Legends

How the great stars of the screen got their start, and what came after.

10 stories
Marilyn Monroe in a 1953 studio publicity portraitLegends

Marilyn Monroe Was Spotted on a Factory Floor. Here's How Norma Jeane Became a Legend

Before the white dress and the Golden Globe, she was a teenager spraying airplane parts in a wartime factory.

5 min read
Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz in 1952Legends

Lucille Ball Ran a TV Studio, and She Said Yes to Star Trek

America's favorite redhead became the first woman to head a major television studio.

5 min read
Audrey Hepburn in Breakfast at Tiffany'sLegends

Audrey Hepburn Survived Wartime Hunger, Then Spent Her Life Feeding Children

Behind the little black dress was a girl who lived through the Nazi occupation of the Netherlands.

5 min read
James Dean in an early publicity photoLegends

James Dean Made Only Three Big Movies, and Became an Icon Forever

He was 24 when he died. His career as a leading man lasted barely 18 months.

4 min read
Judy Garland as Dorothy in The Wizard of OzLegends

Over the Rainbow Was Almost Cut From The Wizard of Oz

Studio bosses thought the song slowed the movie down. It went on to win the Oscar.

4 min read
Cary Grant in a 1940s publicity photoLegends

Cary Grant Started Out as a Teenage Stilt-Walker Named Archie

Hollywood's most polished leading man learned his timing as an acrobat in a traveling troupe.

4 min read
Doris Day in a 1968 publicity photoLegends

Doris Day Turned Down Mrs. Robinson, and Chose the Animals

America's sweetheart said no to one of the most famous roles of the 1960s.

4 min read
Shirley Temple as a child starLegends

Shirley Temple Went From Child Star to U.S. Ambassador

She won a special Oscar at six. Decades later, she watched history being made in Prague.

4 min read
Sophia Loren in an early 1950s film stillLegends

Sophia Loren Made Oscar History With a Role in Italian

From a beauty contest in 1950 to the first acting Oscar for a non-English performance.

4 min read
Sidney Poitier in 1968Legends

In 1967, Sidney Poitier Starred in Three Hits in One Year

He had already made Oscar history. Then he became the biggest box office star in America.

4 min read