I don't mind being burdened with being glamorous and sexual. Beauty and femininity are ageless and can't be contrived, and glamour, although the manufacturers won't like this, cannot be manufactured. Not real glamour; it's based on femininity.

In the decades following her death Marilyn Monroe has often been cited as both a pop and a cultural icon as well as the quintessential American sex symbol. Family and early life

Marilyn Monroe was born on June 1 1926 in the Los Angeles County Hospital as Norma Jeane Mortenson (soon after changed to Baker) the third child born to Gladys Pearl Baker (née Monroe May 27 1902 – March 11 1984). Lyon did not like the name Norma Jeane and chose "Carole Lind" as a stage name after Carole Lombard and Jenny Lind but he soon decided it was not an appropriate choice.

In the decades following her death Marilyn Monroe has often been cited as both a pop and a cultural icon as well as the quintessential American sex symbol. After spending much of her childhood in foster homes Monroe began a career as a model which led to a film contract in 1946 with Twentieth Century-Fox.