50 ways Marilyn Monroe has been kept alive for 50 years!

Aug 03  There's a moment at the end of the promo reel for "Love, Marilyn," an upcoming Marilyn Monroedocumentary that will premiere at the Toronto Film Festival, when Uma Thurman, speaking in words that were written by Monroe, almost whispers these lines:

"Please don't talk about me when I'm gone."

Obviously, Monroe didn't get her wish.

As we approach the 50th anniversary of her death on Aug. 5, 1962, we're still talking about Marilyn.

You could easily argue that one of the world's biggest stars and sex symbols only became bigger after death, when her image became forever young and the erratic behavior that marred the last years of her career only made the story of glamour, sex and sadness more compelling.

Witness last year's Oscar-nominated "My Week With Marilyn," as well as Liz Garbus' new documentary, a combination of interviews with those who knew Monroe and staged readings of her words and the words of those close to her. (Among them: Thurman, Glenn Close, David Strathairn, Adrien Brody, Paul Giamatti, Marisa Tomei and Evan Rachel Wood.)

Then there's NBC's new series, "Smash," about creating a Broadway show about Marilyn. And there's that mammoth Marilyn statue that recently made its way from Chicago's famed Michigan Avenue to Palm Springs.

From movies to songs to television shows, art to advertisements, cartoons to photo shoots to who knows how many recreations of the subway-grate shot from "The Seven Year Itch" and the "Diamonds Are a Girl's Best Friend" number from "Gentlemen Prefer Blondes," Marilyn is inescapable  -- our National Blonde, even though this particular blonde didn't really seem to have more fun.

Here, to commemmorate the 50th anniversary of her death, are 50 shades of Marilyn in pop culture.

MOVIES

The place to start is the mother lode: "The Forever Marilyn Collection" (#1), a new Blu-ray and DVD box set that includes "Some Like It Hot," "The Misfits," "There's No Business Like Show Business," "How to Marry a Millionaire," "The Seven Year Itch," "Gentlemen Prefer Blondes" and "River of No Return."

But Monroe's own movies are only the tip of the iceberg. Michelle Williams (right) won an Oscarnomination last year for playing the actress in "My Week With Marilyn" (#2), which dealt with the rocky shooting of the 1958, Laurence Olivier-directed film "The Prince and the Showgirl."

Other actresses, most notably Teresa Russell in Nicolas Roeg's "Insignificance" (#3), play versions of Monroe; her version is simply called The Actress.

In films that reference Monroe, "Pulp Fiction" (#4) stands out for its Jack Rabbit Slim's scene, where Marilyn is front-and-center in a diner populated by pop-culture icons.

More references: In "Blades of Glory" (#5) Amy Poehler's character performed a pairs ice-skating routine as Marilyn from "The Seven Year Itch." In "I Heart Huckabees" (#6), Naomi Watts' character sang "Happy Birthday, Mr. President" ala Monroe to JFK. In Ken Russell's film of the Who's "Tommy" (#7) Eric Clapton turned "Eyesight to the Blind" from a blues song about sex to the credo of a cult devoted to Marilyn.

We should also include another mention of the upcoming "Love, Marilyn" (#8), which uses Marilyn's own journal writings to help tell her story. Blonde on blonde, to borrow a phrase from Bob Dylan.

TELEVISION

NBC's musical "Smash" (#9, left) has the blonde bombshell played, at various points during the first season by Uma Thurman, Megan Hilty and Katharine McPhee. Bonus: the show-within-a-show might really make it to Broadway one day (as might a Marilyn show Harvey Weinstein is trying to mount).

"Mad Men" (#10), meanwhile, has dealt with Marilyn in a couple of episodes, including "Six Month Leave," in which the women in the office react to her death. "Saturday Night Live" (#11) has used a variety of perfomers to play her, including "Teri Garr, Madonna and Charlize Theron, while Matt Groening has referenced Marilyn on his TV series "The Simpsons" (#12) and "Futurama" (#13), the latter of which included the character "Marilyn Monrobot."

One regrettable Marilyn reference on primetime came in February 2011, when James Franco's baffling performance as host of the Academy Awards (#14) included a bit where he came onstage in drag dressed as Marilyn in "Gentlemen Prefer Blondes."

MUSIC

Marilyn was only 11 years gone when Elton John and Bernie Taupin wrote "Candle in the Wind" (#15) about her. The lyrics weren't exactly subtle ("Hollywood created a superstar/And pain was the price you paid"), but the song became one of John's standards -- though its connecton to Monroe was slightly eclipsed when he rewrote the lyrics to make it a tribute to Princess Diana after her death in 1997.

Lots of other songs reference Marilyn, from Madonna's "Vogue" (#16) to the Kinks' "Celluloid Heroes" (#17) toTom Waits' "Jitterbug Boy" (#18), in which a shady character adds her name to a long string of ludicrous boasts ("I slept with the lions/And Marilyn Monroe/ … I taught Mickey Mantle everything that he knows").

Of course, Madonna and Lady Gaga and Britney Spearsand many other pop divas owe reams to Marilyn, witness "Material Girl" (#19), "Dance in the Dark" (#20) and live performances of "If U Seek Amy" (#21, left), respectively.

But the most substantial musical treatments could be Dan Bern's "Marilyn" (#22) in which the singer-songwriter posits that her life would have been better if the author she married had been Henry Miller rather than Arthur Miller , and T Bone Burnett's "After All These Years" (#23) which Burnett has said was inspired by a story he read about exhuming Monroe years after her death:

"Was she still as alluring, still as seductive?
Could she still drive you crazy by the look on her face?
Did she still have a whisper you could hear cross an ocean?
Was she still a scandal, still a disgrace?"

Extra points to Burnett for his wry, deadpan and delightful cover version of "Diamonds Are a Girl's Best Friend" (#24).

Even classical composers have been inspired by Monroe. The opera "Marilyn" (#25), for instance, was one of the centerpieces of the New York City Opera's own 50thh anniversary celebration in 1993 – but one critic called the Ezra Laderman/Norman Rosetn work "bizarre and excrusiatingly banal," and it has faded from the repertoire.

And, of course, Monroe is dead center on one of the most famous album covers of all time, the Beatles' "Sgt. Peppers Lonely Hearts Club Band" (#26) – she's right above Ringo, and surrounded by writersEdgar Allan Poe and William S. Burroughs, British comedian Tommy Handley and explorer Dr. David Livingstone.

ART

Andy Warhol's Marilyn Diptych (#27, below) from 1962, which he completed in the weeks after her death, is probably the best-known piece of Marilyn-centric art.

But he's hardly the only artist to have been inspired. Other artist who have dealt with Monroe range from Salvador Dali (#28) to Willem de Kooning (#29) to Robert Rauschenberg (#30)  to Shepard Fairey (#31) to Mr. Brainwash (#32); that list certainly includes both the sublime and the ridiculous, though you can make your own decision about what belongs where.

Does J. Seward Johnson's giant Marilyn statue (#33) that currently occupies a street corner in Palm Springs count as art? Reactions differ, perhaps less in the California desert resort than in its previous home in Chicago, but we'll let it into the category.

And in architecture, the Absolute World buildings (#34, left) in Mississauga, Ontario, Canada, outside Toronto, have been nicknamed "Marilyn Monroe" because of their undulating forms.

LITERATURE

Joyce Carol Oates' "Blonde" (#35) is one of the best-known and most acclaimed entries on the shelf of books that drawn on Marilyn; Oates insists that it is a novel, not a biography. 

Many other writers have tried to analyze and explain Marilyn, including Norman Mailer (#36) more than once. The most intriging titled print evocation of Monroe, though, has to be Andrew O'Hagan's "The Life and Opinions of Maf the Dog, and His Friend Marilyn Monroe" (#37).

COMMERCIALS

Lots of companies have drawn on Marilyn imagery in their ads, Benetton (#38), Chanel No. 5 (#39) and Tampax (#40) among them.

But we'll highlight Absolut Vodka's Absolut Marilyn campaign (#41, right), which managed to capture something essential with nothing more than a bottle of and a little tutu.

PHOTOGRAPHY

It's impossible to even keep track of how many times Playboy magazine (#42) has restaged the shoot that gave it its first cover girl. Countless others did something similar for countless other publications;Lindsay Lohan, for instance, recreated Monroe's Bert Stern photo shoot (#43) for New York magazine.

The most intriguing Marilyn makeover, though, was Lisa Marie Presley (#44, left) made up as Marilyn by Kevin Aucoin for Herb Ritts' camera. The effect was startling, but also otherworldly in its implications: Elvis + Marilyn = a star in front of whom all other stars must bow.

MISCELLANY

Monroe put the Marilyn in Marilyn Manson (#45).

Nike combined Marilyn and Andy Warhol for its Warhol/Monroe Air Max 90 shoe (#46) – because, you know, guys in gym shoes love their Warhol.

Mattel has created a couple of Marilyn Barbie dolls (#47).

Rudy Giuliani (#48) came to the 1997 New York Inner Circle press dinner in drag as Marilyn from "Gentlemen Prefer Blondes," resulting in photos that might have chosen problematic if his presidential run had ever gotten off the ground.

And finally, Marilyn has a Twitter account – or at least, her estate does, at @MarilynMonroe (#49), where most of the tweets are promotion-oriented. But it's also not hard to find fake Marilyn Twitter accounts – including @TheMsMonroe (#50), which puts its approach this way: "It's 1962 and Marilyn Monroe Tweets regularly."

Please don't tweet about me when I'm gone?

Stunning new Marilyn Monroe Photos

Marilyn Monroe: Stunning exhibition of rare photos and artefacts marks 50 year anniversary of iconic star's death

By DEBORAH ARTHURS

PUBLISHED: 12:53 EST, 13 March 2012 | UPDATED: 13:02 EST, 13 March 2012

Fifty years have passed since her death, but the image of Hollywood icon Marilyn Monroe is as enduring as ever.

Her short but stellar life - she died in 1962 at the age of 36 - saw her make 29 films, pose for countless photographers and even sing on stage for the U.S. President. 

Now, her colourful career, from model to movie star, has been charted in a new exhibition revealing rare photographs, portraits, original video and artefacts that once belonged to the star. 

Pin-up: A portrait of Marilyn in a polka dot bikini showing the star as she was in 1951 is one of many photographs on show at a new Marilyn Monroe exhibition

Natural: Marilyn took to her modelling career with ease, wowing studio heads who went on to hire her for their films - the first, a minor role, in 1946

Included in the exhibition are a host of stunning black and white photos of Marilyn, some taken in the earlier part of her career, when she was still a brunette by the name of Norma Jean Baker; others from the latter part, when she was the platinum blonde icon whose image is familiar to us all.  

The photographs, some candid snaps of Marilyn off-duty (though one assumes this eternal pin-up was rarely truly off-duty), others in which she adopts her classic sultry poses for the camera, have never been gathered together in one place for the public to view before now.

The exhibition also features a selection of original dresses and costumes worn by the star, which have been lent to the Getty Images Gallery by collector David Gainsborough Roberts, owner of the largest collection of Marilyn Monroe memorabilia in the world. 

Louise Garczewska, Director, Getty Images Gallery says: We are extremely excited to present our Marilyn exhibition, offering the public unparalleled and rare access to Marilyn's life through the iconic imagery from Getty Images' extensive archival collection. 

'David Gainsborough Roberts has kindly loaned us Marilyn's dresses which the public can see in London for the first time ever, making this exhibition a perfect tribute to one of Hollywood's greats.'

Looking every inch the Hollywood legend she is remembered as today, Marilyn arrives at the premiere of the 1954 Walter Lang film There's No Business like Show Business

In 1954, being photographed by Baron at her home in Palm Springs

Marilyn reading Motion Picture Daily in a portrait by Ed Feingersh, the photographer commissioned to document a week in the life of the actress in 1955, when she was attempting to move away from her dumb blonde image 

A 1955 photoshoot at the Ambassador Hotel in New York City in 1955, when Marilyn was 29 years old

On a bicycle ride with husband Arthur Miller during their brief marriage. They wed in 1956 and divorced in 1961, a year before Marilyn's death

Marilyn studies her script in between takes 

It's 1956, and a 30-year-old Marilyn is carried on the shoulder of American actor Don Murray on the set of director Joshua Logan's film Bus Stop

Sultry: After a decade of modelling, Marilyn perfected the art of seduction for the cameras

Attending a 1956 press conference at London's Savoy Hotel with British actor Laurence Olivier - who called her 'a brilliant comedienne - to promote their film The Prince And The Showgirl

Wearing the dress in the publicity poster for Gentlemen Prefer Blondes, in which Marilyn starred with Jane Russell, right

Costumes worn by Marilyn across her 29 feature films will be on display at the Getty Gallery exhibition

Marilyn runs until 23rd May at the Getty Images Gallery at 46 Eastcastle Street, London, W1W 8DX. Admission free. Visit www.gettyimagesgallery.com for more information.

A smaller exhibition will also be on display at Getty Images Gallery in Westfield Stratford City at a later date of 23 March to 3 June 2012.

MARILYN'S FBI FILES GO MISSING?

Almost 50 years ago, Marilyn Monroe was found dead in her L.A. home. But the mystery surrounding her death is very much alive, thanks to a recent Associated Press investigation to coincide with the anniversary of her death. On the 50th anniversary of Marilyn Monroe'sdeath, the Associated Press is reporting that its timely investigation hit some suspicious roadblocks. For starters, the AP reports the FBI and the National Archives don't even have the files associated with the investigation of Monroe in the final months before she died. The news agency has been trying to get the files for the past nine months, after numerous FOIA requests and an appeal. Infamous FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover targeted Monroe and many other celebs for such investigations, over fears that they were Commies. The actress's file starts in 1955 and continues until a few months before her death, according to the AP. Of course, theories that Monroe's death wasn't by her own hand are nearly as old as the legend's untimely death on August 5, 1962. Some of the sexiest conspiracy theories involve President John F. Kennedy and his brother, then-Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy. It's been suggested that one (or both) of these high-profile brothers was having an affair with the blonde bombshell, and plotted to silence her for good. As outlandish as that may sound, enough questions loomed that a second investigation was undertaken by the L.A. District Attorney's Office two decades after her death. The DA's office noted the files compiled by the FBI were "heavily censored." Even the man who performed Monroe's autopsy, Dr. Thomas Noguchi, was prompted to say that no one will ever likely know the details. "On the basis of my own involvement in the case, beginning with the autopsy, I would call Monroe's suicide 'very probable,'" Noguchi wrote in his Coroner memoir. "But I also believe that until the complete FBI files are made public and the notes and interviews of the suicide panel released, controversy will continue to swirl around her death." Soyrce: SheKnows Entertainment

Marilyn Monroe Had Lesbian Affair With 16-Year-Old Girl, Reveals New Book

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Posted on Jul 27, 2012 @ 01:00PM  

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By Debbie Emery - Radar Reporter
Marilyn Monroe has been seen as the ultimate sex symbol for the past 50 years, but a shocking new book reveals that the object of millions of mens' affections was sexually attracted to women.
The 1950s blonde bombshell not only allegedly admitted to encounters with movie stars such as Joan Crawford,Barbara Stanwyck, Marlene Dietrich andElizabeth Taylor, she also seduced a 16-year-old girl who ran her fan club, andRadarOnline.com exclusive details of their sensual hook up.
According to author Tony Jerris, the Some Like It Hot star had a very memorable nightwith teenager Jane Lawrence, with whom she had bonded with over their shared troubled family histories.

"Jane met Marilyn when she was 12 because her adopted father ran the legal department at RKO studio," the author of Marilyn Monroe: My Little Secret told RadarOnline.com in an exclusive interview.
"They soon became close friends after realizing that they had been in the same orphanage at different times of their lives, even though Marilyn was 14 years older, and neither of them knew their birth fathers. They became close friends because there were so many similarities in their past.
"Jane always struggled with her sexuality, she talked to Marilyn about this many times and she was very understanding. She told her, 'Whatever your sexual preference is, it means nothing - love is love,'" explained Jerris, who first met Lawrence in 2001 and went on to become a close confident and business partner.
While Jane had enjoyed encounters with other girls before, one night in 1955 with the Gentlemen Prefer Blondes star catapulted her sexual experiences to a whole new level. She went over to Monroe's Los Angeles apartment to help her line some shelves, but the night soon turned from home decor to something much more raunchy.
In recollections told to Jerris, Jane revealed that the then 29-year-old actress was drinking champagne and had taken the prescription drug Nembutal by the time she arrived. "The champagne makes me happy. The pill makes me happier faster," Marilyn told her.
While trying to measure paper for the shelves, Lawrence was shocked when her idol suddley planted a kiss on her thigh, with a "mischievous twinkle in her eye.
"The next few minutes became hazy, surreal and dream-like. My pulse leaped as Marilyn kissed my thigh again... she then leaned in and kissed me full on the lips, very softly and very slowly. I was nearly hyperventilating," said Lawrence in the memoir.
"We moved through the living room into the bedroom," she revealed, and as their passion escalated,  "Marilyn used her tongue, lavishly flicking and licking, an entirely new sensation for me.
"With the girls I had enjoyed sex with, there was often a shyness and hesitancy, not the hunger and confidence Marilyn displayed."

After spending the night together, Jane was startled back to reality with a verbal scolding from her mother for not calling to let her know where she was.
"The experience confirmed to Jane that she was gay, and as she got older she has relationships with other girls," along with around five more sexual experiences with Marilyn, Jerris told Radar.
As for whether Marilyn was a full-fledged lesbian, he doesn't think so. "She was just a free spirit. She was a very open person."
The pair remained close friends for ten years, up until Monroe's untimely death on August 5, 1962 at age 36.
Concerned from watching her downward spiral into drink and drugs, Lawrence invited Marilyn down to Coronado near San Diego the week before her death to get some R&R with her family, but the screen goddess refused, and instead of managing to save her friend  - Jane mourned her for the rest of her life.