Marilyn Monroe, whose real name was Norma Jeane Mortenson, was born on June 1, 1926, in Los Angeles, California. She is still remembered as a lasting icon of Hollywood beauty and charm.
She rose to fame after going through a difficult childhood and became one of the most well-known people in the entertainment industry.
This article looks at Monroe’s net worth, her famous career, her personal life, and answers questions about how much her estate is worth today, who inherited it, what property she owned, and her connection with President John F. Kennedy.
Net Worth and Estate
When Marilyn Monroe passed away in 1962, her net worth was around $800,000, which would be about $7 million in today’s money.
Even though she earned a lot during her career, Monroe spent heavily on things like clothes, jewelry, and homes. Because of this, the value of her estate was smaller than what many might expect given her fame.
Estate Inheritance
In her will, Monroe gave most of her estate to Lee Strasberg, who was her acting coach and someone she trusted deeply. After Lee Strasberg died in 1982, his second wife, Anna Strasberg, inherited Monroe’s estate.
Anna, who had never actually met Monroe, saw that Monroe’s image could be used commercially. She teamed up with CMG Worldwide, a company that manages the rights of famous people, to allow Monroe’s image to be used on different products and promotions.
In 2011, Anna Strasberg sold her 75% share of Monroe’s estate to Authentic Brands Group (ABG) for somewhere between $20 and $30 million.
ABG, a company that handles the rights of many celebrities, now manages Monroe’s estate. They continue to use Monroe’s lasting fame by making deals for her image to appear in products and media projects.
Current Estate Value
Since Marilyn Monroe passed away, the value of her estate has grown a lot. In 2020 alone, it made about $8 million, which is close to what her net worth was at the time of her death when adjusted for inflation.
Most of this money comes from licensing deals that allow companies to use Monroe’s image in ads, merchandise, and different types of media. This helps keep her memory alive and continues to make money.
Early Career
She started as a model and then moved into acting in the late 1940s. Her first parts in movies were small, but people quickly noticed her talent and screen presence.
Breakthrough and Stardom
Her big break came with movies like “Gentlemen Prefer Blondes” (1953) and “How to Marry a Millionaire” (1953), where she showed her sense of humor and charm. Her role in “The Seven Year Itch” (1955), especially the famous scene where her dress flies up over a subway grate, became one of the most well-known scenes in film history.
Critical Acclaim
Monroe wanted to show she could play more serious roles, so she took on harder parts in movies like “Bus Stop” (1956) and “Some Like It Hot” (1959). She won a Golden Globe for Best Actress in a Comedy for “Some Like It Hot”, which proved she could succeed in both funny and serious roles.
Personal Life
Marilyn Monroe’s life off-screen got just as much attention as her movies. She had well-known marriages and was linked to a number of rumored relationships.
Marriages
Marilyn Monroe was married three times:
James Dougherty (1942–1946): Her first marriage was to James Dougherty, a merchant marine, when she was just 16 years old. Their marriage ended when Monroe began focusing on her modeling and acting career.
Joe DiMaggio (1954): Monroe’s marriage to the famous baseball player got a lot of public attention but lasted only nine months. Even after they divorced, DiMaggio and Monroe stayed close until she died.
Arthur Miller (1956–1961): Monroe’s marriage to writer Arthur Miller was based on shared ideas and conversations, but it included personal difficulties that led to their separation.
Relationship with John F. Kennedy
One of the most talked-about parts of Monroe’s personal life is the rumored affair with President John F. Kennedy. Although people have speculated about it for many years, solid proof has never been found.
Her famous and flirtatious performance of “Happy Birthday” for President Kennedy at Madison Square Garden in 1962 added to the public’s curiosity about their connection.
Some reports claim Monroe had romantic involvement with both John and his brother Robert Kennedy, but no confirmed evidence has ever been presented.
Marilyn Monroe’s Residence
In 1962, Monroe bought a Spanish-style house in the Brentwood area of Los Angeles for $77,500. This house was important because it was the first one she owned by herself. It was also sadly the place where she died on August 5, 1962.
Current Ownership
Since Marilyn Monroe’s death, her Brentwood home has been sold several times. In July 2023, Brinah Milstein and Roy Bank bought the property for $8.35 million.
The new owners planned to tear the house down, but the Los Angeles city council stepped in and named it a historic cultural monument in 2024. This stopped the demolition plans. There is still an ongoing legal dispute about the house, with arguments focused on whether the home’s historical value should outweigh the owners’ rights.
Marilyn Monroe’s life was filled with both major success and personal struggles. From becoming a major star to her complicated personal life and the lasting impact of her estate, her story still draws attention and admiration.
Her image is still widely recognized, and the way her estate is managed keeps her influence alive. This shows the lasting charm of who she was and the challenges involved in keeping her memory alive.
Some Lesser Known Facts About Marilyn Monroe
Marilyn Monroe’s soft, breathy voice was something she learned to help with a speech problem she had as a child.
A speech therapist helped her develop this deep, smooth way of speaking, and it later became one of the most recognized parts of her voice as an actress and singer.
While she was working on her last film, Something’s Got to Give, her stutter came back, which made it hard for her to say her lines; because of this, 20th Century Fox ended up firing her from the movie.
Monroe was originally meant to play Holly Golightly in the 1961 film Breakfast at Tiffany’s.
“She was Truman Capote’s first choice,” said Sam Wasson, the author of Fifth Avenue, 5 A.M.: Audrey Hepburn, Breakfast at Tiffany’s, and the Dawn of the Modern Woman, in an interview with ABC News.
“Another thing you may not know: Marilyn didn’t take the part in part because Paula Strasberg, her advisor and acting coach, said she should not be playing a lady of the evening.” Capote, who wrote the 1958 novella, was said to be very upset that the studio picked Hepburn instead, saying, “Paramount double-crossed me in every way and cast Audrey.”
The famous nude-colored dress covered in crystals that Marilyn Monroe wore while singing “Happy Birthday” to John F. Kennedy in 1962 was so tight that she had to be sewn into it.
“It was skin-colored, and it was skintight. It was sewn on, covered with brilliant crystals,” said Life photographer Bill Ray in 2014. “There was this long, long pause . . . and finally, she comes out with this unbelievably breathy, ‘Happy biiiiirthday to youuuu,’ and everybody just went into a swoon.”
The dress was sold at auction in 1999 for $1.26 million, setting a record for the most paid for a single piece of clothing.
Speaking of auctions, several celebrities have bought items that once belonged to Monroe.
Mariah Carey purchased Monroe’s white baby grand piano, which had originally belonged to Monroe’s mother—for $662,500 in 1999. Tommy Hilfiger bought the blue jeans Monroe wore in the 1954 film River of No Return for $37,000.
“They had a great fit, a great patina, a great fabric, a great hand feel—and she wore them while filming a great movie,” Hilfiger said. He also bought a pair of square-toe cowgirl boots that Monroe wore in The Misfits for $75,000 and gave them to Demi Moore.
“Demi [wanted] me to buy the boots so she can wear them,” Hilfiger said. The boots were a little too big, but Moore still wanted to wear them: “I’d make them work—stuff the toes or something.”
Then there was Kim Kardashian, who wore Monroe’s famous “Happy Birthday, Mr. President” dress to the 2022 Met Gala, though it was only on loan from Ripley’s Believe It or Not! museum.
Even though Monroe appeared on the cover of the very first issue of Playboy in 1953, the magazine’s founder, known for wearing a silk robe, never met her.
“She was actually in my brother’s acting class in New York. But the reality is that I never met her,” Hugh Hefner once said. “I talked to her once on the phone, but I never met her. She was gone, sadly, before I came out here.”
In 1992, Hefner bought the crypt next to Monroe’s for $75,000. “I will be laid to rest in a vault next to hers,” he said. “It has a completion notion to it. I will be spending the rest of my eternity with Marilyn.”
Monroe didn’t die inside her Brentwood home—she passed away while being taken to the hospital.
Those who watched Emma Cooper’s The Mystery of Marilyn Monroe: The Unheard Tapes won’t be surprised by this information. Monroe’s death was officially ruled a “probable suicide” due to her use of barbiturates and her struggles with mental health.
But after a three-year investigation, journalist Anthony Summers, a Pulitzer Prize finalist, presented a new version of events. In an interview with ambulance company owner Walter Schaefer, he was told that Monroe was still alive when the ambulance arrived but died while being transported, so she was brought back home.
This version of events raises more questions about her supposed overdose. But, as they say, there’s no business like show business.
