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in the Spring of 1945, Ronald Reagan sent Photographer David Conover to the Radioplane Corporation to capture pictures of Women in War Work. He spotted a girl with ash-blonde hair and smudged dirt on her face, working on a propellor. Nineteen year old Norma's beauty took his breath away. He asked to photograph her during her lunchbreak and she agreed. As a result of these photographs, she began to get small roles in films.

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Norma signed her first film contract with twentieth-century Fox. Shortly after, she dyed her hair platinum blonde and changes her name to Marilyn Monroe, inspired by her mother’s maiden name and Broadway star Marilyn Miller. This is the beginning of Monroe’s iconic star image.

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Marilyn Monroe’s first film contract from 1946 for sale for £25,000

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The starlet, who was then known as Norma Jean Dougherty because she was using her original birth name and her first husband’s surname, put pen to paper in 1946.

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Monroe photographed by Andre de Dienes, 1946

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Monroe photographed by Andre de Dienes, 1946

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In August 1947, Monroe was assigned a small part in Dangerous Years, a drama exploiting the rising concern of post-war juvenile delinquency in America. She was given a close-up within the film, an important feature to establish an actor's image. Despite her growing career, Fox failed to renew her Monroe's contract and she was dropped from the agency. Despite never confirming this decision, it can be speculated that Marilyn was dropped due to her lack of show-business experience.

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4. 1948: Monroe signs with Columbia Pictures

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4. 1948: Monroe signs with Columbia Pictures

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Monroe was signed by Columbia Pictures in 1948, however, only starred in one film whilst under their management. She was given the starring role as a chorus girl in Ladies of The Chorus, which was ultimately unsuccessful. Monroe's contract was not renewed in September 1948. Monroe's Columbia Pictures contract was put up for sale for £25k in 2023.

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How Marilyn Monroe Was Discovered by David Conover | Danamo’s Marilyn Monroe Pages

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6. 1953: Monroe features in Playboy Magazine

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6. 1953: Monroe features in Playboy Magazine

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Monroe featured in the first edition of Hugh Hefner's Playboy Magazine, making her the first Covergirl. Hefner shared his though process on his choice to feature Marilyn, "Tie it in with Marilyn Monroe and the birth of the sexual revolution." This reinforced how Monroe was viewed predominantly as a sexual object, Hefner's dream Covergirl for male pleasure. Contrary to popular belief, Marilyn never posed nude for Playboy. However, Hefner sourced nude images of Monroe from a nude calendar she posed for in 1949, allowing him to profit from photos of her naked body. Once again, Monroe is painted as a sex symbol; the perfect woman.

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The Untold Story of Marilyn Monroe and ‘Playboy’: A Surprising Truth

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real story behind Marilyn Monroe’s iconic appearance in the first issue of ‘Playboy.’ Learn how the legendary actress never posed for the magazine,

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Marilyn featured on the cover of Life Magazine in 1952, with a sultry expressions and low cut dress. Marilyn's feature in the magazine placed a particular focus on her sexuality and how she is perceived by men. Monroe makes a sexually suggestive joke that the only thing she wears to sleep is Chanel No5 and shares that she dresses for men because they appreciate her outfits more than women. This reinforces the sex symbol persona that contributes significantly to her star image. There is a strong indication of Marilyn's star image catering to men.

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Every so often, more in hope than conviction, Hollywood annouces the advent of a sensational glamour girl, guaranteed to entice people from all lands to the box office. Usually the sensation fizzles. But today the most respected studio seers, in a crescendo of talk unparalleled since the debut of Rita Hayworth, are saying that the genuine article is here at last: a sturdy blonde named Marilyn Monroe.

Three years ago Marilyn was trying to get a start like any other starlet: a low-salary contract with 20th Century-Fox, small parts in movies, choice as Miss Flamethrower by an Army unit. She even posed for calendar art for a few badly needed extra pennies. Somewhere between her ingenous mind and voluptuous body came a spark of the kind that makes movie personalities. Her bit parts stood out in big films ( All About Eve, Asphalt Jungle). Today she is topic A-plus in Hollywood. She gets 5000 fan letters a week and is being costarred simultaneously in films with Cary Grant, Richard Widmark, Charles Laughton.

THE MONROE DOCTRINE

Marilyn was being driven down a California scenic route recently by an admirer when she volunteered the information, "I was born under the sign of Gemini. That stands for the intellect." "Yes?" said the admirer. "Everybody else I've told that to," said Marilyn, "laughed." Because, her movie role is always that of a dumb blonde. Hollywood generally supposes she is pretty dumb herself. This is a delusion. Marilyn is naive and guileless. But she is smart enough to have known how to make a success in the cutthroat world of glamour. She does it by being as wholly natural as the world will allow. Physically she has many of the attributes of Jean Harlow. But there is no suggestion of hardness or tartness in Marilyn. She is relaxed, warm, apparently absorbed by whatever man she has her big blue eyes fixed on at any particular moment. "I've given pure sex appeal very little thought," she says, "If I had to think about it I'm sure it would frighten me."

What does she think about the expresses in aphorisms. On clothes: "I dress for men. A woman looks at your clothes critically. A man appreciates them." On eating with a man: "I don't give the food much thought." On walking: "I use walking to just get me around." On resting: "I sit down the way I feel." On men: "They seem to understand me." On herself: "I am very definitely a woman and I enjoy it."

Marilyn never finished high school but she is devoted to the intellectual life. She sprinkles her conversation with lines from Thomas Wolfe and Browning, with the same candid simplicity she uses in describing her dumbbell exercises: "I'm fighting gravity. If you don't fight gravity, you sag." Her candor sometimes disconcerts interviewers. "Once this fellow says, 'Marilyn, what do you wear to bed?' So I said I only wear Chanel No. 5 and he groans, 'Oh no, I can't use that.'"

Marilyn's real name is Norma Jeane Mortenson, though she generally gives it as Baker, apparently because her father was a baker. She was brought up at municipal expense in 12 different foster homes in Los Angeles. The first family was intensely religious. "To go to a movie was a sin," recalls Marilyn. "Every night I was told to pray that I would not wake up in hell." The next family was comprised of movie bit players: "They drank and danced and played cards. Oh, how I prayed for them." Another one gave her empty whiskey bottles as her only toys. She was a skinny child, something of an ugly duckling. At 16, to avoid being sent to an orphanage, she married an aircraft worker and was divorced two years later. Marilyn looks back on the hard knocks of her youth with no particular self-pity and only hopes they may have taught her a few things about people which will help her in her career. For, with all Hollywood at her feet, she is obsessed by an irrational childhood ambition: she wants very much to became an actress.

-Transcribed by Melinda

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Life Magazine April 1952 - Marilyn Monroe

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Life Magazine April 7, 1952Marilyn Monroe: The Talk of Hollywood

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7. 1953: "Diamond's Are a Girls best Friend"

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7. 1953: "Diamond's Are a Girls best Friend"

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Monroe featured in Gentlemen Prefer Blondes alongside co-star Jane Russell which released in theatres in 1953. Monroe was the only blonde in the film, drawing attention to her striking star image. Marilyn's role as Lorelai Lee worked to reiterate her 'Blonde Bombshell' archetype, with Monroe playing the flirtatious, bubbly gold-digger. Gentlemen Prefer Blondes is also an ideal example of Monroe's stereotypical 'Dumb Blonde' character in which she is seen as materialistic and ditsy. Marilyn's performance of Diamonds Are a Girls Best Friend has remained iconic to this day, with Monroe remaining as the image of glamour and femininity.

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Richard Dyer discussed the idea of a 'Star Vehicle' in which roles are created to fit a celebrity's star image. This is applicable here as Monroe even created some of her own dialogue for the film, including the iconic line, "I can be smart when it's important, but most men don't like it."

Richard Dyer and Paul McDonald (2019) Stars. London: British Film Institute. Available at: https://research-ebsco-com.liverpool.idm.oclc.org/linkprocessor/plink?id=8d09a838-761e-339c-bdaa-314e624009dc (Accessed: 27 October 2025).

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Platinum blonde hair

red lipstick

beauty mark

fitted glamorous gowns

hourglass figure

seductive gaze

exaggerated hip sway

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Movies

Find out if there really was a feud between Marilyn Monroe and Jane Russell

In 1953, the dazzling, showstopping and glamorous musical spectacle Gentlemen Prefer Blondes was released in theaters. It followed showgirls Lorelei Lee ( Marilyn Monroe) and Dorothy Shaw ( Jane Russell) as they jet off to Paris and attract the attention of men from all around the world - including the US Olympic team.

The film is perhaps best known, though, for Marilyn's hit song "Diamonds Are a Girl's Best Friend," and we uncovered the must-know facts about that song and the rest of the film.

Want to watch Gentlemen Prefer Blondes again or for the first time? It is available for streaming on Amazon Prime Video.

1. Marilyn Monroe came up with one of the movie's iconic lines

In the film, the line "I can be smart when it's important, but most men don't like it," was suggested by Monroe. It went on to be one of the film's most well-known pieces of dialogue.

2. Lorelei's engagement ring wasn't real

Lorelei Lee (Monroe) wore a massive diamond engagement ring in Gentlemen Prefer Blondes, but it was actually made out of a rhinestone crystal. The ring was later gifted to the movie industry's Sidney Rosenstein from Monroe's manager, Inez Melson, after Monroe's death. Then, after Rosenstein died in 2018, the ring was sold at auction for $15,000.

3. The people in the 'Diamonds Are a Girl's Best Friend' were selected for a reason

Choreographer Jack Cole insisted that Monroe was the only blonde present in the hit number "Diamonds Are a Girl's Best Friend." This led to the showgirls on the chandeliers being either brunettes or redheads and all the men having grey hairs growing from their roots.

You can watch the entire song below:

4. Marilyn was upset about not being cast as the lead in Gentlemen Prefer Blondes

After being told that she was not going to be the star of the film, Monroe was apparently very upset. She was also reported to have said: "Well, whatever I am, I AM the blonde," after she found out.

5. Jane Russell had a very interesting job on set

While filming Gentlemen Prefer Blondes, Russell and Monroe began to bond. In fact, Russell was the only person on set who could get Monroe - who was feeling that people were being rude to her on set - to come out of her trailer and start filming.

6. The scene where Dorthy Shaw fell into the pool wasn't originally in the script

While filming "Ain't There Anyone Here for Love?," Russell accidentally fell in the pool in the middle of the number, but director Howard Hawks loved it and left it in the film.

7. Russell was paid way more than Monroe in Gentlemen Prefer Blondes

Ten years after filming wrapped, Monroe went on record saying that Russell was paid 400% more than she was.

"I remember when I got the part in Gentlemen Prefer Blondes," Monroe recalled. "Jane Russell, she was the brunette in it, and I was the blonde. She got $200,000 for it, and I got my $500 a week, but that to me was, you know, considerable. She, by the way, was quite wonderful to me."

8. Gentlemen Prefer Blondes was based on a musical

Gentlemen Prefer Blondes started out as a hit Broadway musical with the same name. It first hit the stage on December 8, 1949 and closed on September 15, 1951 after 740 shows.

There was also a 1928 play that had the same name. It had 128 shows in total.

9. The iconic pink dress was the studio's original idea

In the song "Diamonds Are a Girl's Best Friend," Lee (Monroe) is seen wearing a very bright pink dress with lots of diamonds on her neck and arms, but that wasn't what the studio initially wanted.

They originally had her in a number of black velvet bands with rhinestones all over her body, to give the illusion of a woman-sized diamond necklace. However, they decided the design was too risqué and went with the pink dress instead.

10. Monroe made filming Gentlemen Prefer Blondes complicated

Despite being told that shots looked good by Hawks, Monroe insisted on retaking until she felt the same way.

All of these delays led to 20th Century-Fox asking Hawks how filming could be sped up. Hawks reportedly replied, "Three wonderful ideas: replace Marilyn, rewrite the script and make it shorter and get a new director."

11. The supposed feud between Russell and Monroe was fake

Multiple media outlets reported that Monroe and Russell didn't get along while filming, but that wasn't true at all.

The two were actually good friends, and Russell even had a nickname for Monroe: "Blondie." However, despite their good on-screen chemistry and fondness for each other, the two never worked together again - even though 20th Century-Fox really wanted them to.

12. They filmed 'Diamonds Are a Girl's Best Friend' twice

After filming had wrapped, 20th Century-Fox decided to re-film "Diamonds Are A Girl's Best Friend" in CinemaScope so they could use it in their CinemaScope demonstration in March of 1953.

Viewers, however, didn't see the CinemaScope version until 1963 in 20th Century-Fox's documentary tribute to Marilyn Monroe entitled Marilyn.
For all things 1950's, click here! For all things, Marilyn Monroe click here!

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12 Shocking Facts About Marilyn Monroe's Hit Film 'Gentlemen Prefer Blondes'

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'Gentlemen Prefer Blondes' is over 70 years old and we found out the 12 crazy behind the scenes facts you have to read to believe.

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8. 1954- Monroe's most iconic photograph 

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8. 1954- Monroe's most iconic photograph 

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Arguably one of Monroe's most iconic photograph's, this image represents the ingenious marketing of Monroe as a commodity. The image was taken by Sam Shaw, Monroe's personal photographer. The iconic photos were taken on two separate occasions in which Monroe stood above a subway grate, with the dress blowing up in the wind. The photo was a carefully crafted publicity stunt, aiming to express Monroe's charismatic and flirty tendencies. This iconic photo reiterates Monroe's star image as a 'Blonde Bombshell' as we see her playfully using the camera to her advantage.

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Statue of Monroe from 'The Seven Year Itch' in Chicago

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Statue of Monroe from 'The Seven Year Itch' in Chicago

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9. 1955: 'The Seven Year Itch' premiers 

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9. 1955: 'The Seven Year Itch' premiers 

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Despite the success of the movie, rumours circulated that Monroe's mental health caused tension on the set on The Seven Year Itch. Monroe struggled with depression and was well known for self-sabotage. This subsequently became part of her star image. Monroe was the only choice for the role of the girl in the film, once again supporting Richard Dyer's theory of a 'star vehicle'.

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Behind-the-Scenes of Marilyn Monroe’s Iconic Flying Skirt (PHOTOS)

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On September 15, 1954 photographer Sam Shaw shot the famous “flying skirt” image of his friend Marilyn Monroe.

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‘The Seven Year Itch’: 10 Facts About the Marilyn Monroe Classic

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From who almost didn’t get cast, to why Marilyn Monroe made filming difficult, here are the most intriguing facts about ‘The Seven Year Itch.’

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The Seven Year Itch | Theatrical Trailer | 1955

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Following her performance in Some Like It Hot (1959) Monroe was awarded with 'Best Actress' at the Golden Globes.

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Monroe's success in The Seven Year Itch and Some Like It Hot ultimately led to her being given a star on Hollywood's Walk of Fame.

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12. 1960: Monroe's mental health spirals

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12. 1960: Monroe's mental health spirals

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After years of struggling with substance abuse and bipolar disorder, Monroe checked into the Payne Whitney psychiatric ward in New York in 1960. By this point, she had a reputation for being difficult to work with and prolonging filming during The Seven Year Itch. Monroe described her time in the Payne Whitney as 'harrowing' and shared that she felt as if she had been imprisoned.

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Marilyn Monroe, the American actress, model, and singer, who is wildly accepted as the most prominent figure in popular culture, lived a life thrust heavily into the public eye.

Monroe existed very much in the fast lane, marketed as a major celebrity and one built around being a sex symbol. Through the success came serious downfalls as her private life was troubled amid the relentless high-profile attention.

With battles against depression, substance abuse and crippling anxiety, Monroe's life began to spiral out of control in 1960 as she worked to complete her final ever film, The Misfits. Written by her then-husband Arthur Miller, the film details a beautiful, fragile and divorced woman (played by Monroe) who falls in love with a much older man.

Many commentators of the film have made direct correlations between Miller's script and his faltering marriage to Monroe, a dysfunctional relationship that was spiralling into the abyss. The filming of the project was gruelling both physically and mentally as temperatures on location, out in the Nevada desert, reached in excess of 100 degrees on a daily basis.

For Monroe, the film was a tainted nightmare. While she struggled with her own mental health struggles, her co-star Clark Gable dropped dead of a heart attack shortly after filming and her husband, Miller, was falling in love with photographer Inge Morath in front of her very eyes.

Monroe and Miller announced their divorce on November 11, 1960, shortly after the film wrapped. The actress, struggling to deal with ongoing issues, consulted her psychoanalyst, Dr Marianne Kris, who admitted her to the Payne Whitney Psychiatric Clinic in New York. Monroe, exhausted at the time, believed she was visiting the clinic for a rest cure. Instead, however, she was instantly greeted by a padded cell and remained there for four days.

After her release from the facility, Monroe penned the thoughts of what was her most harrowing life experience. In a series of letters that were sent to her second psychiatrist, Dr Ralph Greenson, Monroe detailed the experience.

"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.

They asked me why I wasn't happy there (everything was under lock and key; things like electric lights, dresser drawers, bathrooms, closets, bars concealed on the windows - the doors have windows so patients can be visible all the time, also, the violence and markings still remain on the walls from former patients). I answered: 'Well, I'd have to be nuts if I like it here'."

Explaining further, Monroe detailed how she attempted to keep her wits about her, making an effort to try and relate the experience to her days acting on set.

Desperate to regain some control, the actress also explained how she threatened to cut herself with a razor if she was continually treated like "a nut".

Monroe, writing in her letters, said: "I said to them 'If you are going to treat me like a nut I'll act like a nut'. I admit the next thing is corny but I really did it in the movie except it was with a razor blade."

See her full correspondence, below.

"I sat on the bed trying to figure if I was given this situation in an acting improvisation what would I do. So I figured, it's a squeaky wheel that gets the grease. I admit it was a loud squeak but I got the idea from a movie I made once called 'Don't Bother to Knock'. I picked up a light-weight chair and slammed it, and it was hard to do because I had never broken anything in my life-against the glass intentionally. It took a lot of banging to get even a small piece of glass-so I went over with the glass concealed in my hand and sat quietly on the bed waiting for them to come in.

They did, and I said to them 'If you are going to treat me like a nut I'll act like a nut'. I admit the next thing is corny but I really did it in the movie except it was with a razor blade. I indicated if they didn't let me out I would harm myself-the furthest thing from my mind at that moment since you know Dr. Greenson I'm an actress and would never intentionally mark or mar myself. I'm just that vain."

"He told me I was a very, very sick girl and had been a very, very sick girl for many years," she wrote. "He asked me how I could possibly work when I was depressed. He wondered if that interfered with my work. He was being very firm and definite in the way he said it. He actually stated it more than he questioned me so I replied: 'Didn't he think that perhaps Greta Garbo and Charlie Chaplin perhaps and perhaps Ingrid Bergman they had been depressed when they worked sometimes but I said it's like saying a ballplayer like DiMaggio [her second husband] if he could hit ball when he was depressed. Pretty silly.'"

Monroe was only forced to stay at the facility four days after her second husband, former baseball player Joe DiMaggio, rescued her and demanded an early release. Despite the staff of the Payne Whitney Psychiatric Clinic objecting, Monroe was released.

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Marilyn Monroe detailed her experience in a psychiatric ward with harrowing letters

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Marilyn Monroe, the American actress, model, and singer, who is wildly accepted as the most prominent figure in popular culture, lived a life thrust heavily into the public eye. Monroe existed very much in the fast lane, marketed as a major celebrity and one built around being a sex symbol.

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Monroe was awarded with a Golden Globe for World Film Favourite in 1962, reiterating her iconic star image and success as Marilyn.

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Monroe gave a sultry performance of Happy Birthday to President John F. Kennedy in May 1962, sparking rumours of an affair between the two. Journalist Dorothy Kilgallen described Monroe's performance as, "making love to the president in direct view of forty million Americans." This performance reinforced Monroe's flirty and seductive star image, keeping her in the spotlight with the controversial affair rumour.

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“Happy Birthday, Mr. President”—How Marilyn Monroe’s Serenade to John F. Kennedy Became Iconic

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Marilyn Monroe’s sultry song to President John F. Kennedy in May 1962 marked one final hurrah before her life came to a sudden end less than three months later.

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Monroe performs to JFK wearing a dazzling fitted gown

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After a life-long mental health battle, Marilyn was found dead in her home aged 36 in August 1962. The circumstances of her death have never been confirmed. The starlet was found naked and face down in her bed with an autopsy revealing evidence of barbiturate poisoning. Her death was ultimately deemed as a suicide.

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The Death Of Marilyn Monroe: Accident, Suicide, Or Murder?

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A 1982 reinvestigation of her case cited many “factual discrepancies and unanswered questions.” Some believe she was murdered for what she knew.

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The press were particularly distasteful when reporting Monroe's death. Almost every news outlet focused on the fact that Marilyn was naked when she was found dead, a reflection of her sex symbol status- even in death.

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What It Was Really Like The Day Marilyn Monroe Died In 1962 - Grunge

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One of the most famous women in the world was found dead in the early hours of August 5, 1962. This is what it was really like the day Marilyn Monroe died.

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The Sun reports on Monroe's death (1962)

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The Sun reports on Monroe's death (1962)

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Even after her death, Monroe was still idolised and viewed as a sex symbol. Businessman Richard Poncher's dying request was to be buried in the crypt above Monroe's. However, the request became sinister as he told his wife he wanted to be buried face down, sharing, "If i croak, if you don't put me upside down over Marilyn, I'll haunt you the rest of my life." Poncher's insidious dying wish was granted and his crypt remains above Marilyn's to this day. This highlights how Monroe, even in death, continued to be viewed as a sexual object, something that fulfills the male fantasy.

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Scheibel (2013) explored the concept of Monroe as a 'sex symbol text', due to the exploitation of her body as a sexual object within film, however, herself awareness and use of contradiction and irony often subverted stereotypes of her 'blonde bombshell' archetype. Monroe was able to successfully appeal to a male audience whilst offering depth to her characters.