DID YOU KNOW?: For more than 50 years after her death, a person who overcame childhood abuse and poverty, Marilyn Monroe’s aura refuses to diminish. Being the best style icon ever, Marilyn was surely not a dumb blonde. She will be immortalized by her tragic legacy. Her emotions ran deeper than any ocean this Earth could contain. MARILYN'S AUTOBIOGRAPHY EXCERPT: “Sometimes I’ve been to a party where no one spoke to me for a whole evening. The men, frightened by their wives or sweeties, would give me a wide berth. And the ladies would gang up in a corner to discuss my dangerous character.” During her childhood, Marilyn was brought up in an orphanage because her mother Gladys supposedly had mental issues and was institutionalized. Marilyn’s career began after she was discovered by Photographer David Conover at the Radioplane Munitions Factory. Then known as Norma Jeane Dougherty, she was photographed at this plant. This gave way for her success, and soon she became one of Blue Book Modeling Agency’s top models. Allegedly, Monroe had the heaviest peach fuzz beard amongst all the actresses of those times. Nevertheless, she refused to take off the fuzz and believed that it made her photographs look more natural, giving her a radiance. It was for Tom Kelley that Marilyn posed nude in 1949. She was paid $50 for this photo shoot. Later, after many years, Hugh Hefner bought these negatives from Tom for $500, and thereby published it in the inaugural issue of the Playboy Magazine. In her childhood, on being extremely nervous or excited, Monroe had the tendency to stutter. Unfortunately, this habit returned during the shoot of her last (unfinished) film ‘Something’s Got to Give.’ Apparently, Marilyn was believed to be a great cook. It was said that she was extremely good at preparing a Mediterranean soup called bouillabaisse. It was Johnny Hyde who persuaded her to go for nose and chin surgery in order to carve them perfectly. Having owned Marilyn Monroe Productions, she was the second woman in those days to own a production firm (Mary Pickford was the first). ‘The Prince and the Showgirl’ (1957) was the only movie released by this production house. After marrying Arthur Miller, Monroe converted to Judaism. Some of her favorite colors were red, black, white, and beige. Her favorite perfume was ‘Chanel No. 5.’ Monroe was never nominated for Academy Awards in spite of her great acting skills. A green Pucci sheath dress, which was her favorite, was the one she was buried in. A fashion editor for ‘The Times of London’ claimed that Monroe was not more than a size 10, but according to many reports, Monroe was a size 16. Marilyn Monroe used to apply olive oil or lanolin oil when she didn’t have her makeup on. She was also fond of applying cold cream, Vaseline, and hormone cream. She owned a dozen cars, among which were the Model-I Ford-Hawthorne (circa 1926-32), and a 1950 Pontiac convertible. Apparently, Monroe had cosmetic surgery to fix her front tooth, which was believed to be protruding. Before declaring her screen name as ‘Marilyn Monroe’ she nearly agreed to opt for the name ‘Jean Adair.' Although she was typecast as dumb and blonde, she had an IQ of 168, deeming her as extremely intelligent! Marilyn was paid less as compared to her co-stars like Jane Russell and Dean Martin. Having fired Monroe for her habit of being extremely late, Twentieth Century Fox hired her again, four days before her death, for $1 million. For her Waldorf-Astoria apartment, she purchased a bust of the Ancient Egyptian queen Nefertiti. Her favorite artists were Francisco de Goya, El Greco, and Picasso. For the movie ‘The Prince and the Showgirl,’ multiple costumes in different sizes had to be created by the designer due to Marilyn’s fluctuating weight issues. Marilyn’s huge white piano was bought in an auction by Mariah Carey for $662,500. According to Jim Dougherty, Monroe had a habit of rinsing her face for more than 10 times after every wash. According to Norman Miller (in his book ‘Marilyn’), Marilyn Monroe had 12 abortions until the time she was 29. It was believed that before her death, she had plans of remarrying Joe DiMaggio. An advertising association in 1953 named her ”The Most Advertised Girl in the World.” Her favorite place to shop was Bloomingdale’s. It was said that she used to go naked to her female employees (makeup artists or other helping hands). She used to give her interviews in a black mink coat (gifted by Joe DiMaggio), and she preferred to wear nothing underneath. Among her few favorites were Charlie Chaplin, Jean Harlow, Ginger Rogers, and Joan Crawford. The flesh-colored, silk gauze, skin-fitting dress she sported on President John F. Kennedy's birthday had approximately 2,500 rhinestones clad over it. The dress was so skin-tight that she literally had to be sewn into it! This dress was auctioned in 1999 for a whopping $1,267,500. There never was and never will be another iconic beauty and temptress like Marilyn Monroe, who has cemented a place for herself in time. *** ENTERTAINISM.COM