Marilyn Monroe timeline

On the 1st of June 1926, American actress, singer and model Marilyn Monroe was born. One of the biggest sex symbols of the 1950s and best known for her comic blonde bombshell roles, Ms. Monroe managed to build a legacy that persists even to this day, more than half a century after her death.

To celebrate the birthday of one of the emblematic pop culture icons of the 20th century, we have created the Marilyn Monroe Timeline, which highlights some of the most notable events and achievements of her all-too-brief life and career.

Born as Norma Jeane Mortenson, she overcame an unfortunate childhood and worked in a radioplane factory until she was discovered by a photographer and began a fruitful pin-up modelling career. Soon afterwards, at the age of 20, she signed her first movie contract and adopted the stage name and signature look that would later establish her among Hollywood’s most popular celebrities.

Her earliest roles garnered the large public’s attention and contributed to her winning the status of sex symbol and top-billed actress of that time. However, they also diminished her acting scope as they focused on her sex appeal and insisted on the image of the “bubbly blonde”. Tired of being typecast and underpaid by the film studio to the profit of which she was bringing significant contribution, she left Hollywood for New York to study acting and found her own film production company.

Initially considered as lacking star acting material, Marilyn Monroe would return to the screen and prove her skills by winning two Golden Globes for Best Actress and various honors at European cinema award ceremonies. Monroe’s battle for control over her career was ridiculed in the press at first, but eventually yielded a successful outcome, with her contract being renegotiated and more favorable terms granted. Thus, she became more in charge of what movie projects to get involved in, which enabled her to display a richer range of acting skills.

Striving to improve her performance, the actress is said to have been a perfectionist on the set, a feature that made many of the co-stars label her as difficult to work with. Magnetic on the screen, controversial in personal life, Marilyn Monroe has been imitated by several celebrities over the years and continues to be admired for her beauty and persona.

The Marilyn Monroe chronology was built with Office Timeline, a simple to use yet efficient PowerPoint plugin that helps you generate impressive project schedules, timelines, and other similar visuals with only a few clicks. The image is free to copy and share and can be edited or restyled using the free 14-day trial of the tool.

Download the Marilyn Monroe Timeline for PowerPoint here.