• Born Norma Jeane Mortenson in 1926, Marilyn Monroe was an American actress, singer, model and pop icon who died from a mysterious overdose in 1962.

  Life.com discovered a collection of unpublished photos of Monroe in May of 2009 at the age of 24 before she became famous. In the photos, she is said to bear a "flawless," "natural look" wearing little make-up. Monroe would have turned 83 years old on June 1, 2009.CNN: Unpublished photos of Marilyn Monroe surface (June 1, 2009)

• Fast Facts:

  1. Birth name: Norma Jeane Mortenson
  2. Baptized Norma Jeane Baker
  3. Born: June 1, 1926
  4. Birthplace: Los Angeles, California
  5. Lived in several foster homes as a child
  6. Began her career as a model
  7. Attended: The Actors Studio
  8. Founded Marilyn Monroe Productions
  9. 1999: Ranked "sixth greatest female star of all time" by American Film Institute
  10. Married: 3 times: James Dougherty, Joe DiMaggio and Arthur Miller
  11. Appeared in over 30 films
  12. Awards: 3 Golden Globes
  13. Died: August 5, 1962
  14. Cause of death: Overdose of barbiturates, it's unclear if the overdose was intentional or accidental

• Film and Modeling

  During her brief career, Monroe appeared in over 30 films, including such classics as Some Like it Hot, Gentlemen Prefer Blondes, How to Marry a Millionaire, The Seven Year Itch and The Misfits. Early in her career, Hugh Hefner purchased nude photos of Monroe taken during a photo shoot and these images appeared in the first issue of Playboy magazine in 1953. By that time, Monroe was well on her way to becoming an established star, and the then-scandalous photos only served to propel her career.

• Romance and Death

  Monroe was well-known for her romances with New York Yankees baseball icon Joe DiMaggio, whom she married for 276 days in 1954, and playwright Arthur Miller, whom she married in 1956 and divorced in 1961. Monroe also reportedly had an affair with then-President John F. Kennedy in 1961. In 1962, Monroe was found dead in her Brentwood, California, bungalow. The official cause of death was "acute barbituate poisoning" and was classified as a "probable suicide."

• Related Mahalo Pages

  Arthur Miller | Joe DiMaggio | John F. Kennedy | Tony Curtis | Jack Lemmon | Billy Wilder | Playboy | Hugh Hefner | Greta Garbo | Celebrity Halloween Masks | Bettie Page | Bettie Page Dead | Ann Savage

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