BIOGRAPHY 3

Ex-husband Joe DiMaggio put fresh roses at her memorial site for years after her death

When putting her imprints at Grauman's she joked that Jane Russell was best known for her large front-side and she was known for her wiggly walk, so Jane could lean over, and she could sit in it. It was only a joke, but she dotted the "I" in her name with a rhinestone, which was stolen within days.

The character of Ginger from TV's "Gilligan's Island" (1964) was loosely based on her persona.

Her first modeling job paid only five dollars.

Frequently used Nivea moisturizer.

During the filming of Niagara (1953), she was still under contract as a stock actor, thus, she received less salary than her make-up man. This was also the only film in which her character died. The film was reworked to highlight her after Anne Bancroft withdrew.

Often carried around the book, "The Biography of Abraham Lincoln."

Was an outstanding player on the Hollygrove Orphanage softball team.

Because the bathing suit she wore in the movie Love Nest (1951) was so risque (for the time period) and caused such a commotion on the set, director Joseph M. Newman had to make it a closed set when she was filming.

It was in her contract that she did not have to work when she was having her menstrual cycle.

Fearing blemishes, she washed her face fifteen times a day.

She was suggested as a possible wife for Prince Rainier of Monaco. He later married actress Grace Kelly.

Thought the right side of her face was her "best" side.

The first time she signed an autograph as Marilyn Monroe, she had to ask how to spell it. She didn't know where to put the "i" in "Marilyn".

Born at 9:30 am

Suffered from endometriosis, a condition in which tissues of the uterus lining (endometrium) leave the uterus, attach themselves to other areas of the body, and grow, causing pain, irregular bleeding, and, in severe cases, infertility.

Divorced first husband, James Dougherty, in Las Vegas, Nevada.

Divorced last husband, Arthur Miller, in Juarez, Mexico.

Wore glasses.

Obtained order from the City Court of the State of New York to legally change her name from Norma Jeane Mortenson to Marilyn Monroe. [23 February 1956]

Married Arthur Miller twice: the 1st time in a civil ceremony, then in a Jewish (to which she had converted) ceremony 2 days later.

Won an interlocutory decree from Joe DiMaggio on 27 October 1954, but, under California law, the divorce was not finalized until exactly 1 year later.

Offered to convert to Catholism in order to marry Joe DiMaggio in a Church ceremony, but she was turned down because she was divorced. Subsequently, when the divorced DiMaggio married Marilyn in a civil ceremony at San Francisco City Hall, he was automatically excommunicated by the Church; this edict was struck down by Pope John XXIII's Ecumenical Council (Vatican II) in 1962.

Even the origin of her name has been subject to debate. Although it's believed that her movie-crazy mother, Gladys, named her after Norma Talmadge, Gladys reportedly told her daughter, Bernice (Marilyn's half-sister), that she named Marilyn after Norma Jeane Cohen, a woman Gladys knew while she lived in Kentucky with Bernice's father.

Pictured on a 32¢ US commemorative postage stamp in the Legends of Hollywood series, issued 1 June 1995.

Went to Van Nuys High School (Los Angeles) in the early 1940s but never graduated.

Elton John (British Pop/Rock Star) recorded a tribute to her entitled "Candle in the Wind". In 1997 this was re-recorded with updated lyrics in memory of Princess Diana, an equally troubled person who also met an untimely death.

Her behavior on the unfinished Something's Got to Give (1962) dimmed her reputation in the industry, but she was still big box office at the time of her death, slated to appear in (among other projects) the splashy musical What a Way to Go! (1964) and the stark drama The Stripper (1963).

When told she was not the star in Gentlemen Prefer Blondes (1953) Marilyn was quoted "Well whatever I am, I'm still the blonde."

The famous nude photo of her by Tom Kelley originally appeared as anonymous on a calendar entitled "Miss Golden Dreams." In 1952, a blackmailer threatened to identify the model as Marilyn, but she shrewdly thwarted the scheme by announcing the fact herself. Hugh M. Hefner then bought the rights to use the photo for $500. She became "The Sweetheart of the Month" in the first issue of Hefner's magazine, Playboy. Neither Kelley or Monroe ever saw a dime of the millions the calendar made for its publisher.