Happy 100th Birthday, Marilyn Monroe!
- Jun 1
- 6 min read
Today marks the 100th anniversary of the birth of arguably the most famous face in motion picture history, Marilyn Monroe. Though she was a top movie star for just shy of a decade and starred in fewer than a dozen films, she left one of the most indelible marks on movies and popular culture. Even now, many younger people who have never seen one of her movies or heard her speak, instantly recognize her face.
When I think of Marilyn Monroe, a flood of images come to mind. Her steamy singing, dancing, and gyrating in a glorified bikini to "Heat Wave" in "There's No Business Like Show Business” (the first film in which I ever saw her). Her unforgettably haunting screams in the desert of “The Misfits”, the infectious exhilaration with which she announces she’s headed for Hollywood and Vine in “Bus Stop”, or the astonishing way she pours her body and soul into kissing the passion back into “Shell Oil Junior” in “Some Like It Hot”. And of course, there are her immortal turns, dripping with sensuality while singing “Diamonds Are a Girl's Best Friend” in “Gentlemen Prefer Blondes”, and trying to cool herself off in “The Seven Year Itch” atop a subway grate as her dress iconically flies up into the air.
But I also think of non-movie Marilyn captivating thousands of mesmerized and cheering troops in Korea, or delivering her breathy and scorching rendition of “Happy Birthday” to President John F. Kennedy. And if I continue thinking, darker images also arise, like her anguish at facing reporters just after a divorce or a miscarriage. Sexy, radiant, troubled, vulnerable, unstable, magnetic, enigmatic. She’s more than a movie star, but a mirror reflecting the human soul with all its pain and glory.
The basics of her story are often known even to the casual admirer — born Norma Jeane Baker to a mentally ill mother, raised largely in foster homes, exploited and abused, capable of dazzling anyone with her magnetism, and dead by the age of 36. Those who delve deeper uncover an intelligent, fiercely self-aware businesswoman very much in control of her screen persona, valiantly struggling to overcome overwhelming issues of abandonment and insecurity off screen, while achieving nearly everything except the one thing she wanted most — the unconditional love and acceptance of a family.
Monroe seemed devoid of emotional armor. Her every expression felt genuinely, startlingly exposed, be it the unapologetic sexuality and flicker of sadness in her smile, the childlike wonder in her performances, or the flashes of torment captured in newsreel footage. Since her tragic death, countless books, songs, paintings, documentaries, biopics, and impromptu shrines have tried to uncover the “real” Marilyn Monroe — a fascination that borders on obsession, a need to understand someone who always seemed emotionally within reach, yet ultimately unknowable.
Perhaps that fascination endures precisely because she appears so emotionally unguarded. We sense that if we could fully understand her pain, desires, and contradictions, we might better understand our own — and with that, something essential about what it means to be human.
My first acting teacher, Gordon Phillips, with whom I studied for six years, trained alongside Monroe under Lee Strasberg at the famous Actors Studio in New York City. He often described her as just an ordinary girl with whom Strasberg was deeply infatuated. But Gordon also recalled times walking with her after class — she in a scarf with no makeup, when she’d ask him, “Do you want to see her?”. In an instant, as if flipping an internal switch, she transformed into Marilyn Monroe the movie-star sex symbol, and heads would immediately turn as people suddenly recognized her.
The sexy, vulnerable, innocent “dumb blonde" screen persona created by Marilyn and perpetuated by Hollywood studios continues to captivate, enthrall, and inspire. To honor this timeless cinema icon on the 100th anniversary of her birth, I’ll leave you with more photographs of her, along with memories and reflections from those who knew her.
You can read much more about the life and career of Marilyn Monroe in three previous posts on this blog: “Some Like It Hot”, “The Misfits”, and “Gentlemen Prefer Blondes”. Just click on the film titles to open them.
Thank you Marilyn, for all the joy and entertainment you continue to bring, and for giving a beautiful, expressive, and lasting face to classic movies. Happy 100th Birthday!
I’ll resume my normal movie post recommendations a week from tomorrow.
“I knew I belonged to the public and to the world, not because I was talented or even beautiful, but because I had never belonged to anything or anyone else”.
— Marilyn Monroe (from the book Marilyn Monroe: A Life in Pictures
"When I first met her, she was a simple, eager young woman who rode a bike to the classes she was taking, a decent-hearted kid whom Hollywood brought down, legs parted. She had a thin skin and a soul that hungered for acceptance by people she might look up to".
— Elia Kazan (from his autobiography A Life)
“Nobody discovered her, she earned her own way to stardom”.
— Darryl F. Zanuck (from the book Marilyn Monroe: A Life in Pictures)
“You can be as alone with Oscars and jewelry as anybody. And the real values are your family and your friends, and Marilyn had no family and she was suspicious of most friends because they turned out to be using her”.
— Shelley Winters (from the 1987 documentary “Marilyn: Beyond the Legend”)
“She was afraid of the camera, and that’s why I think, she muffed some lines. God knows how often. She also loved the camera. Whatever she did, wherever she stood, there was always that thing that came through. She was not even aware of it… There was a love affair between the camera and her. And she stood out”.
— Billy Wilder (from the book Conversations with Wilder)
"I treated her with respect. I found the poor thing had been treated like a tramp all her life. People yelling at her, 'Come on, Blondie, lean over, wiggle your rear'. Yet she knew everything there was to know about a camera".
— Joshua Logan (from the book Hollywood Mother of the Year)
"She was very kind-of-sweet, kind-of-far-away, very self-involved… she had no meanness. She was not bitchy, she was not strident in any way… [she] always seemed a little lost to me. Wistful, kind of… but personally, she was very sweet”.
— Lauren Bacall (from a 1994 interview on “Fresh Air”)
She was certainly not your dumb blonde at all. She was a very bright, sensitive girl".
— Jane Russell (from the 1994 documentary "The Discovery of Marilyn Monroe")
"A sex symbol becomes a thing. I just hate being a thing".
— Marilyn Monroe (Life magazine interview, July 1962)
"Marilyn Monroe wanted to be this great star but acting just scared the hell out of her. That’s why she was always late — couldn’t get her on the set. She had trouble remembering lines. But none of it mattered. With a very few special people, something happens between the lens and the film that is pure magic. And she really had it".
— Richard Widmark (from a 2002 interview in The Daily Telegraph)
“If Marilyn could be aware of the sort of legendary quality that she herself inspired, I should think that no one would be more surprised than she, because she never really felt worthy. She would feel, after her years of search, that she had been finally and truly adopted".
— Robert Mitchum (from a documentary interview)
'I never wanted to be Marilyn - it just happened. Marilyn's like a veil I wear over Norma Jeane".
— Marilyn Monroe (as quoted in a June 2012 Vanity Fair article)
This blog is a series exploring classic films from the silent era through the 1970s. Each post recommends a film to watch, aiming to entertain, inform, and deepen your appreciation of cinema — its stars, directors, writers, the studio system, and more. Be sure to visit the HOME page to learn more, and check out THE MOVIES page for a full list of films. Please comment, share with others, and subscribe so you never miss a post. Thanks for reading!
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Gone way too soon. Great post, Jay.
I loved your post, Jay. Thanks!! I enclosed the portrait of Marilyn Monroe published yesterday on el Pais by artist Sciammarella. Take care, Eneko/iñigo
I loved the post. So inspiring, positive, all she deserves. So much love from Jay. I star brights, and in this post there is a lot of light. “Do you want to see her?”. Amazing
Great post Jay. Love the photos. We lost her way too soon.
Stuart
A stunning homage, Jay. If there's an afterlife, Norma Jeane would thank you ❤️ Keep up the great work!