Jack Lemmon, Tony Curtis and Marilyn Monroe in Some Like It Hot, a 1959 American romantic comedy film. John Uhler Lemmon III (February 8, 1925 - June 27, 2001) was an American actor. Marilyn Monroe (Norma Jeane Mortenson; June 1, 1926 - August 4, 1962) was an American actress, model and singer. Famous for playing comedic "blonde bombshell" characters, she became one of the most popular sex symbols of the 1950s and early 1960s and was emblematic of the era's sexual revolution.