'It was poignant, knowing that these were the last images she did': The intimate final photos of Marilyn Monroe

On the 100th anniversary of her birth, images from the Hollywood icon's final photoshoot reveal a carefree joyfulness that's far removed from the shocking tragedy of her death.

July, 1962. A woman poses on Santa Monica beach, her unmistakeable "blonde bombshell" features somehow softened, hair ruffled by the sea breeze. She appears radiant and playful, draping her body in a green towel or cosy knitwear. In the final photo of the shoot, she is snuggled on the sand, hands clasped, seeming to blow an affectionate kiss towards the camera.

These photographs, taken by George Barris, were the last portraits of legendary actress and model Marilyn Monroe in her lifetime. A few weeks later, in the early hours of 5 August, Monroe would be found dead at her LA home, aged 36.

Monroe embodied the Golden Age of Hollywood: her stunning looks and enchanting screen presence powered hits such as Gentlemen Prefer Blondes and Some Like It Hot. She also evoked something beyond cinema: the glimmer of deeper, even disquieting qualities within the glitzy artifice of the star system.

Across time, she has remained suspended in the spotlight; her beauty and style still inspire generations of pop performers and fashion designers; her likeness is still used in advertisements; her life and death are continually reconstructed on page, stage and screen.

The public's fascination has continued to Monroe's centenary; 1 June 2026 marks 100 years since her birth, and planned international events include a major new exhibition at London's National Portrait Gallery (NPG), entitled Marilyn Monroe: A Portrait.

The NPG show, co-curated by Rosie Broadley and Georgia Atienza, is broadly chronological, encompassing famous images and fascinating contrasts (featuring photographers and artists such as Eve Arnold, Cecil Beaton and Andy Warhol), including six images from the Santa Monica shoot. 

Broadley tells the BBC: "We thought about what seemed to be the most interesting and original approach to Marilyn Monroe, and one that maybe taught us more about Marilyn herself – and I say that with a lot of caution, because almost every time someone does something about Marilyn, they say that they're going to reveal 'the woman behind the image', or 'the truth behind the myth'. We approached her image-making by each of the most interesting collaborations; some went on for over a decade, like Philippe Halsman, some were just one shoot, but they became important to her."

"Through her journey with the different photographers she worked with, her image develops and evolves, and she became the person she was aiming to be, which is the big star, Marilyn Monroe. She uses these photographers in a really canny way."

By 1962, Monroe was a global superstar facing personal and professional fall-outs; her third marriage (to playwright Arthur Miller) had ended; her body image was endlessly scrutinised (her famous curves were now considerably less following gall bladder surgery); her reputation for being "difficult" on set plagued her (though failing to show up or forgetting lines was arguably linked to her ill health, chronic insomnia, and addiction to prescription medication).

In June that year, Monroe was fired from the production Something's Got to........

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