BIOGRAPHY 5

In 1972, actress Veronica Hamel and her husband became the new owners of Marilyn's Brentwood home. They hired a contractor to replace the roof and remodel the house, and the contractor discovered a sophisticated eavesdropping and telephone tapping system that covered every room in the house. The components were not commercially available in 1962, but were in the words of a retired Justice Department official, "standard FBI issue." This discovery lent further support to claims of conspiracy theorists that Marilyn had been under surveillance by the Kennedys and the Mafia. The new owners spent $100,000 to remove the bugging devices from the house.

Was good friends with Dorothy Dandridge and Ava Gardner when they were all young, struggling actresses in Hollywood.

When budding actresses Shelley Winters and Marilyn were roommates in the late 1940s in Hollywood, Shelley said that one day she had to step out and asked Marilyn to "wash the lettuce" for a salad they were to share for dinner. When she got back to the apartment, Marilyn (aparently new to the art of cooking) had the leaves of lettuce in a small tub of soapy water and was scrubbing them clean.

Her real father was Charles Stanley Gifford. From his side, she was, ironically, descended from the celebrated Puritan preacher and pioneer and founder of Rhode Island and pioneer of The Bronx Anne Marbury-Hutchinson, from whom she is still related to First Lady Lucretia Rudolph and to Presidents Grover Cleveland, William Howard Taft, Franklin Delano Roosevelt, Richard Nixon, Jimmy Carter, George Bush and George W. Bush, as well as to Governor Robert Alphonso "Bob" Taft II, Senators Daniel Webster, Daniel Robert Graham and Stephen Arnold Douglas, to Shanghai Pearce and to Lizzie Andrew Borden.

In How to Marry a Millionaire (1953), her character Pola is reading a book called "Murder By Strangulation" on the plane. Coincidentally, this is how her character was murdered in Niagara (1953).

Friend of James Haspiel.

Don't Bother to Knock (1952) (her 18th film) was an attempt to prove to critics that she could act.

In Italy, her films were dubbed at the beginning of her career by Miranda Bonansea. As she matured she was dubbed by the marvellous and prolific Rosetta Calavetta with immense success, particularly in _Some Like It Hot (1959)_ . Zoe Incrocci lent her voice to Monroe once: in _All About Eve (1950)_ .

Her lifelong bouts with depression and self-destruction took their toll during filming The Seven Year Itch (1955). She frequently muffed scenes and forgot her lines, leading to sometimes as many as 40 takes of a scene before a satisfactory result was produced. Her constant tardiness and behavioral problems made the budget of the film swell to $1.8 million, a high price for the time. The film still managed to make a nice profit. The classic shot of her dress blowing up around her legs as she stands over a subway grating in this film was originally shot on Manhattan's Lexington Avenue at 52nd St. on 15th September 1954 at 1:00 a.m. Five thousand onlookers whistled and cheered through take after take as Marilyn repeatedly missed her lines. This occurred in presence of an increasingly embarrassed and angry Joe DiMaggio (her husband at the time; the nine-month-old marriage officially ended during the shooting of this film). The original footage shot on that night in New York never made it to the screen; the noise of the crowd had made it unusable. Director Billy Wilder reshot the scene on the 20th Century-Fox lot, on a set replicating Lexington Avenue, and got a more satisfactory result. However, it took another 40 takes for Marilyn to achieve the famous scene. Amazingly, her very narrow spike heels don't get stuck or break in the subway grating, although this was a universal problem at the time for the countless women wearing that very popular style heel in New York City in that era. An important promotional campaign was released for this mainstream motion picture, including a 52-foot-high cutout of Marilyn (from the blowing dress scene) erected in front of Loews State Theater, in New York City's Times Square. The movie premiere was on 1st June 1955, which was also her 29th birthday.

Is portrayed by 'Misty Rowe' in Goodbye, Norma Jean (1976).

Was originally set to play Holly Golightly in Breakfast at Tiffany's (1961), but Audrey Hepburn played the role instead.

What a Way to Go! (1964) initially intended as a vehicle for her, Shirley MacLaine played Louisa May Foster instead. Producer Arthur P. Jacobs was her publicist and J. Lee Thompson was on her list of approved directors.

She resided at the Hollywood Rossevelt while she was breaking into the acting business.

Her "Happy Birthday Mr. President" dress sold for $1,267,500.00, a world record for the most expensive piece of clothing ever sold, and is in the Guinness Book of World Records.

She left Hollywood to pursue serious acting by studying under Lee Strasberg at his Actors' Studio in New York City.

Her classic shape, according to her dressmaker, is actually measured at 37-23-36.

In 1946, she signed her first studio contract with 20th Century Fox and dyed her hair.

Spent most of her childhood in foster homes and orphanages because her mother was committed to a mental institution. At 16, when a family friend could no longer take care of her, she got married to avoid returning to the orphanage.

In 1949, she posed nude for Playboy Magazine for $50.

Producer Keya Morgan owns her bible.