TCM Honors Marilyn Monroe’s 100th Birthday as June’s Star of the Month

TCM June 2026 Star of the Month Marilyn Monroe — Getty Images

On the 100th anniversary of Norma Jeane Baker’s birth — and more than six decades after her death — the complex and enigmatic Marilyn Monroe remains etched in the global consciousness. TCM honors the star by showcasing her films every Monday beginning June 1 at 8 pm, kicking off with the 1953 film Gentlemen Prefer Blondes.

The full June TCM schedule of Monroe’s films follows. Just looking for the full month calendar? Scroll to the bottom to download.

Monday, June 1 – Begins at 8/7c

GENTLEMEN PREFER BLONDES, Marilyn Monroe, 1953,

20th Century Fox Film Corp./Courtesy Everett Collection.

Beginning with Gentlemen Prefer Blondes, where Monroe’s indelible, career-defining performance of “Diamonds Are a Girl’s Best Friend” cemented her as a superstar. In How to Marry a Millionaire, released later that year, Monroe’s master class in physical comedy while playing the nearsighted Pola Debevoise (who wouldn’t wear glasses because she thought they would turn away men) stole the show from Betty Grable and Lauren Bacall.

Next up is 1952’s Monkey Business, where Monroe held her own against another star, Ginger Rogers, as secretary Lois Laurel, the object of Dr. Barnaby Fulton’s (Cary Grant) desires, with Marilyn’s sharp comedic timing matching her radiant charm. The night’s final film, 1949’s Ladies of the Chorus, features Monroe’s first onscreen singing performance, offering the world a glimpse of the vocal talent and melodic grace that would soon set Hollywood ablaze.

Monday, June 8 – Begins at 8/7c

Beginning with Clash by Night (1952), Monroe was credited above the title for Clash by Night, but she was still the fourth actor listed in this supporting role before her breakout in 1953. But there was no shame in playing second fiddle to the great Barbara Stanwyck, who leads this melodramatic soap opera as a fallen woman torn between staying with her devoted lunk of a fisherman husband and leaving him for his much hotter, more passionate best pal. Monroe plays a fish cannery worker and the girlfriend of Stanwyck’s brother in a more settled relationship that contrasts with Stanwyck’s turbulent passions.

Immediately following is Don’t Bother to Knock (1952), where Monroe plays an unstable babysitter wreaking havoc on those around her by physically threatening the child she cares for. The night continues with the legendary The Asphalt Jungle (1950) and concludes with Right Cross (1950).

Monday, June 15 – Begins at 8/7c

BUS STOP, from left, Marilyn Monroe, Don Murray, 1956,

20th Century Fox Film Corp./Courtesy: Everett Collection.

Tonight starts with Bus Stop (1956), a film that follows two Montana-based cowboys, Beauregard Decker (Don Murray) and Virgil Blessing (Arthur O’Connell), who meet a beautiful café singer named Chérie (Monroe). Chérie wants to make it big in Hollywood, and naive rodeo cowboy Beauregard is determined to lasso a new wife. After numerous tussles (and a literal kidnapping), Beauregard learns how to respect Chérie, which is all she really wanted in the first place. Monroe earned her first of two Golden Globe nominations for Best Actress in a Comedy or Musical for the role.

Next is the unforgettable The Seven Year Itch (1955), a romantic comedy in which Monroe innocently befriends a neighbor (Tom Ewell) who is trying to resist his urges while feeling bored after seven years of marriage. Monroe escapes his clumsy advances unscathed, and Ewell’s Richard gets back on the straight and narrow. Lastly, the night concludes with Niagara (1953), which was the first of three films that year that ultimately cemented Monroe as a sex symbol. This was one of her more dramatic roles, playing an unrepentant femme fatale set on having her husband (Joseph Cotten) murdered by her lover during a trip to Niagara Falls.

Monday, June 22 – Begins at 8/7c

SOME LIKE IT HOT, from left, Tony Curtis, Marilyn Monroe, Jack Lemmon, 1959.

Everett Collection

The final night of the tribute starts off with Some Like It Hot, her most successful movie ever, both financially and artistically. Tony Curtis and Jack Lemmon play jazz band players who need to escape from Chicago mobsters. Their solution? To stow away on a train and dress as women to join an all-female band headed to Miami, one member of which is Marilyn as Sugar Kane, a ukulele player. Curtis and Lemmon both pine after Sugar, and just one of the many highlights of this 1959 classic screwball comedy is Curtis’ imitation of a yacht-owning oil heir sounding suspiciously like Cary Grant.

Next up is The Misfits. This 1961 film is the final completed film of both Marilyn Monroe and Clark Gable, which tells the story of a recently divorced dancer and an aging Nevada cowboy. Written by Arthur Miller (who divorced Monroe days before the movie’s premiere), this film from director John Huston looks at the end of the Old West and the loneliness brought with the modern age.

Lastly, there is The Prince and the Showgirl from 1957. Marilyn plays an American showgirl who is romanced by a Carpathian prince played by Laurence Olivier, and is set during the festivities surrounding the 1912 coronation of England’s George V. It was Marilyn’s least attended movie since she became a headliner, but she did end up being nominated for a British Academy Film Award for Best Foreign Actress.