Marilyn’s Directors: Howard Hawks

First posted here on December 9th, 2011 In this extract from the filmmaker and critic Peter Bogdanovich’s anthology, Who the Hell’s In It? (2004), he recalls an interview with classic Hollywood maestro Howard Hawks, who directed Marilyn in Monkey Business (1952) and Gentlemen Prefer Blondes (1953.)   “Monroe was frightened to come on the stage...

Scarlett Johansson Shrugs Off Marilyn Comparisons

First posted here on January 10th, 2012 Actress Scarlett Johansson is often compared to Marilyn as a sex symbol and comedienne, and she has channelled the Monroe look in many photo shoots. However, as she told USA Today recently, she has no plans to play MM onscreen: "Two years ago, Johansson made her Tony-winning Broadway debut a...

Mike Nichols on Marilyn, Arthur Miller and Richard Avedon

First posted here on February 4th, 2018 The film and theatre director Mike Nichols, who died in 2014, is one of many whose memories are shared in Avedon: Something Personal, a new oral biography of the American photographer. Nichols studied with Lee Strasberg at the Actors’ Studio in 1953, before developing a comedy act with Elaine...

Behind Margot Robbie’s Marilyn Homage in ‘Birds of Prey’

Having recently starred as Sharon Tate in Quentin Tarantino’s Once Upon a Time … In Hollywood, Margot Robbie is no stranger to playing iconic blondes. Now, as she reprises her Harley Quinn role in Birds of Prey (2020), she has recreated Marilyn’s 'Diamonds Are a Girl’s Best Friend' number from Gentlemen Prefer Blondes, albeit with...

‘Oh, My Stars!’: Multiple Marilyns Open the Oscars

First posted here on February 25, 2015 For a brief, Warholesque moment, a multitude of dancing Marilyns graced the open ceremony of the 2015 Academy Awards. In 'Moving Pictures,' presenter Neil Patrick Harris’s musical tribute to Hollywood (penned by the team behind hit Disney musical Frozen), Marilyn was mentioned in the same breath as Charlie Chaplin, another...

Fantasy Love Triangle: Marilyn, Ronald Reagan and Darwin Porter

First posted here on February 11, 2015 Darwin Porter – author of Marilyn at Rainbow’s End (2012) – has published a new book, Love Triangle: Ronald Reagan, Jane Wyman And Nancy Davis, in which he claims Marilyn had an affair with Reagan. Born in 1937, Darwin Porter began his career as an entertainment writer at the Miami Herald in 1958. He...

Hollywood Dentist Remembers Marilyn’s ‘Beautiful Teeth’

First posted here on February 10, 2015 Dr LeRoy Nisson – a 94 year-old retired dentist, now living in St. George, Utah – has shared his memories of treating Hollywood’s greatest stars (including Marilyn) in an interview with The Spectrum. “Through the decades much has been made of Marilyn Monroe’s beauty. Dr. LeRoy Nisson, however, was...

American Dreamgirls: Marilyn and Lana Del Rey

Singer Lana Del Rey has referenced Marilyn numerous times in her career, beginning with this February 2012 cover shoot for Lovecat magazine, in which photographer Ellen Von Unwerth  paid homage to Marilyn’s 1962 Vogue layout, shot by Bert Stern. (First posted here on February 11, 2012.) Marilyn Inspires Lana Del Rey First posted here on...

Remembering James Karen and Marilyn

First posted here on October 25, 2018 Actor James Karen, whose career in film, television and theatre spanned eight decades, has died aged 94. As his friend, film critic Leonard Maltin, confirmed on his blog today, he was photographed with Marilyn at the Actors Studio in 1955. (James was also a friend of Marilyn’s Misfits co-star, Kevin McCarthy.) Born...

Beyond the Blonde: Debbie Harry and Marilyn

First posted here on October 19, 2019 In my previous post (see here), I revealed how Blondie singer Debbie Harry was influenced by Marilyn, as described in her new memoir, Face It. Now I’m looking at some other parallels in their careers. In 1975, Debbie posed on the New York subway for her bandmate and boyfriend Chris...