ACTRESS

Reputation.

Marilyn Monroe is one of the most popular stars the movies have ever produced. When she stood over a subway grate in The Seven Year Itch (1955), her white pleated dress billowing above her waist, and squealed, "Isn't it delicious?," she created a legendary image. Yet she was far more than a face and a voluptuous body, although those were her major assets to a flesh-conscious industry. She was a superb comedienne, a honey-toned singer, and a dramatic actress of above-average range, as witnessed by her chilling portrayal of a villainess in Niagara (1953), her role as a down-and-out divorcée in The Misfits (1961), and her evocation of a honky-tonk performer in Bus Stop (1956). Acclaimed stage and screen director Joshua Logan, who worked with her on Bus Stop, called her "the most completely realized and authentic film actress since [Greta] Garbo."

Background.