Marilyn Monroe was an American actress and model. Known for playing comic "blonde bombshell" characters, she became one of the most popular sex symbols of the 1950s and early 1960s, as well as an emblem of the era's sexual revolution. She was a top-billed actress for a decade, and her films grossed $200 million by the time of her death in 1962. Long after her death, Monroe remains a pop culture icon. In 1999, the American Film Institute ranked her as the sixth-greatest female screen legend from the Golden Age of Hollywood.
Monroe in 1953
Monroe as an infant, c. 1927
Monroe with her first husband, James Dougherty, c. 1943–44. They married when she was 16.
A photo of Monroe taken by David Conover in June 1945 at the Radioplane Company
Blonde stereotypes are stereotypes of blonde-haired people. Sub-types of this stereotype include the "blonde bombshell" and the "dumb blonde". Blondes have been stereotyped as less intelligent than brunettes. There are many blonde jokes made on these premises. However, research has shown that blonde women are not less intelligent than women with other hair colors.
Grace Kelly, an ice-cold blonde, in To Catch a Thief (1955)
Jean Harlow, the original blonde bombshell, in Riffraff (1936)
Jayne Mansfield in Kiss Them for Me. She modeled her image as a highly memorable "dumb blonde" persona.
Gentlemen Prefer Blondes starred Marilyn Monroe (left) as the blonde and Jane Russell (right) as her wise brunette friend.
