On August 5, 1962, film star Marilyn Monroe was found dead in her home in Los Angeles at the age of 36. She was discovered lying nude on her bed, face down, with a telephone in one hand. Empty bottles of pills, prescribed to treat her depression, were littered around the room. After a brief investigation, Los Angeles police ruled her death a suicide.Marilyn Monroe was born Norma Jean Mortenson in 1926. Her mother was emotionally unstable and frequently confined to an asylum, so Norma Jean was reared by a succession of foster parents and in an orphanage. She famously posed nude for a calendar in 1949 and in the following year attracted attention as an actress after appearing in minor roles in the ''The Asphalt Jungle'' and ''All About Eve''. She went from pinup model to screen icon in a few short years, starring in such hits as ''Gentlemen Prefer Blondes'' (1953), ''How to Marry a Millionaire'' (1953), and ''The Seven-Year Itch'' (1955). She was a natural comedian, and her...