Star and cinema icon, Marilyn Monroe would have been one hundred years old on June 1st. More than sixty years after his death, Hollywood continues to keep the myth alive through an exhibition, screenings and an auction.
A hundred roses and a cake: admirers of Marilyn Monroe will gather on Monday at the Chinese Theater, symbol of old Hollywood, to pay tribute to the actress – born Norma Jeane Baker on June 1, 1926 in Los Angeles.
It is in this cinema that the one who was for a long time confined to the roles of blonde ingénue, before establishing herself as a feminist icon over time, left the imprint of her hands and feet in 1953, alongside Jane Russell, her partner in “Gentlemen Prefer Blondes”.
The celebrations of its centenary are accompanied by the opening of an exhibition entitled “Marilyn Monroe: Hollywood Icon”, at the cinema museum in Los Angeles. Inaugurated on Sunday, this exhibition retraces her life and career through film screenings and rare objects, including the famous satin pink dress worn in “Gentlemen Prefer Blondes”.
An auction, “100 Years of Marilyn,” is also selling previously unpublished photographs, an annotated script from the unfinished film “Something’s Got to Give,” as well as the actress’s personal effects, including makeup.
His sudden disappearance at age 36, on the night of August 4 to 5, 1962, has been the subject of speculation for decades. Did she commit suicide? Did she die from a drug overdose? Or, as some claim, was it an assassination linked to his intimate relations with the Kennedy brothers?
Although her career only lasted 17 years, Marilyn Monroe continues to inspire the movie city and beyond. Books, films and cultural references are constantly devoted to him. In 2023, she was still in 12th place in the Forbes ranking of the highest-earning deceased celebrities ($10 million), behind Michael Jackson but ahead of Albert Einstein.
