SMASH COMING TO NBC FALL 2011

NBC will be premiering the new show SMASH begining this fall. The show is about a group of people who put together a Broadway musical about Marilyn Monroe, based on an offhand remark.

It's an interesting plot for a show and I look forward to checking it out.

MARIAH CAREY NAMES HER BABY GIRL AFTER MARILYN

Mariah Carey gave birth to twin babies last weekend (a boy and a girl).

She named her baby boy Morrocan Scott Cannon (?) and her baby girl Monroe Cannon.

Mariah has been a long-time Marilyn Monroe fan, so it's no question that her baby girl was named after the screen legend.

Can't wait to see photos!

MEGAN FOX'S MARILYN TATTOO BEING REMOVED?

Megan Fox's Marilyn Monroe tattoo (a portrait of the late actress on Fox's inner right forearm), seems to be disappearing before our eyes.

Recent photos show Fox's tattoo is clearly fading, indicating at least one tattoo removal treatment. Not many people have ever had anything good to say about the tattoo and I'm sure makeup artists will be happy to not have to spend time covering it up on movie sets.

Comparison shots of Megan's tattoos

Fox has been quoted saying, "I really admire Marilyn Monroe, but I would never try to emulate her. I got the tattoo as a warning. It warns me not to let myself be treated so badly by the film industry so that it breaks me down."

Guess she no longer needs the reminder.

THE MOST EXPENSIVE MARILYN MONROE-RELATED ITEMS

From the pink dress famously worn in Gentlemen Prefer Blondes to Andy Warhol's icon silk screens, click here to check out some of the most expensive Marilyn-related items.

ARTIST SPENDS 8.5 YEARS CREATING A MARILYN MONROE PORTRAIT

An artist spent 8.5 years creating a Marilyn Monroe graphite portrait and made a documentary-style film about it.

Click here to read more.

MARILYN MONROE: METAMORPHOSIS

There's a new Marilyn Monroe book coming out but before you get too excited, it won't be available until October 25, 2011. However, it sounds like it's going to be an amazing photo book!

Taken from the Harper Collins website, "The most lavish and comprehensive collection of Marilyn Monroe photographs ever assembled-more than half of them previously unseen."

• Marilyn Monroe: Metamorphosis features images by world-class photographers including Richard Avedon, Milton Greene, Sam Shaw, Cecil Beaton, Philippe Halsman, Andre de Dienes, George Barris, Alfred Eisenstaedt, Philippe Halsman, Willy Rizzo, Richard C. Miller, Tom Kelley, and others. 

• More than 60% of the photographs in the book have never before been published.

• Wills’ outstanding collection of rare photographs includes scores of stunningly crisp, full-color images from Monroe’s early years as a catalog model. These breathtaking shots capture the fresh-faced, innocent brunette Norma Jean Baker in her late teens and early twenties—and offer a startling contrast to the iconic image of Marilyn Monroe as a blond bombshell Hollywood starlet.

• Wills has access to the highest-quality images of Marilyn available anywhere in the world—from candids to film stills to modeling head shots, the images in Marilyn Metamorphosis wills stun casual fans and collectors alike. The interior design—by Stephen Schmidt, the designer of our amazing Photo by Sammy Davis Jr.—is elegant and rich, with rich color, spot varnish, and an elegant metallic gold color offsetting Marilyn’s image like the setting for a gem.

• Marilyn Monroe is unparalleled as an iconic photographic subject. Her influence on fashion and popular culture is enduring—young actresses and models continue to pose in homage to her famous “last sitting,” and the image of her iconic white dress billowing over a subway grate has become a cultural touchstone. Marilyn’s visual legacy is seen everywhere. She is beloved by fans internationally.

• Norma Jean Baker’s transformation into one of the most emulated and iconic Hollywood starlets is an epic American story—one that careens from a troubled childhood through bright spotlights and dark depression. Marilyn Metamorphosis offers a straightforward, cleanly designed photograph journey through Monroe’s meteoric rise and tragic undoing. From “The Rehearsal” years of a brunette Norma Jean posing in factories and on beaches, to the final chapter, “Icaras,” which contains images taken only weeks before her death, Marilyn Metamorphosis presents a visual historical record like never before seen.

There have been many Marilyn photo books-but nothing like this.

Australian-born curator and preservationist David Wills has accrued one of the world's largest independent archives of original Marilyn Monroe photographs. Now, in Marilyn Metamorphosis, he has gathered the work of every major Marilyn photographer-and dozens of unknowns-to create the most dazzling portfolio of images from every period in Marilyn Monroe's life, from her earliest sittings in 1942 till just weeks before her death two decades later. With more than three hundred full-bleed photos-including countless dazzling, unseen color photos from the very start of her career-Marilyn Metamorphosis chronicles her meteoric rise from a humble catalog model to one of the most recognized faces in history. No other book even comes close.



I can't wait to get my hands on a copy :)

MARILYN TO BE ON THE KENNEDYS

There has been controversy over the TV mini series, The Kennedys, but what I was most interested in was whether or not "Marilyn Monroe" would be making an appearance.

Today I found out that Charlotte Sullivan of Toronto, Canada, will be playing Marilyn in The Kennedys. Now I'm nervous to see how Marilyn will be portrayed.

If you're interested in checking out The Kennedys, it begins on April 10th on History Television

MARILYN MONROE INVESTIGATOR PASSED AWAY

John Miner

John Miner was a former Los Angeles prosecutor who investigated Marilyn Monroe's death in 1962. He believed Marilyn was murdered and never gave up on this idea. He passed away on February 25, 2011 at the age of 92.

He was granted permission to listen to the tapes that Marilyn had made for her psychiatrist at the time, Dr. Ralph Greenson, for the 1962 investigation into Marilyn's death. However, he was only granted access if he promised to keep the content of the tapes a secret.

In 2005, Miner revealed what he had heard on the tapes, as he had taken extensive notes when he had first listened to them. He said that the tapes proved that Marilyn was not suicidal (her death was ruled a probable suicide) and that she had many projects in mind.

Miner was also involved in the investigations of the 1968 assassination of Robert F. Kennedy and the series of murders committed by the Charles Manson "Family."

JAMES FRANCO AS MARILYN MONROE

Last Sunday night at the Oscars, James Franco appeared as Marilyn Monroe. It was a bit confusing as to why he was dressed as Marilyn, but Anne Hathaway looked great in her tuxedo.

Have you seen James Franco in the James Dean bio pic? If not, you're missing out!

JANE RUSSELL PASSED AWAY

Promo photo of Marilyn and Jane in Gentlemen Prefer Blondes

Source: IMDB.com

Jane Russell passed away from respiratory problems in her Santa Maria, California home on Monday, February 28, 2011.

The silver screen sex symbol became an overnight sensation in 1943 when she starred in The Outlaw, and went on to play Calamity Jane opposite Bob Hope in The Paleface. Her most famous role was perhaps opposite Marilyn Monroe in 1953's Gentlemen Prefer Blondes.

Russell was also the number one pin-up girl of U.S. troops stationed overseas during World War Two, and her curvy figure earned her the role of an early spokesmodel for Playtex bras.
A vocal advocate of adoption, she also founded the Women's Adoption International Fund.

A service will be held to honour Russell at Pacific Christian Church in Santa Maria on 23 March.

-------------------------------

From MarilynMonroeSource:
Such heart-breaking news. I had been thinking of Ms. Russell this past weekend with "Bye Bye Baby" being stuck in my head. She was a Hollywood icon who will be missed by many. I'm sure Marilyn will be happy to see her.

HOMETOWN GIRL BY ERIC MONROE WOODARD

I'd like to purchase this book but can't find it anywhere! If anyone has any info please send it my way :) Thank you!

"MARILYN" PIN-UP BRINGS IN $83,000+ AT HERITAGE AUCTIONS

Earl Moran's "Marilyn"

Source: Dallas Art News

Earl Moran’s glowing image, Marilyn – a gorgeous image of a young Norma Jean before she became Marilyn Monroe – was obviously the apple of many a collector’s eye as heated bidding drove the final price to $83,650 and a record price for a Moran painting, practically doubling his previous record, and selling for more than seven times the $12,000 pre-auction estimate.

“We’ve seen prices and demand continue to climb for Moran’s effervescent images,” said Jaster. “Given the beauty of the subject, his amazing feel for light and the knowledge of who Marilyn would become, then it’s not surprising that this painting soared to more than seven times its pre-auction estimate.”

Click here to read more.

WATCH "GENTLEMEN PREFER BLONDES" IN NEW JERSEY

What: The Essential Marilyn Monroe Film Series: “Gentlemen Prefer Blondes.”
Where: Middletown Township Public Library, 55 New Monmouth Road. (732) 671-3700; mtpl.org (New Jersey)
When: Monday, Feb. 28 at 7pm.
Cost: Free

MARILYN MONROE VOTED 2ND BEST CELEBRITY BODY OF ALL TIME

Marilyn Monroe

According to research conducted by dieting group Slimming World, Marilyn Monroe was voted 2nd in "Best Celebrity Body of All Time", with Kelly Brook coming in 1st (Sophia Loren came in 3rd).

The company's Jenny Caven is quoted saying, "We think it sets a good precedent for women. We shouldn't all struggle to be really skinny. This is a good example for young women to see that real women have real curves."



Audrey Hepburn

What bothers me about her statement is that she is pretty much saying that women who aren't curvy aren't "real women". Audrey Hepburn was naturally slim and didn't have the curves of the figure 8, so was she not a "real" woman?

Many people are still under the conclusion that Marilyn Monroe was a size 16 in today's terms, which is false. She was a size 12-16 in vintage dress terms, which are not the same as today's measurements. All you have to do is really look at her photo's, movies and costumes to see that she was not plus-sized. However, she was curvy/voluptuous with her hourglass body.



Kelly Brook


Kelly Brook has a gorgeous body and I would have voted for her myself. In my opinion, she is voluptuous because of her breasts, but give her a small B cup and she'd be considered slim as her actual body is toned and fit. So, if she didn't have large breasts would she still be considered a "real" woman?

We need to put an end to "slim vs. curves" and having people dictate what a "real" woman is based on her measurements and dress size. It's time to celebrate women of all sizes whether they are slim, curvy or in between. Celebrate individuality and celebrate health.

MARILYNMONROE.COM?

Last week I visited MarilynMonroe.com to see if the website had changed since it was no longer run by CMG. Upon visiting the domain, it automatically re-directed me to the Authentic Brands Group, which is now the owner of Marilyn's image.

After visiting the domain today, it no longer redirects to ABG but to a Google search page. Let's hope they're constructing a new official Marilyn website, one that won't collect dust like the other one did.

UPDATE:
If you Google anything to do with Marilyn Monroe, the website for ABG will show at the top of the search list. What's interesting is that if you just Google "Marilyn Monroe", this doesn't happen.

UPDATE #2:
ABG's website no longer shows up at the top of the Google search list when searching Marilyn Monroe. Strange.

MARILYN MONROE EXHIBITIONS IN EASTERN CANADA

Source: Adam Martin-Robbins, York Region

If you’re a Marilyn Monroe fan you’ll want to set aside some time to visit the McMichael Gallery on the Family Day long weekend.

The kickoff for two new exhibitions — Life as a Legend: Marilyn Monroe and Marilyn in Canada — exploring the legend behind one of Hollywood’s most influential stars takes place Saturday, Feb. 19 with special programs running all weekend long.

“Although it has been fifty years since the death of Marilyn Monroe, worldwide interest in her life and career has sustained,” McMichael chief curator Katerina Atanassova said in a news release. “Our two exhibitions examine how the art world has been motivated by the myth and legend of this iconic actress.”

Life as a Legend, an international touring exhibition making its final stop in Vaughan, features paintings, photographs and prints by renowned artists such as Andy Warhol, Robert Indiana, Eduardo Paolozzi, Richard Avedon and Henri Cartier-Bresson.

Marilyn in Canada provides a glimpse into Ms Monroe’s experiences while filming in Canada as well as her popularity among Canadian artists including Shelley Niro, John Vachon and George S. Zimbel.

During opening weekend, the gallery will feature movie theatre lobby décor, screenings of Ms Monroe’s films plus a special Marilyn prix-fixe menu at the Seven Restaurant.

You can also join McMichael educators for a series of 20-minute tours of Marilyn’s Fragments and Fabulous 1950s, check out documentary films chronicling Ms Monroe’s life and listen to music by DJ Goin’ Steady.

On Sunday, Feb. 20 those who dress up like Ms. Monroe will get in for free and have a chance to strut their stuff on the “red carpet” in the Grand Hall at 1 p.m.

Silkscreen workshops for the whole family will take place Monday, Feb. 21 at 11 a.m. and 2 p.m.

The McMichael Canadian Art Collection is at 10365 Islington Ave. just north of Major Mackenzie Drive.

For more information click here.

MARILYN MONROE MEMORABILIA USED TO HELP SELL HOME

Source: Jennifer Feals, Sea Coast Online

In the formal living room of his historic childhood home, Joel Gravallese held his late friend, Jim Dougherty's, favorite picture of his ex-wife Marilyn Monroe — one that reminded him of the icon's happiness before the fame.

Gravallese has spent the last year renovating the 1876 home built by Augustus Octavius Goodsoe, the "richest man in Kittery," to the tune of more than $100,000. On Wednesday, in working with Wanda Syphers of Carey & Giampa Realtors, Gravallese used his Marilyn Monroe memorabilia, passed down from her former husband, to draw visitors and prospective buyers to the Italian-styled Rogers Road home listed at $424,700.

Some pieces were for sale Wednesday, but others are "personal," Gravallese said, and one day he envisions the items in a museum.

"They were given as a gift," said the Rochester, N.H., resident, who has many items displayed in his Kittery shop Dunn's Watch & Clock Repair. "To me, it's a private collection."

Photos spanning Monroe's career, books and more were displayed Wednesday, but the items are "the tip of the iceberg," said Gravallese, who became a longtime friend of Dougherty's after the longtime Maine resident visited Dunn's. The full collection includes much more that the starlet sent her first husband as her fame grew.

"The only thing he asked me to do is, if it ever came to a point that I didn't want these items, to give them to a museum. He just didn't want it to go into the wrong hands," Gravallese said. "Ninety percent of what you see is irreplaceable. These are great memories for me."

Though Dougherty and Monroe divorced in 1946 after four years of marriage, they remained friends until three years before Monroe's death, according to Gravallese. The beauty queen often sent tokens of her success to Dougherty, he said. Dougherty wrote "To Norma Jeane, With Love, Jimmie" a story of their romance, and was the subject of "Marilyn's Man," a documentary about their love affair.

Monroe was 16-year-old Norma Jeane Baker when she married Dougherty, then 21. When Dougherty left in 1944 to serve in the Merchant Marines, Monroe's career began and the two drifted apart.

There are countless memories, but it's the photo Gravallese held Wednesday, with a smiling Monroe clenching a flower in her teeth and donning a blue and white polka-dot tank top, that was Dougherty's favorite, according to Gravallese.

"This is his favorite because she was happy," Gravallese said, holding the framed portrait. "He liked the flower in her mouth and that she didn't look depressed."

There's one photo Gravallese said Dougherty couldn't bear to look at, taken just three months before her death, because he could see the hurt on her face. In the photo, Monroe is sitting comfortably on a beach wearing a large sweater. But it hasn't been seen by many, because as her eyes are not engaging the viewer, Monroe denied the photographer's proof.

Dougherty would often visit Gravallese's Kittery shop and the two would go out for lunch, over which Dougherty would share stories of Monroe. A favorite for Gravallese is hearing that the starlet was "freaked out" by animals in the woods and that Dougherty taught her to hunt.

"When she learned to use a shotgun, she fell back in manure and looked like she was going to cry," Gravallese said of the story as told to him by Dougherty. "They looked at each other and laughed. That was a year and a half after they were married."

While Dougherty was "glad" for Monroe and her success, he "had a hard time with the manipulation of Hollywood on her spirit," Gravallese said. "There was no malice, no nothing."

It was three years before Monroe's death that the two lost touch, Gravallese said, because Dougherty, who worked as a Los Angeles police officer, could see Monroe "getting in a bad place."

That included drugs and alcohol, which reports say led to Monroe's death in 1962. Gravallese was just 9 years old when Monroe died and 2 years old when his family moved into the Rogers Road home in 1954. He hoped the Monroe items would entice visitors to the home, which has been on the market since June.

"There are a lot of buffs out there that want to see this kind of thing. It gives people a chance to see it," he said. "It's an elegant house and we thought, 'Let's create something.'"

Gravallese obtained the home from his late parents, Dr. Joseph and Georgina Gravallese. When his mother died last April, the house was in disrepair, Gravallese said, and it was a "labor of love" to bring it back to its original form.

Many items in the home — including the entry chandelier with a "G" for Goodsoe — are original to the 1876 home and others have been imported from Italy and France. The renovation was extensive, Gravallese said, with work to the home's widow's walk costing $26,000 alone.

"My father would be very pleased it was resurrected to the way it was," Gravallese said.

"We'd just like to see it go to somebody who will appreciate it. It's elegant and it's priced low. It's not your average home."

PHOTOGRAPHER JOSEPH JASGUR WINS BACK RIGHTS TO MARILYN MONROE PHOTOS

Joseph Jasgur with Marilyn Monroe in 1946



Source: Rene Stutzman, Orlando Sentinel

Before she was Marilyn Monroe, blonde and voluptuous and a heartbreaking flirt, she was a dark-haired 19-year-old girl who had no money.

She walked into Joe Jasgur's photo studio in Los Angeles in 1946 and asked him to shoot publicity photos. She needed them, she said, to break into modeling.

Jasgur, then age 26, took the photos. Two weeks later at Zuma Beach, he would take more. They would transform his life and consume his last years. He died in poverty in an east Orange nursing home in 2009 at age 89, but his lawyers kept up the fight to get back those photos.

This week, an Orlando bankruptcy judge ruled in his favor: The photos, wrote U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Karen Jennemann, belong to Jasgur and a bankruptcy trustee.
They will now be rounded up, inventoried and sold, most likely at auction, said Richard Lee Barrett and Liz Green, Jasgur's attorneys.

Jasgur's estate will get 35 percent of the profit and the bankruptcy trustee 65 percent. Those are the terms of a pretrial settlement.

There are two big losers here. One is Robert L. Fox Sr., a bankrupt Orlando drywall contractor, identified by the judge as a villain and swindler.

Jasgur had signed a deal with him in 2000, giving Fox the right to market the photos for $6,250 plus 30 percent of the profits, but that deal quickly soured and Jasgur began to fight for their return. Each described the other as a cheater.

The other loser is Dartlin Africh, the Orlando businessman to whom Fox sold some of the photos. Africh paid $200,000 cash and $700,000 in debt relief.

The judge ordered Africh to return them.

Roy Kobert, lawyer for Fox and Africh, was not available for comment Friday.



Jasgur with the infamous "six toes" photo

Jasgur's best-known photos show Monroe, then known as Norma Jean Dougherty, in a striped bathing suit at the beach. In one, she appears to have six toes on her left foot, something Hollywood historians have debated for years.

But Jasgur's photo collection also includes hundreds of other celebrity photos, among them Humphrey Bogart and Ronald Reagan. Jasgur was the official photographer at the Hollywood Canteen, a club for World War II soldiers that was also popular with movie stars.

What all those photos are worth, no one knows, according to Barrett and Green. One appraiser valued them at several million dollars.

Longtime friend Tom Endre manages Jasgur's estate.

He was thrilled with the decision but unsure if there would be any money left once all the bills are paid. The legal battle has dragged on for six years, and Jasgur's lawyers have yet to be paid.

"I took this case because I fell in love with an old man who I thought was cheated out of his collection," Barrett said.

The sad part, Barrett said, is that Jasgur is not alive to enjoy it.

Jasgur has one daughter, Cindy Ferrier, 55, of East Windsor, N.J. They were estranged.

"I feel like I'm entitled to something," she said Friday.

Endre said she should expect nothing.

"She has no standing in probate," he said.

MARILYN MONROE TV LISTINGS: FEBRUARY 2011

CANADIAN AND AMERICAN LISTINGS:
(check local listings for channels and times)

Sunday, Feb 06: There's No Business Like Show Business, Gentlemen Prefer Blondes & Let's Make Love - FMC Network

Monday, Feb 07: Love Nest & Let's Make It Legal - FMC Network

Tuesday, Feb 08: A Ticket To Tomahawk - FMC Network

Wednesday, Feb 09: Niagara - FMC Network

Thursday, Feb 10: Some Like It Hot - HBOSGw Network

Saturday, Feb 12: Niagara - FMC Network

Sunday, Feb 13: Gentlemen Prefer Blondes & Let's Make Love - FMC Network

MM + JD?

I recently read a short article claiming Marilyn Monroe and Joe DiMaggio carved their initials into the wooden bar in the Cape Cod Room at the Drake Hotel. They say it's still visible today. Does anyone have any more information on this or pictures? Would love to hear/see more info :)

UPDATE [Feb 15]:
After looking into this, I found some info and a photo.

A quote from the Drake Hotel room book, "Cape Cod Room has barely changed since it opened in 1933. When the original bar was removed and replaced with a modern one, regular patrons complained so much that it was re-installed. If you ask the bartender, he'll show you where Joe De Magio carved "MM" in the counter for his wife, Marilyn Monroe."

Can you believe they spelled Di Maggio wrong? Anyway, according to a bartender working at the hotel, "MM" and "JD" were both carved by Joe.

photo credit: RandomESHG