp=33–40|2a1=Banner|2y=2012|2pp=40–54}}{{efn|Monroe spoke about being sexually abused by a lodger when she was eight years old to her biographers [[Ben Hecht]] in 1953–1954 and [[Maurice Zolotow]] in 1960, and in interviews for ''[[Paris Match]]'' and ''[[Cosmopolitan (magazine)|Cosmopolitan]]''.{{sfn|Banner|2012|pp=48–49}} Although she refused to name the abuser, Banner believes he was George Atkinson, as he was a lodger and fostered Monroe when she was eight; Banner also states that Monroe's description of the abuser fits other descriptions of Atkinson.{{sfn|Banner|2012|pp=40–59}} Banner has argued that the abuse may have been a major causative factor in Monroe's mental health problems, and has also written that as the subject was [[taboo]] in mid-century United States, Monroe was unusual in daring to speak about it publicly.{{sfn|Banner|2012|pp=7, 40–59}} Spoto does not mention the incident but states that Monroe was sexually abused by Grace's husband in 1937 and by a cousin while living with a relative in 1938.{{sfnm|1a1=Spoto|1y=2001|1p=55|2a1=Churchwell|2y=2004|2pp=166–173}} Barbara Leaming repeats Monroe's account of the abuse, but earlier biographers Fred Guiles, Anthony Summers and Carl Rollyson have doubted the incident owing to lack of evidence beyond Monroe's statements.{{sfn|Churchwell|2004|pp=166–173}}}} Always a shy girl, she now also developed a [[stutter]] and became withdrawn.{{sfn|Banner|2012|pp= 27, 54–73}} In the summer of 1935, she briefly stayed with Grace and her husband Erwin "Doc" Goddard and two other families.{{sfn|Banner|2012|pp=47–48}} In September 1935, Grace placed her in the Los Angeles Orphans Home #2, Hollygrove.<ref name="flickr/7416642764">{{cite web |last1=Acosta |first1=Yvonne |title=Young Marilyn: Photo from Hollygrove Orphanage |url=https://www.flickr.com/photos/picarooned/7416642764 |website=flickr |access-date=November 2, 2023 |date=30 May 30, 2012}}</ref><ref name="pcad/7187">{{cite web |title=Los Angeles Orphans' Home Society, Orphanage #2, Hollywood, Los Angeles, CA |url=https://pcad.lib.washington.edu/building/7187/ |website=pcad.lib.washington.edu |publisher=PCAD - Pacific Coast Architecture Database |access-date=November 2, 2023}}</ref><ref name="latimes/2005-12-20/me-hollygrove20">{{cite news |last1=Pool |first1=Bob |title=A Haven for Children in L.A. Closes After 125 Years |url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2005-dec-20-me-hollygrove20-story.html |access-date=November 2, 2023 |work=Los Angeles Times |date=20 December 20, 2005}}</ref>{{sfnm|1a1=Spoto|1y=2001|1pp=44–45|2a1=Churchwell|2y=2004|2pp=165–166|3a1=Banner|3y=2012|3pp=62–63}} The orphanage was "a model institution" and was described in positive terms by her peers, but Monroe felt abandoned.{{sfn|Banner|2012|pp=60–63}} Encouraged by the orphanage staff, who thought that Monroe would be happier living in a family, Grace became her [[legal guardian]] in 1936, but did not take her out of the orphanage until the summer of 1937.{{sfnm|1a1=Spoto|1y=2001|1pp=49–50|2a1=Banner|2y=2012|2pp=62–63 (see also footnotes), 455}} Monroe's second stay with the Goddards lasted only a few months because Doc [[molested]] her.{{sfn|Banner|2012|pp=62–64}} She then lived for brief periods with her relatives and Grace's friends and relatives in Los Angeles and [[Compton, California|Compton]].{{sfnm|1a1=Spoto|1y=2001|1pp=49–50|2a1=Banner|2y=2012|2pp=62–64, 455}}

[[File:Monroe and James Dougherty.jpg|thumb|upright|left|Monroe with her first husband, [[James Dougherty (police officer)|James Dougherty]], {{circa|1943–44}}. They married when she was 16 and divorced in 1946, when she was 20.]]Monroe's childhood experiences first made her want to become an actress: "<blockquote>I didn't like the world around me because it was kind of grim ... When I heard that this was acting, I said that's what I want to be ... Some of my foster families used to send me to the movies to get me out of the house and there I'd sit all day and way into the night. Up in front, there with the screen so big, a little kid all alone, and I loved it."<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/theguardian/2007/sep/14/greatinterviews|title=Great interviews of the 20th century: 'When you're famous you run into human nature in a raw kind of way'|work=[[The Guardian]]|date=September 14, 2007|access-date=October 21, 2015|first=Richard|last=Meryman|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151104070748/http://www.theguardian.com/theguardian/2007/sep/14/greatinterviews|archive-date=November 4, 2015|url-status=live}}</ref></blockquote>

Monroe found a more permanent home in September 1938, when she began living with Grace's aunt Ana Lower in the west-side district of [[Sawtelle, Los Angeles|Sawtelle]].{{sfnm|1a1=Spoto|1y=2001|1pp=51–67|2a1=Banner|2y=2012|2pp=62–86}} That same year, she learned she had an older half-sister, [[Berniece Baker Miracle]], then pregnant with her daughter, Mona Rae Miracle.<ref name=":4">{{Cite web |last=Tremaine |first=Julie |date=23 December 2023 |title=Who Was Marilyn Monroe's Sister? All About Berniece Baker Miracle |url=https://people.com/who-was-berniece-baker-miracle-marilyn-monroe-sister-8380410#:~:text=Despite%20Monroe's%20work%20and%20travel,,%20postmarked%20Oct%2028,%201944. |access-date=2024-08-14 |website=[[Peoplemag]] |language=en}}</ref> Monroe was enrolled at [[Emerson Junior High School]] and went to weekly [[Christian Science]] services with Lower.{{sfnm|1a1=Spoto|1y=2001|1pp=68–69|2a1=Banner|2y=2012|2pp=75–77}} She excelled in writing and contributed to the school newspaper, but was otherwise a mediocre student.{{sfn|Banner|2012|pp=73–76}} Owing to the elderly Lower's health problems, Monroe returned to live with the Goddards in [[Van Nuys, Los Angeles|Van Nuys]] in about early 1941.<ref name="ha//997052-1017.s">{{cite web |title=Marilyn Monroe personal teenage photograph - Norma Jeane at 14 years old. |url=https://entertainment.ha.com/itm/movie-tv-memorabilia/marilyn-monroe-personal-teenage-photograph-norma-jeane-at-14-years-old/a/997052-1017.s |website=Heritage Auctions |access-date=November 2, 2023 |date=1940 |quote=Vintage original gelatin silver 1.25 x 1.75 in. photograph of Norma Jeane taken in Van Nuys, California. Exhibiting some surface soiling and corner creasing. In good condition. Provenance: Christie's LA, Collection of Marilyn Monroe Memorabilia Sold to Benefit Hollygrove Children's Home, 12 September 2001, Lot 76.}}</ref>{{sfnm|1a1=Spoto|1y=2001|1pp=67–69|2a1=Banner|2y=2012|2p=86}} That same year, she began attending [[Van Nuys High School]], where she met factory worker [[James Dougherty (police officer)|James Dougherty]], five years her senior.{{sfn|Spoto|2001|pp=67–69}} At the age of 15, she began dating him.<ref>{{Cite web |last=McDowell |first=Erin |date=June 1, 2024 |title=50 rare photos of Marilyn Monroe that show another side to the film star |url=https://www.businessinsider.com/rare-photos-marilyn-monroe-2019-8#despite-her-career-success-monroes-personal-life-was-struggling-16 |access-date=August 14, 2024 |website=[[Business Insider]] |language=en-US}}</ref><ref name=":5" /><ref name=":8">{{Cite web |last=Sheedy |first=Karen |date=2023-04-03 |title=Marilyn Monroe's Sadness Was Deeper Than Anyone Knew (And Owed to Her Mother) —Here's the Story of Their Relationship |url=https://www.womansworld.com/entertainment/celebrities/marilyn-monroes-early-life |access-date=2024-09-08 |website=Woman's World |language=en-US}}</ref><ref name=":9">{{Cite web |title=Mrs. James Dougherty |url=https://marilynfromthe22ndrow.com/wp/a-brief-biography/james-dougherty/ |access-date=2024-09-08 |website=Marilyn From The 22nd Row |language=en-US}}</ref> Monroe had been harboring a crush on Dougherty, who had been class president and football captain during his days at school.<ref name=":8" />

The same year, she began attending [[Van Nuys High School]].{{sfn|Spoto|2001|pp=67–69}} At the age of 15, she began dating factory worker [[James Dougherty (police officer)|James Dougherty]], her neighbors' 20-year-old son.<ref>{{Cite web |last=McDowell |first=Erin |date=1 June 2024 |title=50 rare photos of Marilyn Monroe that show another side to the film star |url=https://www.businessinsider.com/rare-photos-marilyn-monroe-2019-8#despite-her-career-success-monroes-personal-life-was-struggling-16 |access-date=2024-08-14 |website=[[Business Insider]] |language=en-US}}</ref><ref name=":5" /> In 1942, the company that employed Doc Goddard relocated him to [[West Virginia]].{{sfnm|1a1=Spoto|1y=2001|1pp=70–75|2a1=Banner|2y=2012|2pp=86–90}} California child protection laws prevented the Goddards from taking Monroe out of state, and she faced having to return to the orphanage.{{sfn|Banner|2012|pp=86–90}} AsTo aprevent solutionthis, sheGrace marriedGoddard Doughertyapproached onDougherty's June 19mother, 1942Ethel, justwith afterthe herproposition 16ththat birthdayDougherty marry Monroe.<ref name=":10">{{sfnCite web |Spotodate=2022-09-28 |2001title=50 Rare Photos From Marilyn Monroe's Turbulent Marriages |ppurl=70–75https://www.elle.com/life-love/news/g29955/marilyn-monroe-husbands-photos/?slide=3 |access-date=2024-09-08 |website=[[Elle (magazine)|Elle]] |language=en-US}}</ref> MonroeEthel subsequentlyagreed, droppedand outthe oftwo hightold schoolMonroe and becameDougherty atheir housewifeidea. SheBoth foundwere herselfrather andskeptical: Dougherty mismatchedthought Monroe was rather young to marry, and laterMonroe saidwas shenervous.<ref name=":11">{{Cite web |last=Morgan |first=Michelle |date=2022-09-27 |title=Who was "dyingMarilyn ofMonroe's boredom"first duringhusband? the marriage|url=https://www.{{sfnyours.co.uk/leisure/nostalgia/marilyn-monroes-first-husband-james-dougherty/ |Spotoaccess-date=2024-09-08 |2001website=Yours Magazine |pplanguage=70–78en}}</ref> InOn one 1943occasion, DoughertyMonroe enlistedapproached inGrace with the [[Unitedidea Statesthat Merchantthey Marine|Merchantmarry Marine]]as andfriends wasinstead stationed onof [[SantaConsummation|consummating]] Catalinatheir Islandmarriage, California|Santabut CatalinaGrace Island]]replied, where"Don't Monroeworry, movedyou'll withlearn."<ref him.{{sfnm|1a1name=Spoto|1y=2001|1pp=83–86|2a1=Banner|2y=2012|2pp=91–98}}":8" />

In April 1944, Dougherty was shipped out to the [[Pacific Ocean theater of World War II|Pacific]], where he remained for most of the next two years.{{sfnm|1a1=Spoto|1y=2001|1pp=83–86|2a1=Banner|2y=2012|2pp=91–98}} That same year, Monroe met Miracle and her husband, Paris,who forhad thepreviously firstbeen time.having Afterdoubts meetingabout herhaving children, Monroebegged senthim the Miraclesfor a postcardbaby reading, "Dearest Berniece,before Ihe just can't tell you both how I enjoyed meeting youleft.<ref Iname=":11" want/> toThat thank yousame for everythingyear, forMonroe Imet hadMiracle aand wonderfulher time. Lovehusband, Norma Jeane. P.S. BernieceParis, Ifor willthe writefirst to you soontime. Give Mona Rae my love." They continued to stay in touch throughout Monroe's career.<ref name=":4">{{Cite web |last=Tremaine |first=Julie |date=December 23, 2023 |title=Who Was Marilyn Monroe's Sister? All About Berniece Baker Miracle |url=https://people.com/who-was-berniece-baker-miracle-marilyn-monroe-sister-8380410#:~:text=Despite%20Monroe's%20work%20and%20travel,,%20postmarked%20Oct%2028,%201944. |access-date=August 14, 2024 |website=[[Peoplemag]] |language=en}}</ref>

After Dougherty left, Monroe moved in with herDougherty's in-lawsparents and began a job at the [[Radioplane Company]], a munitions factory in Van Nuys, to help the war effort.{{sfnm|1a1=Spoto|1y=2001|1pp=83–86|2a1=Banner|2y=2012|2pp=91–98}} In late 1944, she met photographer [[David Conover]], who had been sent by captain [[Ronald Reagan]],<ref>{{cite news |last1=Toure |first1=Yemi |title=Reagan and Marilyn: Did Ronald Reagan help... |url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1990-12-03-vw-4209-story.html |access-date=December 15, 2023 |agency=[[Los Angeles Times]] |date=3 December 3, 1990}}</ref> then working in the [[U.S. Army Air Forces]]' [[First Motion Picture Unit]], to the factory to shoot morale-boosting pictures of female workers.{{sfnm|1a1=Spoto|1y=2001|1pp=90–91|2a1=Churchwell|2y=2004|2p=176}} Although none of her pictures were used, she quit working at the factory in January 1945 and began modeling for Conover and his friends.{{sfnm|1a1=Spoto|1y=2001|1pp=90–93|2a1=Churchwell|2y=2004|2pp=176–177}}<ref>{{cite web|title=Yank USA 1945|url=http://www.wartimepress.com/archives.asp?TID=YANK%20USA%201943&MID=YANK%20-%20USA%20Edition&q=357&FID=42|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170807072009/http://www.wartimepress.com/archives.asp?TID=YANK%20USA%201943&MID=YANK%20-%20USA%20Edition&q=357&FID=42|url-status=dead|archive-date=August 7, 2017|publisher=Wartime Press|access-date=January 13, 2012}}</ref> Defying her deployed husband and his disapproving mother, she moved on her own and signed a contract with the Blue Book Model Agency in August 1945.{{sfn|Banner|2012|pp=103–104}}<ref name=":11" />

The agency deemed Monroe's figure more suitable for [[Pin-up model|pin-up]] than high fashion modeling, and she was featured mostly in advertisements and men's magazines.{{sfn|Spoto|2001|pp=95–107}} To make herself more employable, sheShe straightened her naturally curly brown hair and dyed it [[Blond|platinum blonde]], upon receivingon advice from a [[modeling agency]].{{sfnm|1a1=Spoto|1y=2001|1pp=93–95|2a1=Banner|2y=2012|2pp=105–108}}<ref>{{Cite web |last=Cotton |first=Ruby |date=September 26, 2022 |title=Marilyn Monroe's Natural Hair Colour Isn't What You Think It Is |url=https://www.beautyheaven.com.au/hair/marilyn-monroe-natural-hair-colour/ |access-date=June 8, 2024 |website=beautyheaven |language=en-US}}</ref> According to Emmeline Snively, the agency's owner, Monroe quickly became one of its most ambitious and hard-working models; by early 1946, she had appeared on 33 magazine covers for publications such as ''[[Pageant (magazine)|Pageant]]'', ''U.S. Camera'', ''Laff'', and ''Peek''.{{sfnm|1a1=Spoto|1y=2001|1p=95, for statement & covers|2a1=Banner|2y=2012|2p=109, for Snively's statement}} As a model, Monroe occasionally used the pseudonym Jean Norman.{{sfnm|1a1=Spoto|1y=2001|1pp=93–95|2a1=Banner|2y=2012|2pp=105–108}}

Through Snively, Monroe signed a contract with an acting agency in June 1946.{{sfn|Spoto|2001|pp=110–111}} After an unsuccessful interview at [[Paramount Pictures]], she was given a screen-test by [[Ben Lyon]], a [[20th Century Fox|20th Century-Fox]] executive. Head executive [[Darryl F. Zanuck]] was unenthusiastic about it,{{sfnm|1a1=Spoto|1y=2001|1pp=110–112|2a1=Banner|2y=2012|2pp=117–119}} but he gave her a standard six-month contract to avoid her being signed by rival studio [[RKO Pictures]].{{efn|RKO's owner [[Howard Hughes]] had expressed an interest in Monroe after seeing her on a magazine cover.{{sfn|Banner|2012|p=119}}}} Monroe's contract began in August 1946, and she and Lyon selected the [[stage name]] "Marilyn Monroe".{{sfn|Spoto|2001|pp=112–114}} The first name was picked by Lyon, who was reminded of Broadway star [[Marilyn Miller]]; the surname was Monroe's mother's maiden name.{{sfn|Spoto|2001|p=114}} However, the studio was reluctant to hire Monroe, a married woman, for fear she'd would become pregnant.<ref name=":6">{{Cite web |last=Fraga |first=Kaleena |date=2024-02-February 24, 2024 |title=James Dougherty, The Man Who Married 16-Year-Old Norma Jeane Baker Before She Became Marilyn Monroe |url=https://allthatsinteresting.com/james-dougherty |access-date=2024-08-August 15, 2024 |website=All That's Interesting |language=en-US}}</ref><ref name=":7">{{Cite web |last=Milner |first=Richard |date=2022-09-September 21, 2022 |title=Whatever Happened To Marilyn Monroe's First Husband, James Dougherty? |url=https://www.grunge.com/1019027/whatever-happened-to-marilyn-monroes-first-husband-james-dougherty/ |access-date=2024-08-August 15, 2024 |website=Grunge |language=en-US}}</ref> In September 1946, she divorced Dougherty, leaving him heartbroken.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Staff |first=Radar |date=September 30, 2022 |title='Like Getting Kicked By A Mule': Marilyn Monroe's First Husband Details Heartbreak After Being Served Divorce Papers From Love Of His Life |url=https://radaronline.com/p/marilyn-monroe-first-husband-talks-split-divorce/ |access-date=June 8, 2024 |website=RadarOnline |language=en-US}}</ref> Though Monroe offered to continue the relationship unmarried, Dougherty refused, and the relationship officially ended.<ref name=":6" /><ref name=":7" />

[[File:Marilyn Monroe Niagara.png |left|thumb|278x278px|alt= Monroe in ''Niagara''. A close-up of her face and shoulders; she is wearing gold hoop earrings and a shocking pink top|Monroe in ''[[Niagara (1953 film)|Niagara]]'' (1953), which dwelt on her sex appeal]]

In September, Monroe made her television debut in the ''[[Jack Benny Show]]'', playing Jack's fantasy woman in the episode "Honolulu Trip".{{sfn|Spoto|2001|p=250}} She co-starred with Betty Grable and [[Lauren Bacall]] in her third movie of the year, ''[[How to Marry a Millionaire]]'', released in November. It featured Monroe as a naïve model who teams up with her friends to find rich husbands, repeating the successful formula of ''Gentlemen Prefer Blondes''. It was the second film ever released in [[CinemaScope]], a widescreen format that Fox hoped would draw audiences back to theaters as television was beginning to cause losses to film studios.{{sfnm|1a1=Spoto|1y=2001|1p=238|2a1=Churchwell|2y=2004|2pp=64–65}} Despite mixed reviews, the film was Monroe's biggest box office success at that point in her career.{{sfnm|2a1=Churchwell|2y=2004|2p=65|3a1=Lev|3y=2013|3p=209|1a1=Solomon|1y=1988|1p=89}} Unlike on the sets of other films, Monroe got along well with her costars, particularly Grable, who reportedly found Monroe a delightful person to hang out with.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Mosness |first=Carissa |date=2024-08-11 |title='How to Marry a Millionaire': 7 Fun Facts About the 1953 Film |url=https://www.womansworld.com/entertainment/movies/how-to-marry-a-millionaire-7-fun-facts-about-the-1953-film |access-date=2024-09-06 |website=Woman's World |language=en-US}}</ref>

Monroe had become one of 20th Century-Fox's biggest stars, but her contract had not changed since 1950, so that she was paid far less than other stars of her stature and could not choose her projects.{{sfn|Churchwell|2004|p=68}} Her attempts to appear in films that would not focus on her as a pin-up had been thwarted by the studio head executive, [[Darryl F. Zanuck]], who had a strong personal dislike of her and did not think she would earn the studio as much revenue in other types of roles.{{sfn|Churchwell|2004|pp=68, 208–209}} Under pressure from the studio's owner, [[Spyros Skouras]], Zanuck had also decided that Fox should focus exclusively on entertainment to maximize profits and canceled the production of any "serious films".{{sfn|Banner|2012|p=217}} In January 1954, he suspended Monroe when she refused to begin shooting yet another musical comedy, ''[[The Girl in Pink Tights]]''.{{sfnm|1a1=Summers|1y=1985|1p=92|2a1=Spoto|2y=2001|2pp=254–259}} This was front-page news, and Monroe immediately took action to counter negative publicity. At the [[11th Golden Globe Awards]] in 1954, Monroe was named "[[Henrietta Award|World Film Favorite]]", despite not being present at the awards ceremony.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Villanueva |first=Armando |date=2018-10-October 30, 2018 |title=Golden Globe Moment: Marilyn is Golden |url=https://goldenglobes.com/articles/golden-globe-moment-marilyn-is-golden/ |access-date=2024-08-August 16, 2024 |website=Golden Globes |language=en-US}}</ref>

Monroe met baseball player [[Joe DiMaggio]] in 1952, while on a [[blind date]] in [[Los Angeles]].<ref>{{Cite web |date=February 12, 2024 |title=How Marilyn Monroe and Joe DiMaggio Became the Ultimate Power Couple |first=Jessica Pearce |last=Rotondi |url=https://www.history.com/news/marilyn-monroe-joe-dimaggio-marriage-icons |access-date=June 11, 2024 |website=HISTORY |language=en}}</ref><ref name=":0">{{Cite web |last=Alexandra |first=Rae |date=January 10, 2024 |title=How Marilyn Monroe and Joe DiMaggio’sDiMaggio's Tumultuous Marriage Began in San Francisco |url=https://www.kqed.org/arts/13922524/marilyn-monroe-joe-dimaggio-san-francisco-city-hall-wedding-1954 |access-date=June 11, 2024 |website=www.kqed.org |language=en}}</ref> After two years of dating,<ref name=":1">{{Cite webmagazine |date=January 14, 2014 |title=Marilyn Monroe and Joe DiMaggio: The End of a Marriage, 1954 |url=https://www.life.com/people/tearful-photos-from-the-day-marilyn-divorced-dimaggio-in-1954/ |first=Ben |last=Cosgrove |access-date=June 11, 2024 |websitemagazine=LIFE |language=en-US}}</ref> she and DiMaggio were married at the [[San Francisco City Hall]] on January 14, 1954.{{sfn|Spoto|2001|p=260}} They then traveled by car<ref name="Chron-Hoppe-jo-dimag">{{cite news |last1=Hoppe |first1=Art |author1-link=Art Hoppe |title=Joe Di Maggio Marries Marilyn Monroe at San Francisco City Hall |url=http://www.sfmuseum.org/hist8/jodimag.html |access-date=June 12, 2022 |work=[[San Francisco Chronicle]] |date=January 15, 1954 |location=[[San Francisco]] |quote=Di Maggio said he didn’t know where they would spend their honeymoon but they would 'probably just get in the car and go' tonight.}}</ref> first to [[Paso Robles, California|Paso Robles]],<ref>{{Cite news |last=Middlecamp |first=David |date=November 16, 2013 |title=Celebrity love story passed through Paso |pages=B1 |work=The Tribune (San Luis Obispo, CA)}}</ref> then south to nearby [[San Luis Obispo]] the day after,<ref name="sanluisobispo-MM-JD">{{cite news |last1=Middlecamp |first1=David |title=Joe DiMaggio and Marilyn Monroe's Central Coast honeymoon |url=https://www.sanluisobispo.com/news/local/news-columns-blogs/photos-from-the-vault/article39460947.html |access-date=June 12, 2022 |work=[[San Luis Obispo Tribune]] |date=March 25, 2016}}</ref> before spendingspent their honeymoon<ref name="Mungo-Desert-Playground">{{cite book |last1=Mungo |first1=Ray |title=Palm Springs Babylon: Sizzling Stories From The Desert Playground Of The Stars |date=January 15, 1993 |publisher=Macmillan |isbn=978-0-312-06438-9 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=kb0s0dHpd_AC&dq=Joe+DiMaggio+Marilyn+Monroe+Idyllwild+January+1954&pg=PA49 |language=en |quote=In January, 1954, Marilyn and Joe DiMaggio spent their honeymoon in the area, mostly tucked away playing billiards in a cabin up in the Idyllwild Hills.}}</ref> outside [[Idyllwild, California]],<ref name="idyllwildtowncrier/2014/01/30/past-tense">{{cite news |title=Past Tense: January 30, 2014 |url=https://idyllwildtowncrier.com/2014/01/30/past-tense-jan-30-2014/ |access-date=September 10, 2022 |work=Idyllwild Town Crier |date=January 30, 2014}}</ref><ref name="idyllwildtowncrier-MM-JD">{{cite news |title=Before Our Time: Idyllwild's SMASH! |url=https://idyllwildtowncrier.com/2012/06/06/before-our-time-idyllwilds-smas/ |access-date=June 12, 2022 |work=[[Idyllwild Town Crier]] |date=June 6, 2012}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=ERNIE MAXWELL: Idyllwild 'old-timer' remembers much of mountain town's history |first=Paul |last=Zalis |url=https://cdnc.ucr.edu/?a=d&d=DS19840901.2.21&e=-------en--20--1--txt-txIN--------1 |access-date=June 12, 2022 |work=[[The Desert Sun]] |date=September 1, 1984 |location=[[Palm Springs, California]] |via=[[California Digital Newspaper Collection]]}}</ref> in the mountain lodge of Monroe's lawyer Lloyd Wright.<ref name="HeritageAuctions-Monroe-agent-files">{{cite web |title=Marilyn Monroe extensive archive of her agent Charles K. Feldman's files of (150+) typed and handwritten letters, memos, clippings and telegrams from the Famous Artists Corporation. |url=https://entertainment.ha.com/itm/movie-tv-memorabilia/marilyn-monroe-extensive-archive-of-her-agent-charles-k-feldman-s-files-of-150-typed-and-handwritten-letters-memos-clipp/a/997052-1088.s |website=Heritage Auctions |access-date=September 10, 2022 |date=December 11, 2018 |quote=Marilyn Monroe is giving press statements in New York that she was not returning to 20th-Fox, where she is under contract, and also that she was dismissing her attorney, Lloyd Wright, and her agency, Famous Artists...}}</ref><ref name="O'Hagan-Atlantic-MM-JD">{{cite book |last1=O'Hagan |first1=Andrew |author1-link=Andrew O'Hagan |title=The Atlantic Ocean: Reports from Britain and America |date=January 22, 2013 |publisher=HMH |isbn=978-0-547-72789-9 |page=112 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=6zuAqkiZf20C&dq=Lloyd+Wright+Idyllwild&pg=PA112 |language=en}}</ref> On January 29, 1954, fifteen days later,<ref name="historynet-monroe-korea">{{cite web |title=When Marilyn Monroe Interrupted Her Honeymoon to Go to Korea |first=Liesl |last=Bradner |url=https://www.historynet.com/when-marilyn-monroe-interrupted-her-honeymoon-to-go-to-korea/ |website=[[HistoryNet]] |access-date=September 10, 2022 |date=December 3, 2019}}</ref> they flew to Japan,<ref name="marilynmonroe.ca-tickets">{{cite web |author1=Melinda |title=Marilyn Monroe and Joe DiMaggio Honeymoon in Japan |url=http://www.marilynmonroe.ca/camera/tickets/index.html |website=MarilynMonroe.ca |access-date=June 12, 2022 |location=Ontario, Canada}}</ref> combining a "honeymoon" with his commitment to his former [[San Francisco Seals (PCL)|San Francisco Seals]] coach [[Lefty O'Doul]],<ref name="Getty-Monroe-O'Doul-Japan">{{cite web |title=Marilyn Monroe, (Left Center), and Jean O'Doul, the wife 'Lefty' O'Doul, (Right Center), are shown posing with pretty Japanese Geisha Girls after a 'Sukiyaki' Dinner in Kobe. The dinner was given by the Central League, one of Japan's professional baseball organizations. Husbands DiMaggio and O'Doul were among the diners. Miss Monroe and DiMaggio are flying home today. |url=https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/marilyn-monroe-and-jean-odoul-the-wife-lefty-odoul-are-news-photo/517367908 |website=[[Getty Images]] |date=March 22, 2016 |access-date=September 10, 2022 |language=en-us}}</ref> to help train<ref name="pressdemocrat-lefty-odoul">{{cite news |title=The streak continues for 'Lefty' O'Doul |first=Chris |last=Smith |url=https://www.pressdemocrat.com/article/news/sonoma-stories-lefty-odoul-was-like-an-uncle-to-this-rohnert-park-man/ |access-date=September 10, 2022 |work=[[Santa Rosa Press Democrat]] |date=September 4, 2017}}</ref> Japanese baseball teams.<ref name="Doyle-monroe-dimaggio" />{{sfn|Spoto|2001|pp=262–263}} From Tokyo, she traveled with Jean O'Doul,<ref name="Doyle-monroe-dimaggio">{{cite web |last1=Doyle |first1=Jack |title='Marilyn & Joe, et al.' A 70-Year Saga |url=https://pophistorydig.com/topics/marilyn-monroe-joe-dimaggio/ |website=The Pop History Dig |access-date=September 10, 2022}}</ref> Lefty's wife, to Korea,<ref name="Getty-Monroe-O'Doul-Korea">{{cite web |title=Marilyn Monroe (left) stands with (l to r) Marine Col. William K. Jones and Jean O'Doul while visiting American troops in Korea. |url=https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/marilyn-monroe-stands-with-marine-col-william-k-jones-and-news-photo/517384340 |website=[[Getty Images]] |date=March 22, 2016 |access-date=September 10, 2022 |language=en-us}}</ref><ref name="orlandosentinel-lefty-odouls">{{cite news |last1=Warner |first1=Gary A. |title=Lefty O'Doul's is the best baseball bar in San Francisco |url=https://www.orlandosentinel.com/travel/vs-travel-san-francisco-lefty-odouls-20121112-story.html |access-date=September 10, 2022 |work=[[Orlando Sentinel]] |agency=[[Orange County Register]] |date=November 12, 2012 |quote=The name on the card is 'Norma Jean DiMaggio'&nbsp;– the legal name of DiMaggio's then-wife, Marilyn Monroe, who needed the card to make overseas visits to build the morale of American troops in Korea.}}</ref> where she participated in a [[United Service Organizations|USO]] show,<ref name="japantoday-Monroe-Japan">{{cite news |last1=Parr |first1=Patrick |title=Mrs and Mr Marilyn Monroe honeymoon in Japan |url=https://japantoday.com/category/features/lifestyle/Mrs-and-Mr-Marilyn-Monroe-honeymoon-in-Japan |access-date=September 10, 2022 |work=[[Japan Today]] |date=August 23, 2018 |language=en}}</ref> singing songs from her films for over 60,000 U.S. Marines over a four-day period.<ref>{{cite web |last1=O'Doul |first1=Jean |title=A Marilyn Monroe Group of Never-Before-Seen Black and White Snapshots from Korea, 1954 |url=https://entertainment.ha.com/itm/movie-tv-memorabilia/photos/a-marilyn-monroe-group-of-never-before-seen-black-and-white-snapshots-from-korea-1954/a/7082-46004.s |website=Heritage Auctions |access-date=September 10, 2022 |date=December 12, 2013}}</ref><ref name="Miller-Monroe-DiMaggio">{{cite book |last1=Miller |first1=Jennifer Jean |title=Marilyn Monroe & Joe DiMaggio - Love In Japan, Korea & Beyond |date=February 14, 2014 |publisher=J.J. Avenue Productions |isbn=978-0-9914291-6-5 |page=79 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=mXTdAgAAQBAJ&dq=Monroe++O%27Doul+Korea&pg=PT79 |language=en}}</ref>{{sfn|Churchwell|2004|p=241}} After returning to the U.S., she was awarded ''Photoplay''{{'}}s "Most Popular Female Star" prize.{{sfn|Spoto|2001|p=267}} Monroe settled with Fox in March, with the promise of a new contract, a bonus of $100,000, and a starring role in the [[The Seven Year Itch|film adaptation]] of the [[Broadway theatre|Broadway]] success ''[[The Seven Year Itch (play)|The Seven Year Itch]]''.{{sfn|Spoto|2001|p=271}}

Monroe continued her relationship with DiMaggio despite the ongoing divorce process; she was also rumored to have dated actor [[Marlon Brando]] and playwright [[Arthur Miller]].{{sfnm|1a1=Spoto|1y=2001|pp=319–332|2a1=Churchwell|2y=2004|2p=253, for Miller|3a1=Banner|3y=2012|3p=285, for Brando}}<ref>{{Cite Sheweb had|last=Miller |first=Mike been|date=2024-05-21 introduced|title=Who toWere MillerMarilyn byMonroe's Most Famous Lovers? Revisiting Her Relationships and Rumored Affairs |url=https://people.com/marilyn-monroe-dating-history-8651634 |access-date=2024-09-08 |website=[[EliaPeoplemag|People]] Kazan|language=en}}</ref> Monroe had met playwright [[Arthur Miller]] in 1951, after being introduced on the earlyset 1950sof [[As Young as You Feel|''As Young as You Feel'']] by director [[Elia Kazan]].{{sfnm|1a1=Spoto|1y=2001|pp=319–332|2a1=Churchwell|2y=2004|2p=253, for Miller|3a1=Banner|3y=2012|3p=285, for Brando}} TheThough he was married to Mary Slattery, they began an affair betweenin Monroe1955.<ref andname=":13">{{Cite web |last=Martin |first=Laura |date=2022-09-27 |title='Blonde': The True Story of Arthur Miller's Relationship With Marilyn Monroe |url=https://www.esquire.com/uk/culture/film/a41242949/blonde-arthur-miller-marilyn-monroe-relationship/ |access-date=2024-09-08 |website=Esquire |language=en-GB}}</ref> The affair became increasingly serious after October 1955, when herMonroe's divorce was finalized and heMiler separated from hisSlattery wifeso he could be with Monroe.{{sfnm|1a1=Spoto|1y=2001|1p=337|2a1=Meyers|2y=2010|2p=98}}<ref>{{Cite news |last=Wood |first=Gaby |date=2005-02-13 |title='I like the company of women. Life is boring without them' - Arthur Miller |url=https://www.theguardian.com/film/2005/feb/13/theatre.arthurmiller |access-date=2024-09-08 |work=[[The Guardian]] |language=en-GB |issn=0029-7712}}</ref> The studio urged her to end it, as Miller was being investigated by the [[FBI]] for allegations of [[communism]] and had been [[Subpoena|subpoenaed]] by the [[House Un-American Activities Committee]], but Monroe refused.{{sfnm|1a1=Summers|1y=1985|1p=157|2a1=Spoto|2y=2001|2pp=318–320|3a1=Churchwell|3y=2004|3pp=253–254}} The relationship led to the FBI opening a file on her, as they suspected she was part of a communist group.{{sfnm|1a1=Spoto|1y=2001|1p=337|2a1=Meyers|2y=2010|2p=98}} However, the FBI never uncovered any evidence proving these claims.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Martin |first=Laura |date=2022-09-28 |title='Blonde': Did the FBI Really Open a File on Marilyn Monroe? |url=https://www.esquire.com/uk/culture/a41314807/blonde-did-the-fbi-open-a-file-on-marilyn-monroe/ |access-date=2024-09-08 |website=Esquire |language=en-GB}}</ref>

[[File:Monroe Millerand Murray argument in Bus WeddingStop.jpg|thumb|uprightleft|rightupright|alt=CroppedMonroe photoand ofDon MonroeMurray andin Miller''Bus cuttingStop''. theShe cakeis atwearing theira wedding.ragged Hercoat veiland isa liftedsmall fromhat hertied facewith ribbons and heis having an argument with Murray, who is wearing jeans, a whitedenim shirtjacket withand a darkcowboy tiehat.|Monroe's anddramatic performance in ''[[ArthurBus MillerStop (1956 film)|Bus Stop]]'' at(1956) theirmarked wedding,a Junedeparture 1956from her earlier comedies.]]Monroe began 1956 by announcing her win over 20th Century-Fox.{{sfn|Banner|2012|pp=296–297}} SheOn February 23, 1956, she legally changed her name to ''Marilyn Monroe''.<ref>[{{Cite web |last=Bodenner |first=Chris |date=2016-02-24 |title=The Day Norma Jean Died |url=https://www.theatlantic.com/culture/archive/2016/02/marilyn-monroe-norma-jean/624878/ Article]|access-date=2024-09-08 by Chris Bodenner in ''|website=The Atlantic'' February 24, 2006|language=en}}</ref> The press wrote favorably about her decision to fight the studio; ''[[Time (magazine)|Time]]'' called her a "shrewd businesswoman"{{sfn|Spoto|2001|p=341}} and ''[[Look (American magazine)|Look]]'' predicted that the win would be "an example of the individual against the herd for years to come".{{sfn|Banner|2012|pp=296–297}} In contrast, Monroe's relationship with Miller prompted some negative comments, such as [[Walter Winchell]]'s statement that "America's best-known blonde moving picture star is now the darling of the left-wing intelligentsia."{{sfn|Spoto|2001|pp=343–345}}

In March, Monroe began filming the drama ''[[Bus Stop (1956 film)|Bus Stop]]'', her first film under the new contract.{{sfn|Spoto|2001|p=345}} She played Chérie, a saloon singer whose dreams of stardom are complicated by a naïve cowboy who falls in love with her. For the role, she learned an [[Ozark English|Ozark accent]], chose costumes and makeup that lacked the glamor of her earlier films, and provided deliberately mediocre singing and dancing.{{sfn|Spoto|2001|pp=352–357}} [[Broadway theatre|Broadway]] director [[Joshua Logan]] agreed to direct, despite initially doubting Monroe's acting abilities and knowing of her difficult reputation.{{sfn|Spoto|2001|pp=352–354}} The filming took place in Idaho and Arizona, with Monroe "technically in charge" as the head of MMP, occasionally making decisions on cinematography and with Logan adapting to her chronic lateness and perfectionism.{{sfnm|1a1=Spoto|1y=2001|1pp=354–358, for location and time|2a1=Banner|2y=2012|2p=297, 310}} The experience changed Logan's opinion of Monroe, and he later compared her to [[Charlie Chaplin]] in her ability to blend comedy and tragedy.{{sfn|Banner|2012|p=254}}[[File:Monroe Miller Wedding.jpg|thumb|upright|right|alt=Cropped photo of Monroe and Miller cutting the cake at their wedding. Her veil is lifted from her face and he is wearing a white shirt with a dark tie.|Monroe and [[Arthur Miller]] at their wedding, June 1956]]On June 29, 1956, Monroe and Miller were married in a four-minute civil ceremony at the Westchester County Court in [[White Plains, New York]]; two days later they had a [[Jewish wedding|Jewish ceremony]] at the home of [[Kay B. Barrett|Kay Brown]], Miller's literary agent, in [[Waccabuc, New York]].{{sfn|Spoto|2001|pp=364–365}}<ref name=":5">{{cite web|title=Marilyn Monroe's Westchester Wedding; Plus, More County Questions And Answers|date=November 2014|first=Tom|last=Schreck|work=[[Westchester Magazine]]|url=https://www.westchestermagazine.com/Westchester-Magazine/November-2014/Marilyn-Monroes-Westchester-Wedding-Plus-More-County-Questions-And-Answers/|access-date=May 17, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190517063630/http://www.westchestermagazine.com//Westchester-Magazine/November-2014/Marilyn-Monroes-Westchester-Wedding-Plus-More-County-Questions-And-Answers|archive-date=May 17, 2019|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name=":13" /> With the marriage, Monroe [[Conversion to Judaism|converted to Judaism]], which led Egypt to ban all of her films.{{sfn|Meyers|2010|pp=156–157}}{{efn|Monroe identified with the Jewish people as a "dispossessed group" and wanted to convert to make herself part of Miller's family.{{sfn|Banner|2012|p=256}} She was instructed by Rabbi Robert Goldberg and converted on July 1, 1956.{{sfn|Meyers|2010|pp=156–157}} Monroe's interest in Judaism as a religion was limited: she called herself a "[[Jewish atheist]]" and did not practice the faith after divorcing Miller aside from retaining some religious items.{{sfn|Meyers|2010|pp=156–157}} Egypt also lifted her ban after the divorce was finalized in 1961.{{sfn|Meyers|2010|pp=156–157}}}} Due to Monroe's status as a sex symbol and Miller's image as an intellectual, the media saw the union as a mismatch, as evidenced by ''Variety''{{'}}s headline, "Egghead Weds Hourglass".{{sfnm|1a1=Churchwell|1y=2004|1pp=253–257|2a1=Meyers|2y=2010|2p=155}} That year, Monroe became pregnant, but miscarried.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Tempera |first=Jacqueline |date=2022-10-04 |title=Marilyn Monroe Was Pregnant At Least 3 Times Before Her Death |url=https://www.yahoo.com/lifestyle/marilyn-monroe-pregnant-least-3-204400834.html |access-date=2024-09-15 |website=Yahoo Life |language=en-US}}</ref>

After returning from England, Monroe took an 18-month hiatus to concentrate on family life. She and Miller split their time between NYC, [[Connecticut]] and [[Long Island]].{{sfn|Spoto|2001|pp=381–382}} She had an [[ectopic pregnancy]] in mid-1957, and a miscarriage a year later;{{sfn|Spoto|2001|pp=392–393, 406–407}} these problems were most likely linked to her [[endometriosis]].{{sfn|Churchwell|2004|pp=274–277}}{{efn|Endometriosis also caused her to experience severe [[Dysmenorrhea|menstrual pain]] throughout her life, necessitating a clause in her contract allowing her to be absent from work during her period; her endometriosis also required several surgeries.{{sfn|Churchwell|2004|pp=274–277}} It has sometimes been alleged that Monroe underwent several [[abortion]]sabortions, and that [[unsafe abortion]]s made by persons without proper medical training would have contributed to her inability to maintain a pregnancy.{{sfnm|1a1=Churchwell|1y=2004|1pp=271–274|2a1=Banner|2y=2012|2pp=222, 226, 329–30, 335, 362}} The abortion rumors began from statements made by Amy Greene, the wife of Milton Greene, but have not been confirmed by any concrete evidence.{{sfn|Churchwell|2004|pp=271–274}} Furthermore, Monroe's autopsy report did not note any evidence of abortions.{{sfn|Churchwell|2004|pp=271–274}}}} Monroe was also briefly hospitalized due to a barbiturate overdose.{{sfn|Banner|2012|p=321}} As she and Greene could not settle their disagreements over MMP, Monroe bought his share of the company.{{sfn|Spoto|2001|pp=389–391}}

In the end, Wilder was happy with Monroe's performance, saying: "Anyone can remember lines, but it takes a real artist to come on the set and not know her lines and yet give the performance she did!"{{sfn|Spoto|2001|p=406}} ''Some Like It Hot'' was a critical and commercial success when it was released in March 1959.{{sfnm|2a1=Banner|2y=2012|2p=346|1a1=Spoto|1y=2001|1p=406}} Monroe's performance earned her a Golden Globe for Best Actress in a Leading Role - Musical or Comedy,<ref>{{Cite web |title=Marilyn Monroe |url=https://goldenglobes.com/person/marilyn-monroe/ |access-date=2024-08-August 16, 2024 |website=Golden Globes |language=en-US}}</ref> and prompted ''Variety'' to call her "a comedienne with that combination of sex appeal and timing that just can't be beat".{{sfn|Banner|2012|p=346}}<ref>{{cite news|url=https://variety.com/1959/film/reviews/some-like-it-hot-2-1200419454/|title=Review: 'Some Like It Hot'|work=Variety|date=February 24, 1959|access-date=October 21, 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151031205405/http://variety.com/1959/film/reviews/some-like-it-hot-2-1200419454/|archive-date=October 31, 2015|url-status=live}}</ref> It has been voted one of the [[List of films considered the best|best films ever made]] in polls by the [[BBC]],<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.bbc.com/culture/story/20170821-the-100-greatest-comedies-of-all-time|title=The 100 greatest comedies of all time|publisher=BBC|date=August 22, 2017|access-date=January 21, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180111175543/http://www.bbc.com/culture/story/20170821-the-100-greatest-comedies-of-all-time|archive-date=January 11, 2018|url-status=live}}</ref> the [[American Film Institute]],<ref>{{cite web|url=https://catalog.afi.com/Catalog/moviedetails/53017|title=Some Like It Hot|publisher=American Film Institute|access-date=September 5, 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190517064546/https://catalog.afi.com/Catalog/moviedetails/53017|archive-date=May 17, 2019|url-status=live}}</ref> and ''[[Sight & Sound]]''.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.bfi.org.uk/news/50-greatest-films-all-time|title=The top 50 Greatest Films of All Time|publisher=[[British Film Institute]]|date=September 2012|access-date=September 5, 2015|first=Ian|last=Christie|author-link=Ian Christie (film scholar)|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150905061731/http://www.bfi.org.uk/news/50-greatest-films-all-time|archive-date=September 5, 2015|url-status=dead}}</ref>[[File:Monroe Montand Let's Make Love.jpg|thumb|alt=Monroe and Montand standing next to a piano in a studio-type setting and looking at sheet music.|Monroe with [[Yves Montand]] in ''[[Let's Make Love]]'' (1960), which she agreed to make only to fulfill her contract with Fox]]

After ''Some Like It Hot'', Monroe took another hiatus until late 1959, when she starred in the musical comedy ''[[Let's Make Love]]''.{{sfn|Churchwell|2004|p=71}} She chose [[George Cukor]] to direct and Miller rewrote some of the script, which she considered weak. She accepted the part solely because she was behind on her contract with Fox.{{sfn|Spoto|2001|pp=410–415}} The film's production was delayed by her frequent absences from the set.{{sfn|Churchwell|2004|p=71}} During the shoot, Monroe had an affair with co-star [[Yves Montand]] that was widely reported by the press and used in the film's publicity campaign.{{sfn|Churchwell|2004|p=72}} ''Let's Make Love'' was unsuccessful upon its release in September 1960.{{sfnm|1a1=Riese|1a2=Hitchens|1y=1988|1p=270|2a1=Churchwell|2y=2004|2p=266|3a1=Solomon|3y=1988|3p=139}} Crowther described Monroe as appearing "rather untidy" and "lacking ... the old Monroe dynamism",<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/movie/review?res=9A01E1DA1F3EEF3ABC4153DFBF66838B679EDE|title=Movie Review: Let's Make Love (1960)|work=The New York Times|date=September 9, 1960|access-date=October 18, 2015|first=Bosley|last=Crowther|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151011184254/http://www.nytimes.com/movie/review?res=9A01E1DA1F3EEF3ABC4153DFBF66838B679EDE|archive-date=October 11, 2015|url-status=live}}</ref> and Hedda Hopper called the film "the most vulgar picture she's ever done".<ref>{{cite news|url=http://archives.chicagotribune.com/1960/08/25/page/138/article/hedda-finds-marilyns-new-film-most-vulgar|title=Hedda Finds Marilyn's Film 'Most Vulgar'|work=Chicago Tribune|date=August 25, 1960|access-date=October 18, 2015|first=Hedda|last=Hopper|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160422020025/http://archives.chicagotribune.com/1960/08/25/page/138/article/hedda-finds-marilyns-new-film-most-vulgar/|archive-date=April 22, 2016|url-status=live}}</ref> [[Truman Capote]] lobbied for Monroe to play Holly Golightly in [[Breakfast at Tiffany's (film)|a film adaptation]] of ''[[Breakfast at Tiffany's (novella)|Breakfast at Tiffany's]]'', but the role went to [[Audrey Hepburn]] as its producers feared that Monroe would complicate the production.{{sfn|Banner|2012|p=335}} That year, Monroe was committed to [[New York Hospital]]'s [[Payne Whitney Psychiatric Clinic]]. While one report owes it to a suicide attempt, another claims that Monroe was feeling overcome with personal issues and telephoned [[Psychoanalysis|psychoanalyst]] Marianne Kris, who committed her to the ward for "exhaustion".<ref name=":14">{{Cite web |last=Thomas |first=Lee |date=2021-06-07 |title=Marilyn Monroe detailed her experience in a psychiatric ward with harrowing letters |url=https://faroutmagazine.co.uk/marilyn-monroe-psychiatric-letters-1961/ |access-date=2024-09-08 |website=Far Out Magazine |language=en-US}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Ishak |first=Natasha |date=2021-12-02 |title=Marilyn Monroe Claimed She Was An Orphan — Then A Tabloid Found Her Mom In An Asylum |url=https://allthatsinteresting.com/gladys-pearl-baker |access-date=2024-09-08 |website=All That's Interesting |language=en-US}}</ref><ref name=":15">{{Cite web |last=Sansone |first=Arricca Elin |date=2019-07-19 |title=40 Rare Photos of Marilyn Monroe You've Probably Never Seen |url=https://www.goodhousekeeping.com/life/entertainment/g28378198/rare-photos-of-marilyn-monroe/?slide=38 |access-date=2024-09-08 |website=[[Good Housekeeping]] |language=en-US}}</ref> Though Monroe thought she would have a rest cure there, her experience there proved to be rather traumatic. Four days after her arrival, DiMaggio helped get her released.<ref name=":14" /><ref name=":15" /> She later detailed her experience to [[psychiatrist]] [[Ralph Greenson]]:<ref name=":14" /><blockquote>There was no empathy at Payne-Whitney — it had a very bad effect — they asked me after putting me in a 'cell' (I mean cement blocks and all) for very disturbed depressed patients (except I felt I was in some kind of prison for a crime I hadn't committed). The inhumanity there I found archaic.

During her final months, Monroe lived at [[12305 Fifth Helena Drive]] in the [[Brentwood, Los Angeles|Brentwood]] neighborhood of [[Los Angeles]]. Her housekeeper [[Eunice R. Murray|Eunice Murray]] was staying overnight at the home on the evening of August&nbsp;4, 1962.{{sfnm|1a1=Spoto|1y=2001|1pp=574–577|2a1=Banner|2y=2012|2pp=410–411}} Murray woke at 3:00{{nbsp}}a.m. on August 5 and sensed that something was wrong. She saw light from under Monroe's bedroom door but was unable to get a response and found the door locked. Murray then called Monroe's psychiatrist [[Ralph Greenson]], who arrived at the house shortly after and broke into the bedroom through a window. He found a nude Monroe dead in her bed, covered by a sheet, with her hand clamped around a telephone receiver.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Marilyn Monroe is found dead {{!}} August 5, 1962 |url=https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/marilyn-monroe-is-found-dead |access-date=June 6, 2024 |website=HISTORY |language=en}}</ref>{{sfnm|1a1=Spoto|1y=2001|1pp=574–577|2a1=Banner|2y=2012|2pp=410–411}} Monroe's physician, Hyman Engelberg, arrived at around 3:50{{nbsp}}a.m.{{sfnm|1a1=Spoto|1y=2001|1pp=574–577|2a1=Banner|2y=2012|2pp=410–411}} and pronounced her dead. At 4:25{{nbsp}}a.m., the [[Los Angeles Police Department]] was notified.{{sfnm|1a1=Spoto|1y=2001|1pp=574–577|2a1=Banner|2y=2012|2pp=410–411}}

Monroe died between 8:30&nbsp;p.m. and 10:30{{nbsp}}p.m. on August&nbsp;4;{{sfn|Banner|2012|p=411}} the [[toxicology]] report showed that the [[cause of death]] was [[Barbiturate overdose|acute barbiturate poisoning]]. She had 8&nbsp;[[milligram per cent|mg%]] ([[milligrams]] per 100 [[litre|milliliters]] of solution) [[chloral hydrate]] and 4.5&nbsp;mg% of [[pentobarbital]] (Nembutal) in her blood, and 13&nbsp;mg% of pentobarbital in her liver.{{sfnm|1a1=Spoto|1y=2001|1pp=580–583|3a1=Banner|3y=2012|3pp=411–412|2a1=Churchwell|2y=2004|2p=302}} Empty medicine bottles were found next to her bed.{{sfnm|1a1=Spoto|1y=2001|1pp=580–583|2a1=Banner|2y=2012|2pp=411–412}} The possibility that Monroe had accidentally overdosed was ruled out because the dosages found in her body were several times the lethal limit.<ref name=tribunecoroner>{{cite web|url=http://archives.chicagotribune.com/1962/08/18/page/1/article/marilyn-monroe-ruled-probable-suicide-victim|title=Marilyn Monroe Ruled 'Probable Suicide' Victim|work=Chicago Tribune|date=August 18, 1962|access-date=October 21, 2015|first=Seymour|last=Kormam|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160310055232/http://archives.chicagotribune.com/1962/08/18/page/1/article/marilyn-monroe-ruled-probable-suicide-victim/|archive-date=March 10, 2016|url-status=live}}</ref>

Her funeral, held at the [[Westwood Village Memorial Park Cemetery]] on August&nbsp;8, was private and attended by only her closest associates.{{sfnm|1a1=Spoto|1y=2001|1pp=594–597|2a1=Banner|2y=2012|2pp=427–428}} The service was arranged by Joe DiMaggio, Monroe's half-sister [[Berniece Baker Miracle]], and Monroe's business manager Inez Melson.{{sfnm|1a1=Spoto|1y=2001|1pp=594–597|2a1=Banner|2y=2012|2pp=427–428}} DiMaggio, having claimed her body, was the only of her ex-husbands to attend.<ref name=":0" /><ref name=":2">{{Cite web |last=Mosca |first=Alexandra Kathryn |title=Marilyn Monroe: The Sad and Untimely Death of America's Fantasy |url=https://www.qcc.cuny.edu/socialSciences/ppecorino/SS680/Funeral_Marilyn_Monroe.html |access-date=August 8, 2024-08-08 |website=www.qcc.cuny.edu}}</ref> Monroe's mother, who was confined to a [[sanatorium]] at the time, did not attend either, as she was not informed her daughter had died.<ref name=":2" /> DiMaggio barred the [[Kennedy family]] from attending,<ref>{{Cite web |last=Bertram |first=Colin |date=2020-11-November 17, 2020 |title=Inside Marilyn Monroe and Joe DiMaggio's Roller Coaster Romance |url=https://www.biography.com/celebrities/marilyn-monroe-joe-dimaggio-relationship |access-date=August 8, 2024-08-08 |website=Biography |language=en-US}}</ref> as well as most of Hollywood, saying, "Tell them if it wasn't for them, she'd still be here."<ref>{{Cite web |last=Gaffney |first=Dennis |title=Joe Directs Marilyn’sMarilyn's Funeral |url=https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/features/dimaggio-joe-directs-marilyns-funeral/ |access-date=August 8, 2024-08-08 |website=[[PBS]] |language=en}}</ref> She was adorned in a simple green [[Emilio Pucci]] dress and green scarf, with baby pink roses and champagne silk lining her twin-bronze casket.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Siegel |first=Joshua |date=October 9, 2023-10-09 |title=Marilyn Monroe Funeral: Uncovering Her Farewell |url=https://titancasket.com/blogs/celebrity-caskets-and-funerals/marilyn-monroe-funeral-uncovering-her-farewell |access-date=August 8, 2024-08-08 |website=Titan Casket |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Evon |first=Dan |date=2015-05-May 29, 2015 |title=FACT CHECK: Marilyn Monroe Funeral Photograph |url=https://www.snopes.com//fact-check/at-rest-in-a-pucci-dress/ |access-date=August 8, 2024-08-08 |website=Snopes |language=en}}</ref> DiMaggio was distraught at the funeral, kissing Monroe's body and saying, "I love you. I love you."<ref name=":3">{{Cite web |last=Lusher |first=Adam |date=2018-01-January 11, 2018 |title=Why Arthur Miller didn’tdidn't go to Marilyn Monroe’sMonroe's funeral |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/people/marilyn-monroe-arthur-miller-joe-dimaggio-funeral-overdose-death-how-die-secret-who-killed-unpublished-essay-a8154086.html |access-date=August 8, 2024-08-08 |website=[[The Independent]] |language=en}}</ref> Hundreds of spectators crowded the streets around the cemetery.{{sfnm|1a1=Spoto|1y=2001|1pp=594–597|2a1=Banner|2y=2012|2pp=427–428}} Monroe was later entombed at Crypt No.&nbsp;24 at the Corridor of Memories.<ref>{{cite magazine|url=http://content.time.com/time/specials/packages/article/0,28804,1919236_1919237_1919221,00.html|title=Top&nbsp;10 Celebrity Grave Sites: Marilyn Monroe|magazine=[[Time (magazine)|Time]]|access-date=October 15, 2015|date=September 3, 2009|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151119201501/http://content.time.com/time/specials/packages/article/0%2C28804%2C1919236_1919237_1919221%2C00.html|archive-date=November 19, 2015|url-status=live}}</ref> For 20 years after her death, DiMaggio sent roses to Monroe's grave.<ref name=":3" /><ref>{{Cite web |last=Kelly |first=Alice |date=2023-08-August 17, 2023 |title=Joe DiMaggio’sDiMaggio's Heart-Wrenching Gesture for Marilyn Monroe That He Continued for 20 Years After Her Death |url=https://www.sheknows.com/entertainment/articles/2822820/joe-dimaggio-marilyn-monroe-flowers-grave/ |access-date=August 8, 2024-08-08 |website=[[SHE Media|SheKnows]] |language=en-US}}</ref> According to his attorney, Morris Engleberg, Dimaggio's last words were "I'll finally get to see Marilyn."<ref>{{Cite web |date=9 August 2000 |title=Report: DiMaggio's Final Words |url=https://abcnews.go.com/Sports/story?id=100802&page=1 |access-date=2024-08-08 |website=[[ABC News (United States)|ABC News]] |language=en}}</ref>

Dyer has also argued that Monroe's blonde hair became her defining feature because it made her "racially unambiguous" and exclusively white just as the [[civil rights movement]] was beginning, and that she should be seen as emblematic of racism in twentieth-century popular culture.{{sfn|Dyer|1986|p=40}} Banner agreed that it may not be a coincidence that Monroe launched a trend of platinum blonde actresses during the civil rights movement, but has also criticized Dyer, pointing out that in her highly publicized private life, Monroe associated with people who were seen as "[[white ethnic]]s", such as Joe DiMaggio ([[Italian-American]]) and Arthur Miller ([[Jews|Jewish]]).{{sfn|Banner|2012|pp=254–256}} According to Banner, she sometimes challenged prevailing racial norms in her publicity photographs; for example, in an image featured in ''Look'' in 1951, she was shown in revealing clothes while practicing with [[African-American]] singing coach [[Phil Moore (jazz musician)|Phil Moore]].{{sfn|Banner|2012|p=184}}

Monroe was perceived as a specifically American star, "a national institution as well known as hot dogs, apple pie, or baseball" according to ''Photoplay''.{{sfn|Banner|2012|p=8}} Banner calls her the symbol of [[populuxe]], a star whose joyful and glamorous public image "helped the nation cope with its paranoia in the 1950s about the [[Cold War]], the atom bomb, and the totalitarian communist Soviet Union".{{sfn|Banner|2012|pp=239–240}} Historian Fiona Handyside writes that the French female audiences associated whiteness/blondness with American modernity and cleanliness, and so Monroe came to symbolize a modern, "liberated" woman whose life takes place in the public sphere.{{sfn|Handyside|2010|pp=1–16}} Film historian [[Laura Mulvey]] has written of her as an endorsement for American consumer culture:{{Blockquote|If America was to export the democracy of glamour into post-war, impoverished Europe, the movies could be its shop window&nbsp;... Marilyn Monroe, with her all American attributes and streamlined sexuality, came to epitomise in a single image this complex interface of the economic, the political, and the erotic. By the mid -1950s, she stood for a brand of classless glamour, available to anyone using American cosmetics, nylons and peroxide.{{sfn|Handyside|2010|p=2, quoting Mulvey}}}}

Twentieth Century-Fox further profited from Monroe's popularity by cultivating several lookalike actresses, such as [[Jayne Mansfield]] and [[Sheree North]].{{sfnm|1a1=Spoto|1y=2001|1p=396|2a1=Belton|2y=2005|2p=103}} Other studios also attempted to create their own Monroes: [[Universal Pictures]] with [[Mamie Van Doren]],{{sfn|Spoto|2001|p=396}} Columbia Pictures with [[Kim Novak]],{{sfn|Solomon|2010|p=110}} and [[The Rank OrganisationOrganization]] with [[Diana Dors]].<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/film/2009/may/05/from-the-archives-diana-dors-obituary|title=From the archives: Sex Symbol Diana Dors Dies at 52|newspaper=The Guardian|date=May 5, 1964|access-date=September 11, 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150925131302/http://www.theguardian.com/film/2009/may/05/from-the-archives-diana-dors-obituary|archive-date=September 25, 2015|url-status=live}}</ref>

[[File:Monroe in Niagara (1953 publicity photo).jpg|left|thumb|261x261px218x218px|Monroe in a publicity photo for [[Niagara (1953 film)|''Niagara'']] in 1953. One of the most iconic photos of Monroe, it was the basis for [[Andy Warhol]]'s 1962 silkscreen painting, ''[[Marilyn Diptych|]]''Marilyn Diptych'']].]]

[[File:James Gill's "Marylin Tryptich".jpg|thumb|Left panel from [[pop art]]ist [[James Gill (artist)|James Gill]]'s painting ''Marilyn Triptych'' (1962)|218x218px|left]]

Monroe remains a [[cultural icon]], but critics are divided on her legacy as an actress. [[David Thomson (film critic)|David Thomson]] called her body of work "insubstantial"<ref>{{cite magazine|url=https://newrepublic.com/article/105847/the-inscrutable-life-and-death-marilyn-monroe|title=The Inscrutable Life and Death of Marilyn Monroe|last=Thomson|first=David|author-link=David Thomson (film critic)|date=August 6, 2012|magazine=New Republic|access-date=August 30, 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151210190429/https://newrepublic.com/article/105847/the-inscrutable-life-and-death-marilyn-monroe|archive-date=December 10, 2015|url-status=live}}</ref> and [[Pauline Kael]] wrote that she could not act, but rather "used her lack of an actress's skills to amuse the public. She had the wit or crassness or desperation to turn cheesecake into acting—and vice versa; she did what others had the 'good taste' not to do".<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/books/97/05/04/reviews/mailer-marilyn.html|title=Marilyn: A Rip-Off With Genius|last=Kael|first=Pauline|author-link=Pauline Kael|date=July 22, 1973|work=The New York Times|access-date=August 30, 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160325182658/https://www.nytimes.com/books/97/05/04/reviews/mailer-marilyn.html|archive-date=March 25, 2016|url-status=live}}</ref> In contrast, [[Peter Bradshaw]] wrote that Monroe was a talented comedian who "understood how comedy achieved its effects",<ref name="bradshaw">{{cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/film/2012/may/09/cannes-marilyn-monroe|title=Cannes and the Magic of Marilyn Monroe|last=Bradshaw|first=Peter|author-link=Peter Bradshaw|date=May 9, 2012|newspaper=The Guardian|access-date=August 30, 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150923131249/http://www.theguardian.com/film/2012/may/09/cannes-marilyn-monroe|archive-date=September 23, 2015|url-status=live}}</ref> and [[Roger Ebert]] wrote that "Monroe's eccentricities and neuroses on sets became notorious, but studios put up with her long after any other actress would have been blackballed because what they got back on the screen was magical".<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/great-movie-some-like-it-hot-1959|title=Some Like It Hot|last=Ebert|first=Roger|date=January 9, 2000|publisher=Roger Ebert.com|access-date=July 11, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160725091543/http://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/great-movie-some-like-it-hot-1959|archive-date=July 25, 2016|url-status=live}}</ref> Similarly, [[Jonathan Rosenbaum]] stated that "she subtly subverted the sexist content of her material" and that "the difficulty some people have discerning Monroe's intelligence as an actress seems rooted in the ideology of a repressive era, when super feminine women weren't supposed to be smart".<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.chicagoreader.com/chicago/marilyn-monroes-brains/Content?oid=920660|title=Marilyn Monroe's Brains|last=Rosenbaum|first=Jonathan|author-link=Jonathan Rosenbaum|date=December 1, 2005|work=Chicago Reader|access-date=August 30, 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150905085251/http://www.chicagoreader.com/chicago/marilyn-monroes-brains/Content?oid=920660|archive-date=September 5, 2015|url-status=live}}</ref> In 2024, the [[Los Angeles City Council]] approved [[12305 Fifth Helena Drive|Monroe's house]] in [[Brentwood, Los Angeles]] being designated as a Historic Cultural Monument.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://variety.com/2024/film/news/marilyn-monroe-house-landmark-demolition-1236050076/|title=Marilyn Monroe’sMonroe's Brentwood House Declared a Landmark, Saving It From Demolition|first=Pat|last=Saperstein|date=June 26, 2024}}</ref>