How did Marilyn Monroe get famous?

Netflix’s highly anticipated documentary The Mystery of Marilyn Monroe: The Unheard Tapes is now streaming. Even 60 years after her death, the world is still talking about the glamorous star.

The film is centered around her life and untimely death. It is told by archival footage and over 600 tapes of interviews with people who were closest to the Hollywood celebrity. Those include filmmakers, co-stars, hairstylists, friends and more.

Monroe is still an American icon, and was one of the most popular sex symbols in the 1950s and 1960s. The model and top-billed actress was a star that shone bright. For a decade, her films grossed $200 million, equivalent to $2 billion in 2021, by the time of her death in 1962.

All icons have to start somewhere. And for Monroe, that was through a happy coincidence and modeling.

How did Marilyn Monroe get famous?

In 1944, during World War II, Monroe was working in a factory where she met David Conover, a photographer who was sent to the factory to shoot morale-boosting pictures of female workers. He thought she had the right look for a model, leading her to the Blue Book Model Agency where she became a successful pin up model.

That’s when she straightened her hair and dyed it to the famous blonde locks we all know today. Through the model agency’s owner, Monroe was able to sign a contract with an acting agency in 1946. She eventually made her way to Ben Lyon, a 20th Century Fox executive who helped her pick out her infamous stage name: Marilyn Monroe.

Following short-lived film contracts and minor roles, the aspiring actress went back and forth between modeling and acting before slowly becoming a rising star in 1953. That was thanks to her role leading the film noir Niagara, which heavily relied on her sex appeal. That year, her comedies Gentlemen Prefer Blondes and How to Marry a Millionaire also helped her gain popularity.

During her career, she was upset that 20th Century Fox was typecasting and underpaying her. She was briefly suspended in 1954 for refusing to work a film project, but came back to star in The Seven Year Itch, which became one of the biggest box office successes of her career. Later on, the studio did give her a new contract which gave her more control and money.

Once Monroe was in the spotlight, she was never out of it again. And following her death at 36, that only had people talking more even to this day. But the icon was known for much more than the conspiracy theories surrounding her. She was a true Hollywood talent that won’t be forgotten.

The Mystery of Marilyn Monroe: The Unheard Tapes is now streaming on Netflix.