One of the world's most famous blonde bombshells remains an American icon to this day. Some might say she was not the sexiest woman ever to have lived, but the fact that she had a successful career as a model, actress and singer says it all.
She was only 36 when she was found dead at her home in Los Angeles. She died of a barbiturate overdose.
Check out Sputnik's photo gallery to take delight in Marilyn's astonishing beauty.
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© AP Photo / Matty Zimmerman
In this file photo, Marilyn Monroe poses over the updraft of a New York subway grate while filming "The Seven Year Itch" in New York.
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© AP Photo / Ahn Young-joon
Visitors look at a photo of late US actress Marilyn Monroe during her photo exhibition at a department store in Seoul, South Korea.
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© AP Photo / Cecil Stoughton/White House Photographs
In this photo provided by the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum, Marilyn Monroe wears the iconic gown that she wore while singing "Happy Birthday" to President John F. Kennedy at Madison Square Garden, during a reception in New York City.
Monroe's performance in the 1953 film "Gentlemen Prefer Blondes", which was one of the classic musicals of the 1950's, still feels breathtaking.
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© AP Photo / Luca Bruno
Barbie doll Marilyn Monroe replicas are displayed at the 'Barbie Icon' exhibition, at the Mudec (Museum of Cultures) in Milan, Italy.
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© Photo : Ashton Productions (1959)
A black and white romantic comedy directed by Billy Wilder and starring Marilyn Monroe received six Academy Award nominations, but won only for Best Costume Design.
A worker of Madame Tussauds Museum in Hollywood pushes a wax figurine of Marilyn Monroe along Hollywood Boulevard in California.
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© AP Photo / GS
Marilyn Monroe puts her arms around Pfc. John Fenesy, left, of Caldwell, New Jersey and Cpl. Dick Armstrong, right, of Williston Park, New York, at the 3rd division airstrip during her four-day tour of Korea, 19 February 1954.
A man looks at a picture taken in 1962 by US photographer Bert Stern displaying US actress Marilyn Monroe, during the exhibition "Divine Marylin" at the Joseph gallery in Paris.
Would you withstand a hit from a special woman?
Tourists get a last look before the sculpture of Marilyn Monroe is dismantled as it prepares to travel to Palm Springs, California on 7 May 2012 in Chicago, Illinois.
American actress Marilyn Monroe kisses her husband, former baseball player Joe Di Maggio, on 14 January 1954.
Two Christie's employees hold a painting called 'Lemon Marilyn' by Andy Warhol, dated 1962, during an Impressionist and Modern Art showcase press viewing at Christie's auction house in London, 19 March 2007.
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© AP Photo
Marilyn Monroe once said, "Imperfection is beauty, madness is genius and it's better to be absolutely ridiculous than absolutely boring."
Lyon and Turnbull employees pose with two of the last photographs taken of Marilyn Monroe: 'Marilyn Monroe in Stripe Scarf (The Last Sitting)' (L) by Bert Stern and 'Marilyn Monroe with white cocktail dress' (R) by Harold Lloyd during a photocall in central London.
