Marilyn Monroe marks 100th birthday

Marilyn Monroe would have turned 100 on June 1, 2026, and the centenary prompted photo exhibitions, archival film clips and public tributes. Monroe was born Norma Jeane Mortenson in 1926; she married James Dougherty, Joe DiMaggio and Arthur Miller and starred in Niagara, Gentlemen Prefer Blondes and Some Like It Hot. Centennial coverage highlighted George Barris’s last Santa Monica photo taken three weeks before her death, renewed praise for dramatic performances in Don't Bother to Knock and Niagara, and anecdotes such as Ella Fitzgerald crediting Monroe for helping book the Mocambo nightclub. Her continuing relevance matters because Monroe reshaped midcentury stardom and popular culture, prompting fresh reappraisals of her singing and acting beyond the blond stereotype.