Watch : Marilyn Monroe's 100th Birthday: See the Actresses Who've Played the Movie IconThe first person to play Marilyn Monroe was Marilyn Monroe. the actress born Norma Jean Mortensen asked one day while walking down Broadway in New York, according to Amy Greene, the wife of Monroe's personal photographer Milton Greene. It was more than platinum blonde hair and a brilliant smile that turned the Some Like It Hot star into a legend. But recreating her iconic physical traits has certainly been a good place to start for the slew of actresses who've played Monroe onscreen over the past 40 years, as well as all the celebs who've tried her style on for size. “People wanted Marilyn, they wanted that product," de Armas said on Today at the time.