Marilyn Monroe had the Sun in Gemini at the very top of her chart, the Moon in Aquarius and Leo rising with Neptune on the Ascendant: a quick, curious mind behind one of the most carefully made images of the twentieth century.

She was born Norma Jeane Mortenson at 9:30 in the morning on 1 June 1926, in Los Angeles. Astro-Databank rates the time AA, from the birth record. She grew up largely in foster homes and began modelling in the mid-1940s before signing her first film contract in 1946, the year she took the name Marilyn Monroe.

Leo rising, with Neptune on the Ascendant

The Rising sign is the first impression, and Leo rising is the sign of the performer: warm, radiant, made to be looked at. Monroe's has Neptune sitting right on it, within about nine degrees. Neptune is the planet of film, glamour and illusion, and people with it this close to the Ascendant often find that others see them through a soft-focus lens, as an ideal rather than a person. The new name, the platinum hair and the voice were all part of building that image, and few charts describe it so neatly.

Sun and Mercury in Gemini in the 10th house

Gemini is the sign of words, wit and curiosity. Her Sun and Mercury sit together in the 10th house, the house of career and public standing. The public saw the image, but the chart puts a quick, talking, reading mind at the top. She was known for sharp one-line answers to the press, she collected books, and in 1955 she moved to New York to study with Lee Strasberg at the Actors Studio, to be taken seriously as an actor rather than cast for her looks.

Around the same time she set up Marilyn Monroe Productions with the photographer Milton Greene. Few actresses of the studio era ran their own company, and she used hers to push for better roles and terms. A Gemini Sun in the 10th house wants a say in how its own story is told.

Mars trine Saturn: the work behind the ease

The tightest aspect in her chart is a trine between Mars, the drive, and Saturn, discipline and time, less than a degree from exact. It describes stamina and a willingness to do the slow work, the opposite of the effortless image. She took acting, singing and dance lessons for most of her career. Her comic timing in Gentlemen Prefer Blondes (1953) and Some Like It Hot (1959) looks light because it was practised. Some Like It Hot won her the Golden Globe for best actress in a comedy.

Moon in Aquarius in the 7th house, opposite Neptune

The Moon is the private self. In Aquarius it is independent and a little detached, more comfortable with ideas and friends than with being looked after. Hers is in the 7th house of partnership, with Jupiter close by, so relationships carried great hopes, and her marriages to the baseball player Joe DiMaggio and the playwright Arthur Miller were front-page news.

The Moon also sits opposite Neptune on her Ascendant. Astrologers read this as a gap between how a person feels and how they are seen, and she spoke openly in interviews about the distance between Norma Jeane and "Marilyn".

A Taurus Midheaven

The Midheaven, the top of the chart, describes the public role. Hers is in Taurus, a Venus-ruled sign of beauty, comfort and the senses. It is hard to think of a public role more Venusian than the one she carried, or one that has lasted longer: her image is still among the most reproduced in the world.

Compare your chart with hers

If you share her Gemini Sun or her Leo rising, you may know the pull between being seen and being understood. Add your details below to see how your chart meets hers.