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...

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...

When ‘Miss Mizzou’ Met Marilyn

First posted here on October 22, 2014 In a new book, Miss Mizzou: A Life Beyond Comics, J.B. Winter explores how, back in 1952, a rising star called Marilyn Monroe was rumoured to have inspired cartoonist Milton Caniff to create Miss Mizzou, a trench-coated blonde bombshell, featured in his popular Steve Canyon adventure series about an Air Force...

Stolen Marilyn Mural Returns to Floyd’s Diner

First posted here on August 23, 2014 Public art featuring Marilyn always seems to cause a stir. Just two weeks ago, a mural by Paul Archer, depicting Marilyn between the sheets (after her 1952 'How I Stay in Shape' layout for Pageant magazine, shot by Andre de Dienes), was stolen from the wall outside Floyd’s...

52 Years Later: Marilyn’s Memorial in Los Angeles

First posted here on August 6, 2014 Fans gathered in Los Angeles yesterday to mark the 52nd anniversary of her death, NBC reports. This year’s memorial service – hosted by Marilyn Remembered and featuring guest speakers such Kathleen Hughes (actress and widow of producer Stanley Rubin); singer and impersonator Jimmy James; dancer and choreographer George Chakiris; and...

‘Don’t Go, Monroe’: Tale of a Chinese Statue

First posted here on July 18, 2014 You may have thought Seward Johnson’s ‘Forever Marilyn’ statue was the largest of its kind, but a Chinese real estate company went one better with a very similar, but even bigger likeness, unveiled at a shopping mall in Guigang in December 2013. Like its predecessor, the sculpture attracted...

Ernesto Cardenal: the Poet Who Prayed for Marilyn

First posted here on March 2, 2020 Ernesto Cardenal, the Nicaraguan poet, priest and revolutionary whose works included Prayer for Marilyn Monroe, has died aged 95, the New York Times reports. “I was studying for the priesthood in a seminary in Colombia,” he explained, “and, during a theology class, we got the news of Marilyn Monroe’s death. That’s when...

‘Forever Marilyn’ Leaves Palm Springs

First posted here on March 31, 2014 Seward Johnson’s giant Forever Marilyn sculpture has left Palm Springs for the East Coast. Carol Channing, star of the original Broadway production of Gentlemen Prefer Blondes, made an appearance at a farewell party on Friday, which was attended by 2,000 people – with city officials promising to get her...

‘Either Way’: From Marilyn to Ella

First posted here on October 29, 2013 Either Way: From Marilyn to Ella is a new album from French jazz singer Anne Ducros. Inspired by Ella Fitzgerald’s story about how Marilyn lobbied for her to perform at the Mocambo nightclub in Los Angeles in 1954, the album is a tribute to both women. Either Way features covers of...