In honor of what would have been her 90th birthday, here are seven essential Marilyn performances.

Do you feel the breeze from the subway?

Marilyns glittering image has become a touchstone of our cultural iconography, endlessly invoked, imitated, and reproduced.

Happy Birthday, Miss Marilyn

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It was the role she was born to play.

Niagara (1953)

20th Century Fox/Courtesy Everett Collection

Gentlemen Prefer Blondes (1953)

20th Century Fox/Everett Collection

The Seven Year Itch (1955)

20th Century Fox/Courtesy Everett Collection

Some Like it Hot (1959) Unrated, 120 mins., directed by Billy Wilder, starring Tony Curtis, Jack Lemmon, Marilyn Monroe, George Raft, Joe E. Brown

Mary Evans/ Courtesy Everett Collection

The Misfits (1961)

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“Happy Birthday, Mr. President” (1962)

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Marilyn Monroe

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