60 free Marilyn Monroe trivia questions with answers — entertainment quiz, new questions added Aug 2026.
This Marilyn Monroe trivia quiz follows Norma Jeane Mortenson from foster homes and a wartime munitions factory to the most photographed woman of the century. The early questions cover the basics most fans know: her real name, where her stage name came from, the platinum hair, the nude calendar that became the first Playboy centrefold, and the white dress over the subway grate. From there it digs into the films: Niagara, Gentlemen Prefer Blondes, How to Marry a Millionaire, Bus Stop, The Prince and the Showgirl, Some Like It Hot and The Misfits, with the directors, co-stars and awards attached to each. A second strand follows the woman behind the image: the three marriages, the production company that helped break the studio system, the Actors Studio and the Strasbergs, the FBI file, the Korea USO shows, 'Happy Birthday, Mr. President', the firing from Something's Got to Give, and the night in Brentwood in August 1962. There are also questions on the Monroeisms, the lookalikes the studios manufactured, and how critics from Pauline Kael to Roger Ebert have judged her. Difficulty runs from easy to expert and is shown on every question. Every answer was checked against a reference page and each question carries its citation. Try our Classic Hollywood and Audrey Hepburn quizzes next.
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Q 01What was Marilyn Monroe's birth name?
Norma Jeane Mortenson
She legally changed her name to Marilyn Monroe only in February 1956, a decade after adopting it.
Q 02In which city was Marilyn Monroe born?
Los Angeles
She was born at Los Angeles General Hospital in Boyle Heights on June 1, 1926, and died in the same city 36 years later.
Q 03Where did the 'Monroe' in her screen alias come from?
Her mother's maiden name
Fox executive Ben Lyon picked 'Marilyn' because she reminded him of the Broadway star Marilyn Miller.
Q 04How old was Monroe when she married her first husband, James Dougherty?
16
The wedding was arranged so she would not have to go back to the orphanage when her guardians moved to West Virginia.
Q 05Monroe was discovered while working in a factory making what during World War II?
Munitions and drones
Photographer David Conover was sent to the Radioplane plant in Van Nuys to shoot morale-boosting pictures of women workers.
Q 06What was Monroe's natural hair colour before she went platinum blonde?
Curly brown
The Blue Book Model Agency decided her figure suited pin-ups rather than high fashion, and the makeover followed.
Q 07Under which pseudonym were the 1949 nude calendar photographs taken?
Mona Monroe
She had earlier modelled as Jean Norman; the calendar shots resurfaced in 1952 and, handled cleverly, only boosted her career.
Q 08When asked what she had on during the 1949 nude photo shoot, what did Monroe famously reply?
'I had the radio on'
Such double entendres, delivered in a breathy voice, came to be known as 'Monroeisms'.
Q 09Monroe's 1949 nude photograph became the centrefold of the first issue of which magazine in 1953?
Playboy
Hugh Hefner used a Miss America parade photo for the cover; Monroe never consented to either.
Q 10Which two acclaimed 1950 films gave Monroe small but noticed early roles?
All About Eve and The Asphalt Jungle
Bette Davis, the star of All About Eve, said afterwards: 'Definitely, no question, I knew she was going to make it.'
Q 11Which agency executive and lover negotiated Monroe's seven-year Fox contract, dying days later?
Johnny Hyde
He died of a heart attack in December 1950, leaving her devastated.
Q 12In which 1953 Technicolor noir did Monroe play a femme fatale plotting to murder Joseph Cotten?
Niagara
Its most famous shot is a 30-second walk away from the camera, hips swaying, that the studio used heavily in the marketing.
Q 13Who co-starred with Monroe as the other gold-digging showgirl in Gentlemen Prefer Blondes?
Jane Russell
The two pressed their hand and footprints into wet concrete outside Grauman's Chinese Theatre to promote the film.
Q 21With which photographer did Monroe found Marilyn Monroe Productions in 1954?
Milton Greene
The move has been called 'instrumental' in the collapse of the studio system; she later bought out his share.
Q 22Under whom did Monroe study method acting at the Actors Studio in 1955?
Lee Strasberg
His wife Paula replaced Natasha Lytess as her on-set coach, and the Strasbergs became like family to her.
Q 23Which Broadway play parodied Monroe's production company, with Jayne Mansfield as a dumb actress starting a studio?
Will Success Spoil Rock Hunter?
Q 14Which song from Gentlemen Prefer Blondes did critics single out as Monroe's showpiece?
Diamonds Are a Girl's Best Friend
Variety wrote that she showed the 'ability to sex a song'; the role had originally been intended for Betty Grable.
Q 15How to Marry a Millionaire teamed Monroe with Betty Grable and which other star?
Lauren Bacall
It was only the second film ever released in CinemaScope, Fox's widescreen weapon against television.
Q 16Fox suspended Monroe in January 1954 for refusing to shoot which musical?
The Girl in Pink Tights
As the price of dropping it, she had to make There's No Business Like Show Business, which she strongly disliked.
Q 17Which retired New York Yankees star did Monroe marry at San Francisco City Hall in January 1954?
Joe DiMaggio
The marriage lasted nine months; he later arranged her funeral and barred most of Hollywood from it.
Q 18From her 1954 Japan honeymoon, Monroe flew to which country to sing for 60,000 US Marines?
South Korea
The USO shows ran over four days; she was later named Photoplay's 'Most Popular Female Star'.
Q 19The famous subway grate scene, with Monroe's white dress blowing up, was staged for which film?
The Seven Year Itch
Filmed on Lexington Avenue before nearly 2,000 spectators, the stunt made front pages worldwide and finished off her marriage to DiMaggio.
Q 20On which Manhattan avenue was the subway grate scene shot?
Lexington
The shoot lasted several hours; the scene was then re-shot on a Hollywood soundstage for the finished film.
Fox later cultivated Mansfield and Sheree North as Monroe lookalikes; other studios pushed Mamie Van Doren, Kim Novak and Diana Dors.
Q 24Which playwright did Monroe marry in June 1956?
Arthur Miller
Variety's headline read 'Egghead Weds Hourglass'; the FBI opened a file on her because Miller was under investigation.
Q 25Which country banned all of Monroe's films after she converted to Judaism on marrying Miller?
Egypt
The press treated the marriage as a mismatch between a sex symbol and an intellectual.
Q 26For Bus Stop (1956), Monroe learned which regional accent to play a saloon singer?
Ozark
She also chose deliberately unglamorous costumes and sang badly on purpose; Bosley Crowther wrote 'Marilyn Monroe has finally proved herself an actress.'
Q 27Who directed, co-produced and co-starred with Monroe in The Prince and the Showgirl (1957)?
Laurence Olivier
He infuriated her by saying 'All you have to do is be sexy'; she retaliated by turning up late.
Q 28Which Italian award did Monroe win for The Prince and the Showgirl?
David di Donatello
The film flopped in America but did better in Europe, also earning her a BAFTA nomination and France's Crystal Star.
Q 29What was the name of Monroe's character in Some Like It Hot?
Sugar Kane
She thought it was another dumb blonde but took it for 10% of the profits and Miller's encouragement.
Q 30Which Some Like It Hot co-star said that kissing Monroe was 'like kissing Hitler' after endless retakes?
Tony Curtis
Director Billy Wilder still concluded that 'it takes a real artist to come on the set and not know her lines and yet give the performance she did'.