In honor of the screen siren’s 85th birthday, TIME looks back at the many faces of Marilyn — from barefoot starlet to sexy fashion icon.
American actress Marilyn Monroe (1926 - 1962) riding on a train from New York City to Warrensburg, New York in June 1949. Archive Photos—Getty ImagesMonroe beachside during the 1940s.Sunset Boulevard—CorbisMonroe playing with a Chihuahua in Beverly Hills, Calif., on May 17, 1950.Michael Ochs Archives—CorbisA rare (undated) photo of Monroe lounging in Griffith Park in Los Angeles.Ed Clarke—Time Life PicturesIn bare feet, Monroe plays in a grassy field, circa 1955.Dave Cicero—Bettmann/CORBISMonroe relaxing at home.Alfred Eisenstaedt—Time Life PicturesA 1955 image of Monroe posing by a window.Gene Lester—Getty ImagesMonroe at the Henrietta award party at the Club Del Mar.Loomis Dean—Time Life PicturesActress Marilyn Monroe gets ready to go see the play "Cat On A Hot Tin Roof" playfully applying her make up and Chanel No. 5 Perfume on March 24, 1955 at the Ambassador Hotel in New York City.Ed Feingersh—Michael Ochs Archives/Getty ImagesActress Marilyn Monroe rests her eyes wearing a white fur coat on March 24, 1955 in New York City.Ed Feingersh—Michael Ochs Archives/Getty ImagesMonroe leans over the balcony of the Ambassador Hotel in March 1955 in New York City.Ed Feingersh—Michael Ochs Archives/Getty ImagesMonroe sits at a table in a restaurant in March 1955 in New York City.Ed Feingersh—Michael Ochs Archives/Getty ImagesMonroe reads a script for a Clifford Odets movie, Clash by Night, for movie producer Jerry Wald.Bob Landry—Time & Life Pictures/Getty ImageMonroe dabs on some of Coco Chanel's famous perfume while getting ready to go see Cat on a Hot Tin Roof. In a famous quote, when asked what she wore to bed, the screen siren answered, "Chanel No. 5, of course."Michael Ochs Archives—Getty ImagesMonroe has a smoke while relaxing in New York City.Michael Ochs Archives—Getty ImagesIn a New York restaurant in 1955, Monroe immerses herself in a book while reclining on a cozy couch. While known for her dumb-blonde roles, she was in fact very well-read.Michael Ochs Archives—Getty ImagesActress Marilyn Monroe rides in the back of a car with Dick Shepherd on March 30, 1955 in New York City.Ed Feingersh—Michael Ochs Archives/Getty ImagesAn image from a shoot early in Monroe's career, photographed in Griffith Park, Los Angeles, 1950.Ed Clark—Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images
Reporters hound Monroe on March 3, 1956 in Hollywood, Calif.Michael Ochs Archives—Getty ImagesMonroe cracking a wide smile in 1956.
Hulton-Deutsch Collection—CorbisMonroe striking a pose circa 1952.
Michael Ochs Archives—Getty ImagesCarrying a book on the life of Abraham Lincoln, Marilyn Monroe tears herself away form it long enough to pose for photographers at Idlewild Airport just before she took off for Bement, Illinois.Dan Mcelleney—Bettmann/CORBISIn this undated image, Monroe reads at home.Alfred Eisenstaedt—Time & Life Pictures/Getty ImagesMonroe snuggles into her fur coat to escape the icy winds at La Guardia airport in New York City in 1959. Bettmann—Bettmann/CORBISMonroe poses over a Manhattan subway grate as the wind blows her white dress up, September 16, 1954, during the filming of Seven Year Itch. Sam Goldstein—Bettmann/CORBISMonroe steals the show again as she arrives wearing a slinky evening gown for the New York opening of Tennessee William's New Play, Cat On A Hot Tin Roof in March, 1955. Frank Mastro—Bettmann/CORBISMonroe poses alongside Lauren Bacall, far left, and Humphrey Bogart at the premiere of How to Marry a Millionaire in 1953.Darlene Hammond—Hulton Archive/Getty ImagesMonroe smokes on the set at the 20th Century Fox studios in 1954.Gene Lester—Getty ImagesMonroe performs the famous musical number from Gentlemen Prefer Blondes in 1953.Hulton Archive—Getty ImagesMonroe in a nightgown on Oct. 14, 1954.Bettmann—CORBISMonroe filming The Prince and the Showgirl in 1957.Sunset Boulevard—CorbisMonroe smiles during a press conference at the Savoy Hotel in London in July 1956.Hulton-Deutsch Collection—CorbisMonroe waits in New York City's Grand Central subway station in 1955.Michael Ochs Archives—Getty ImagesIn the early 1950s, Monroe mugs on the set of How to Marry a Millionaire with fellow actor David Wayne.Sunset Boulevard—CorbisMonroe arriving nearly 2½ hours late for a ceremony marking in New York in 1957.Bettmann—CorbisMonroe rehearsing for a performance at New York City's Madison Square Garden in 1955.Bettmann—CorbisA cheered-up Monroe reads a get-well card from her then boyfriend, baseball legend Joe DiMaggio, after undergoing an operation in 1952.Bettmann—CorbisIn South Korea in 1954, Monroe poses with baseball players.Walt Durrell—Bettmann/CorbisMonroe shooting The River of No Return in 1954.
Twentieth Century Fox Film—CorbisMonroe poses in a bikini top circa 1955. CinemaPhoto—CorbisMonroe aboard the Million Dollar Special train in August 1953.Bettmann—CorbisMonroe arrives at the premiere of There's No Business like Show Business in 1954.Murray Garrett—Getty ImagesMonroe on the set of All About Eve in 1950.Sunset Boulevard—CorbisMonroe at her most sultry, circa 1953.
CinemaPhoto—CorbisThe bombshell chats with U.S. troops in South Korea in February 1954.Bettmann—CorbisMonroe getting out of a car. Alfred Eisenstaedt—Time & Life Pictures/Getty ImagesMonroe in a seductive pose, circa 1954.
Baron—Getty ImagesThe icon posing in 1953.Sunset Boulevard—Corbiscirca 1955: Portrait of American actoMonroe in a polka-dot bikini, circa 1955.Hulton Archive—Getty ImagesIn this undated photo, Monroe touches up her 'do in front of a mirror.
Hulton Archive—Getty ImagesMonroe during a photo shoot in Los Angeles in August 1950.Ed Clark—Time and Life PicturesMonroe during a photo shoot in Los Angeles in August 1950.Michael Ochs Archives—Getty ImagesMonroe during a photo shoot in Los Angeles in August 1950.Michael Ochs Archives—Getty ImagesIn this undated image, Monroe chats in a dressing room at New York City's Madison Square Garden.Michael Ochs Archives—Getty ImagesThe star at a press conference in London's Savoy Hotel in 1956.Popperfoto—Getty ImagesMonroe rides a pink elephant in Madison Square Garden for a circus charity event as she is surrounded by photographers in March 1955 in New York City.Michael Ochs Archives—Getty ImagesThe blonde bombshell circa 1951.Hulton Archive—Getty ImagesThe star posing with troops in South Korea in 1954.Bettmann—CorbisMonroe signs a photo of herself, circa 1955.Hulton Archive—Getty ImagesMonroe signs a photo of herself, circa 1955.Bettmann—CorbisMonroe in 1956 at Idlewild Airport (now JFK International Airport) just before heading to Los Angeles to work on a new film.Bettmann—CorbisAn "unauthorized" Monroe at NBC Studios in August 1952.Bettmann—CorbisMonroe leaving to film The Billionaire in 1959.Bettmann—CorbisMonroe poses for the photographer known as Baron in Palm Springs, Calif., in 1954.Baron—Hulton-Deutsch Collection/CorbisMonroe poolside in 1952.
Bettmann—CorbisMonroe signs an autograph for a fan in 1952.Bettmann—CorbisMonroe in Hollywood on April 15, 1954, with a framed photo of then husband DiMaggio in view.Bettmann—CorbisA bespectacled Monroe in 1954.
Bettmann—CorbisIn South Korea, Monroe changes in a makeshift dressing room.Bettmann—CorbisMonroe on a break during the filming of Love Nest in 1951.Bettmann—CorbisCirca 1953, Monroe poses in a bathing suit and heels.Michael Ochs Archives—Getty ImagesThe actress in 1957 during her then husband Arthur Miller's trial on charges of contempt of Congress.Bettmann—CORBISMonroe with twin girls at the March of Dimes fashion show in 1958.Bettmann—CorbisThe bombshell poses in 1954.
Baron—Getty ImagesMonroe admiring the artwork at a New York City restaurant in 1955.
Michael Ochs Archives—Getty ImagesMonroe in a sweater and pants in 1955.Hulton Archive—Getty ImagesMonroe strikes a more nervous stance here.
Hulton Archive—Getty ImagesThe actress at the focal point of the stage.
John Bryson—Sygma/CorbisMonroe shooting Let's Make Love in 1960.
John Bryson—Sygma/CorbisMonroe's famous rendition of "Happy Birthday," which she sang to President John F. Kennedy at Madison Square Garden on May 19, 1962.
Yale Joel—Time & Life Pictures/Getty ImagesMonroe on set in 1960.
John Bryson—Sygma/CorbisMonroe shooting Let's Make Love in 1960.
John Bryson—Sygma/CorbisMarilyn Monroe is shown with her small white dog, Maf. Bettmann—CorbisIn this famous nude scene, her first for a film, Monroe takes a swim in Something's Got to Give, which was never completed because of Monroe's untimely death at the age of 36.
Bettmann—CorbisMonroe during the filming of The Misfits in 1961, in one of the final images of the actress before her death.Bettmann—Corbis
