Remembering Marilyn Monroe: A life in pictures
It’s a little hard to believe that on this day, 93 years ago, the Hollywood icon Marilyn Monroe was born.
The beautiful blonde bombshell was an actress, singer, model and for many years the ultimate sex symbol.
Apart from her stunningly successful career, Monroe proved to be quite the Brainiac despite never finishing school. Reportedly, the young actress had read more than 400 books in her library before she died, including works from Sigmund Freud, Marcel Proust and other Russian classics.
The American icon was not only intelligent and beautiful, but even in her death has been one of the most generous Hollywood stars to ever live.
In 1957, Monroe donated the money she had earned from the world premiere of The Prince and The Showgirl to The Milk Fund for Babies. In her will, she placed 25 per cent of her estate in the hands of a children’s clinic.
Despite being known for her tight blonde curls, alluring eyes and smile as well as her beloved curvaceous figure, Monroe longed for more serious roles in her career and desired to leave “sex roles” in movies behind.
“I’m tired of sex roles. I don’t want to play sex roles anymore. An actress is not a machine, but they treat you like a machine. A money machine,” she said, according to Brightside.
In a final interview before her death, Marilyn requested her finishing words be her own.
“What I really want to say: That what the world really needs is a real feeling of kinship. Everybody: stars, laborers, Negroes, Jews, Arabs. We are all brothers. Please don’t make me a joke. End the interview with what I believe.”
Marilyn Monroe passed away on August 5, 1962 in her Los Angeles home.
Scroll through the gallery above to take a look back at the life of Marilyn Monroe.