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Marilyn Monroe, left, and three Hollywood wannabes, from top right: Michelle Williams, Anna Nicole Smith and Paris Hilton.
One of Marilyn Monroe's most iconic moments in a career that seemed filled with them was when she sang a breathy "Happy birthday, Mister President" in 1962. But who sang to her?
Today would have been the blonde bombshell's own 85th birthday.
Live Poll
How do you best remember Marilyn Monroe?
It's a little shocking to see her in the famous video introduced as "the late Marilyn Monroe" today, knowing she would die just three months later. (At the time, the crowd laughed at the dig at her timeliness, never knowing her time on earth was so limited.)
Of all the movie star icons, and there have been many, including the recently departed Liz Taylor, Monroe may top the list.
Was it her fragile beauty? Her short and tragic life? The scandal that surrounded her?
Hollywood has never been able to replace her, but plenty of starlets have paid her homage. Singer Mariah Carey just named one of her twins Monroe after the actress; Megan Fox bears a tattoo of Monroe's face on her arm; and everyone from Madonna to Anna Nicole Smith to Paris Hilton has tried to look like her, even if just for an hour.
Who knows what she would be like at 85? Would she have settled into a beloved grandmother role like Betty White? Seems unlikely. Would she be struggling with health issues like Zsa Zsa Gabor? Stepped into activism and many marriages, like Liz Taylor? We'll never get the chance to find out.
What's your most enduring memory of Marilyn Monroe? Vote in our poll, and share your comments below.
Marilyn Monroe sings "Happy Birthday" to JFK
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Celebrating birthdays of dead people is about as valuable as this opinion.
Better inform your family you do not wish to be remembered after YOU die then.
Being remembered and celebrating a dead person's ficticious birthday are not the same. Duh.
Need to use the age progression software to see what she might look like at age 85.
hmm, but shes not 85, because to be 85 you would have to still be living.
I remember her as Sugar Cane in "Some Like It Hot." She was great. I don't know if it was her best movie, but it's the one I remember and like best.
She was an American icon that helped expand the boundaries of our acceptance of new and different behavior.
The first time I ever heard of Marilyn was when I was a child in the 70's living in Puerto Rico and a Dominican TV star named Charityn Goico would imitate Marilyn on her Puertorrican TV variety show. She would use the name Mosquita Muerta (little dead fly - which in latin culture really means bimbo). My older sister explained to me what was happening.
One of my favorite movies is "Some Like it Hot!". It's a classic! She was wonderful with her co-stars Tony Curtis and Jack Lemmon.
She was one time girl friend of the owner of the Playboy Magazine. The owner, whose age is 85 years old, is still alive and well. But she died young, short, sudden, and tragic.
A beautiful blonde that has been used in this way, which was pleased men, on earth is pitiful.
Female should have explored not just the beauty but also the wisdom.
I recall that she finally received acclaim for her acting in a B movie called Bus Stop. There had been rumors for months before the shooting, that she had been taking acting lessons......it really showed, too. Even her co-stars saw the huge difference.
Candle in the Wind - Elton John
There was a sweetness about her in everything she did that was genuine and very sad. She was a brilliant actress never taken seriously, even took acting classes after she became a star in order to get better roles.