Happy Birthday, Marilyn Monroe: Iconic Star Would Have Been 86
Time marches on, but Marilyn Monroe will always be 36.
That sadly low number, the age at which Monroe died of a drug overdose under still-debated-to-this-day circumstances, means that she remains beautiful and devastatingly sexy in our memoriesand future generations will know her no differently.
But today was the Hollywood legend's birthday and though her career was brief, it was also prolific. The enigmatic star, underrated as an actress in her day, stole every scene she was in, from her bit part as an ingenue in All About Eve to her Oscar-worthy role as a singer with a weakness for tenor-sax players in Some Like It Hot.
And the same went for real life. Monroe made headlines whether she was singing "Happy Birthday" to the president, getting married (most notably to Joe DiMaggio and, later, Arthur Miller) or showing up late to the set. Is it any wonder starlets like Lindsay Lohan feel a connection to the late icon?
Monroe's medium may have been movies, but her life was theater.