BIOGRAPHY 4

Formed her own production company, Marilyn Monroe Productions, with Milton H. Greene (31 December 1955).

Appears on sleeve of The Beatles' "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band" album.

Batman writer/artist Bob Kane used Marilyn's likeness as a reference when he drew Vicki Vale.

She is mentioned in the song "Lady Nina" by rock band Marillion.

Her USO Entertainer Identification Card listed her name as "Norma Jean DiMaggio".

She was "discovered" by press photographers during a WWII photo shoot at the Radioplane plant in California (a manufacturer of military drone targets), owned by actor Reginald Denny. She was one of the plant's employees, and her attractive looks and natural charm made her a "magnet" for the photographers.

Was referenced in the dialogue of Dolce vita, La (1960), in the context of dieting.

Measurements: 37C-24-35 (definitive measurements for the majority of her career) / (Source: Celebrity Sleuth magazine)

The Emily Ann Faulkner/Rita Shawn character (played by Kim Stanley) in the John Cromwell film The Goddess (1958) was based on her.

The first Playboy magazine cover, featuring her, is pictured on one of six stamps issued in a souvenir sheet, issued by Grenada & the Grenadines on 1 December 2003 to celebrate Playboy's 50th anniversary.

She had an American mother of Scottish heritage and a Norwegian father.

Her father, Martin Edward Mortensen, emigrated from Haugesund, Norway. Today the town has a statue of Marilyn sitting on the docks with her back to the ocean, created by legendary Norwegian artist Nils Aas (1933-2004).

When she wasn't working she preferred wearing nothing but a bathrobe.

Def Leppard's 1983 #1 hit single "Photograph" from their Pyromania album was written about her.

"Candle In The Wind", the Elton John song written about her, was lyrically changed to fit Princess Diana upon her death. Coincidentally, both legends died at age 36.

She was voted the 4th Greatest Movie Star of all time by Entertainment Weekly.

The punk band 'The Misfits' got their name from her last movie, The Misfits (1961).

The punk band 'The Misfits' recorded a song called "Who Killed Marilyn?" inspired by lead singer Glenn Danzig's belief that she had been murdered.

Featured on a 1.11 euro postage stamp issued by French Post Office on 8 November 2003

The very popular version of "Santa Baby" (also found in the film, Party Monster (2003)) thought to be sung by her was instead recorded by Cynthia Basinet for Jack Nicholson as a Christmas gift.

On May 19, 1962 she performed for president John F. Kennedy at his 45th birthday tribute in his honor at Madison Square Garden. She sang "Happy Birthday".

Discovering her dress was torn at the 1950 Academy Awards, she burst into tears

Premiere Magazine ranked her #2 (behind Cary Grant) in their countdown of the Greatest Movie Stars of All Time.

Was named #6 Actress on The American Film Institute's 50 Greatest Screen Legends

Is portrayed by Mira Sorvino and Ashley Judd in Norma Jean & Marilyn (1996) (TV)

Portrayed by: Barbara Niven in The Rat Pack (1998) (TV); Holly Beavon in James Dean (2001) (TV); Constance Forslund in This Year's Blonde (1980) (TV); Susan Griffiths in Marilyn and Me (1991) (TV); Catherine Hicks in Marilyn: The Untold Story (1980) (TV); Sophie Monk in _Mystery of Natalie Wood, The (2004) (TV)_; Poppy Montgomery in Blonde (2001) (TV); Kerri Randles in Introducing Dorothy Dandridge (1999) (TV); Heather Thomas in Hoover vs. the Kennedys: The Second Civil War (1987) (TV); Melody Anderson in Marilyn & Bobby: Her Final Affair (1993) (TV); Eve Gordon (I)' in "A Woman Named Jackie" (1991) (mini); Samantha Morton in _Mister Lonely (2006)_; Mary Gross on "Saturday Night Live" (1975).

Is one of the many movie stars mentioned in Madonna's song "Vogue"

The dress Marilyn wore to serenade John F. Kennedy at his birthday celebration was so tight she had to be sewn into it.

James Dougherty, her fist husband, died of complications of leukemia in San Rafael, California, at age 84, on 15th August 2005.

In 1999, a make-up kit that she had owned sold for $266,500.

Died at 12305 Fifth Helena Drive in Brentwood, California.

One of the first Los Angeles natives to become a major movie star.

Aside from her birth name of Norma Jean Mortensen, she was baptized and mainly known throughout her life as Norma Jeane Baker. During her modeling days she was also known as Norma Jeane Dougherty (her first marriage name), and also as Jean Norman. When she signed with 20th Century-Fox, studio liaison Ben Lyon had first chosen the name Carol Lind as her stage name, although she disliked that. Eventually she chose her mother's maiden name of Monroe. Three names were drawn up as possible stage names. The first was Norma Jeane Monroe, although that sounded awkward; the second was Jean Monroe, and the third was Marilyn Monroe, the latter first name being chosen by Lyons who thought Norma Jeane resembled famed stage actress Marilyn Miller. Norma Jeane liked Jean Monroe, for it preserved some of her name, but Lyon convinced her that Marilyn Monroe sounded more alliterative and so it was chosen.

She took acting lessons from Michael Chekhov

Genius Sergei Parajanov made collages of Monroe, Charles Chaplin, Mona Lisa, and other famous personages and many were featured in Mikhail Vartanov's Parajanov: The Last Spring (1992).

A 1982 review into the original inquest of Marilyn's death, conducted on her 20- year anniversary, concluded that the actress committed suicide or accidentally overdosed, and was not murdered--rumors that were fueled by the sloppy handling of evidence, the delay in securing the scene and the disappearance of tissue samples.

The ADR stage at Twentieth Century Fox is named after her.