Born Norma Jeane Mortenson in Los Angeles, California, Marilyn Monroe's rise to fame is a rags-to-riches story. Abused and neglected as a child, she grew up in foster homes. After signing a contract with 20th Century-Fox in 1946, she quickly became a top celebrity. Hollywood (see entry under 1930s—Film and Theater in volume 2) took advantage of Monroe's blend of dangerous sexuality and girl-next-door innocence. But films like Gentlemen Prefer Blondes (1953), The Seven Year Itch (1955), and Some Like It Hot (1959) also reveal a fine actress with expert comic timing.

Always drawn to powerful men, Monroe's husbands included baseball star Joe DiMaggio (1914–1999) and playwright Arthur Miller (1915–). In her last years, gossip linked her with President John F. Kennedy (1917–1963) and his brother, politician Robert Kennedy (1925–1968). Monroe's death by a self-administered drug overdose followed several years of mental collapse, alcoholism, and drug abuse. Several decades later, her image...