In 1962, at age 36, and after completing only 29 films, Marilyn Monroe died, leaving a legacy as one of the most recognizable movie stars and powerful cultural images in American history. White-blonde hair, seductively lowered eyelids, skin-tight glittery gowns clinging to her hourglass shape, and a cultivated habit of purling her shoulders just as her face broke into a demure smile constituted the inimitable Monroe presence, one exuding idealized femininity and sexual thrill. The epitome of desirability, Monroe was the sex symbol who also suggested vulnerability and a childlike desire to please. After working with her in 1949's Love Happy, Groucho Marx declared, "It's amazing. She's Mae West, Theda Bara and Bo Peep all rolled into one." Novelist Norman Mailer, who never met her but penned a book-length tribute titled Marilyn, described her as "fed on sexual candy." This mixture of carnal allure and naivete emanating...