Tag: IconicBeauty

Marilyn Monroe at Backstage Getting Ready for the Jack Benny TV Show, 1953 – C1

Marilyn Monroe made her official television debut by appearing on the Jack Benny Show, the title of her segment was “The Honolulu Trip.” She was wearing an evening gown by Travilla. During the sketch Benny asks her to marry him, before her exit she sings “Bye Bye Baby.”

She was reluctant and didn’t really want to do it because on live television too many things could go wrong, but the Fox studio executives saw this as a great promotion for her new movie Gentlemen Prefer Blondes which went into general release in August 1953.

Marilyn Monroe

Marilyn Monroe

Marilyn Monroe

Marilyn Monroe

Marilyn Monroe

Marilyn Monroe

Marilyn Monroe

Marilyn Monroe

Marilyn Monroe

Little-known facts about Marilyn Monroe will leave you stunned! See more here: Marilyn Monroe

February 25, 2025
Marilyn Monroe in a Black Silk Cocktail Dress for a Costume Test for “Some Like It Hot”, 1959 – C1

A figure-hugging sheer black and nude embellished cocktail dress worn by Marilyn Monroe while singing “I’m through with Love” atop a grand piano in Billy Wilder’s Some Like It Hot (1959).

Marilyn Monroe

The dress is composed of black souffle and nude silk jersey embellished with columns of jet-like beads and sequins, scattered beaded butterfly appliques, and beaded fringes. The dress has a built-in bra and an illusion of a deep plunging back that was considered extremely daring for its day. Hand finishing work is present to the interior. A Western Costume label inscribed “Marilyn Monroe 1575-1” is attached to the interior of the bra. Legend tells that Monroe had to be lifted to the piano for this scene as the dress was very form fitting.

Some Like It Hot is considered to be one of the greatest film comedies of all time. It was voted as the top comedy film by the American Film Institute on their list on AFI’s 100 Years…100 Laughs poll in 2000. The film won the 1960 Golden Globe awards for Best Motion Picture-Comedy or Musical, Best Actress in Motion Picture-Comedy or Musical for Monroe, and Best Actor in Motion Picture-Comedy or Musical for Jack Lemmon. Orry-Kelly won the 1959 Academy Award for costume design for his work on this film.

Here’s a collection of some of interesting vintage photographs of Marilyn Monroe in this risqué black, beaded cocktail dress for a costume test for Some Like It Hot.

Marilyn Monroe

Marilyn Monroe

Marilyn Monroe

Marilyn Monroe

Marilyn Monroe

Marilyn Monroe

Marilyn Monroe

Marilyn Monroe

Marilyn Monroe

Marilyn Monroe

Marilyn Monroe

Marilyn Monroe

Little-known facts about Marilyn Monroe will leave you stunned! See more here: Marilyn Monroe

February 25, 2025
Photos of Marilyn Monroe During the Filming of ‘Don’t Bother to Knock’ (1952) – C1

Don’t Bother to Knock is a 1952 American psychological film noir thriller starring Richard Widmark and Marilyn Monroe and directed by Roy Ward Baker. The screenplay was written by Daniel Taradash, based on the 1951 novel Mischief by Charlotte Armstrong.

Marilyn Monroe

Monroe is featured as a disturbed babysitter watching a child at the same New York hotel where a pilot, played by Widmark, is staying. Her strange behavior makes him increasingly aware that she is the last person with whom the parents should have entrusted their daughter.

It was Monroe’s 19th and an attempt to prove to critics that she could act in a dramatic role after starting her career in a string of comedies. The working titles of the film were Mischief and Night Without Sleep, the latter of which was the release title of another 1952 Twentieth Century-Fox film. Dorothy McGuire was originally cast as the picture’s star, with Jules Dassin set to direct.

This movie marked the first time Monroe and composer Lionel Newman worked together in the same movie. The title credit music was originally composed by Lionel’s brother Alfred for the film Panic in the Streets (1950).

Take a look at these vintage photos to see portraits of Marilyn Monroe during the filming of Don’t Bother to Knock in 1952.

Marilyn Monroe

Marilyn Monroe

Marilyn Monroe

Marilyn Monroe

Marilyn Monroe

Marilyn Monroe

Marilyn Monroe

Marilyn Monroe

Marilyn Monroe

Marilyn Monroe

Marilyn Monroe

Marilyn Monroe

Marilyn Monroe

Marilyn Monroe

Marilyn Monroe

Marilyn Monroe

Marilyn Monroe

Marilyn Monroe

Marilyn Monroe

Marilyn Monroe

Marilyn Monroe

Marilyn Monroe

Marilyn Monroe

Marilyn Monroe

Marilyn Monroe

Marilyn Monroe

Marilyn Monroe

Marilyn Monroe

Little-known facts about Marilyn Monroe will leave you stunned! See more here: Marilyn Monroe

February 25, 2025
Marilyn Monroe on LIFE Magazine Covers, From 1952-1962 – C1

In the 1950s and early ’60s, Marilyn Monroe appeared on the cover of LIFE magazine half a dozen times. Seen all these years later, those covers still say ‘superstar.’

Marilyn Monroe

LIFE Magazine, April 7, 1952. Marilyn Monroe’s debut on the magazine’s cover, photographed by Philippe Halsman.

Marilyn Monroe

LIFE Magazine, May 25, 1953. Marilyn Monroe and Jane Russell, photographed by Ed Clark.

Marilyn Monroe

LIFE Magazine, April 20, 1959. Marilyn Monroe photographed by Richard Avedon.

Marilyn Monroe

LIFE Magazine, November 9, 1959. Marilyn Monroe, photographed by Philippe Halsman.

Marilyn Monroe

LIFE Magazine, August 15, 1960. Marilyn Monroe, photographed by John Bryson.

Marilyn Monroe

LIFE Magazine, August 15, 1960. Marilyn Monroe, photographed by Lawrence Schiller.

Marilyn Monroe

LIFE Magazine, August 17, 1962. Marilyn Monroe, photographed by Lawrence Schiller.

Little-known facts about Marilyn Monroe will leave you stunned! See more here: Marilyn Monroe

February 25, 2025
23 Beautiful Black and White Portrait Photos of Marilyn Monroe from the 1950s – C1

Men wanted her, women wanted to be her. The camera, the president and the public adored her. Everyone loved, and still love, the iconic beauty that was Marilyn Monroe.

Marilyn’s personal life was of fascination from early on in her career. For a cover story in a 1952 issue of True Experiences magazine, the caption read: “Do I look happy? I should – for I was a child nobody wanted. A lonely girl with a dream – who awakened to find that dream come true – I am Marilyn Monroe… Read my Cinderella story on page 22.” Her budding romance with baseball player Joe DiMaggio – the couple married in 1954 – also generated Marilyn huge press interest.

Below is a collection 23 beautiful black and white portrait photos of Marilyn Monroe from the 1950s.

Marilyn Monroe

Marilyn Monroe

Marilyn Monroe

Marilyn Monroe

Marilyn Monroe

Marilyn Monroe

Marilyn Monroe

Marilyn Monroe

Marilyn Monroe

Marilyn Monroe

Marilyn Monroe

Marilyn Monroe

Marilyn Monroe

Marilyn Monroe

Marilyn Monroe

Marilyn Monroe

Marilyn Monroe

Marilyn Monroe

Marilyn Monroe

Marilyn Monroe

Marilyn Monroe

Marilyn Monroe

Marilyn Monroe

Little-known facts about Marilyn Monroe will leave you stunned! See more here: Marilyn Monroe

February 25, 2025
Marilyn Monroe – “The Mandolin Sitting” by Milton Greene, 1953 – C1

Milton Greene and Marilyn Monroe’s first sitting together was in Los Angeles for Look magazine in September of 1953. This photoshoot “Mandolin” was the first photographic collaboration between Milton and Marilyn. Marilyn posing with a mandolin, vibrantly colored boas and flowers. Wearing a large grey sweater over the evening dress donned in that session, Marilyn is striking with the props Milton opts to pose her with.

Marilyn Monroe

Greene initially established himself in high fashion photography in the 1940s and 1950s. His fashion shots appeared in Harper’s Bazaar and Vogue. Greene then turned to portraits of celebrities. He photographed many high-profile personalities in the 1950s and 1960s, including Elizabeth Taylor, Frank Sinatra, Audrey Hepburn, Grace Kelly, Ava Gardner, Sammy Davis, Jr., Catherine Deneuve, Marlene Dietrich, and Judy Garland.

Greene’s work with Marilyn Monroe (whom he first shot for a layout for Look in 1953) changed the course of his career. The two struck up a friendship and, when Monroe left Los Angeles to study acting with Lee Strasberg in New York City, she stayed with Greene, his wife Amy and young son Joshua in Connecticut. Together with Greene, Monroe formed Marilyn Monroe Productions, a production company in an effort to gain control of her career (from Hollywood powerhouses). Greene would go on to produce Bus Stop (1956) and The Prince and the Showgirl (1957).

The two also collaborated on some 53 photo sessions, some of which became well known, including “The Black Sitting.” Greene’s photograph for one such sitting in 1954 featuring Monroe in a ballet tutu was chosen by Time Life as one of the three most popular images of the 20th century. Monroe and Greene’s friendship ended after the production of The Prince and the Showgirl in 1957, and they decided to separate.

Marilyn Monroe

Marilyn Monroe

Marilyn Monroe

Marilyn Monroe

Marilyn Monroe

Marilyn Monroe

Marilyn Monroe

Marilyn Monroe

Marilyn Monroe

Marilyn Monroe

Marilyn Monroe

Marilyn Monroe

Marilyn Monroe

Marilyn Monroe

Marilyn Monroe

Marilyn Monroe

Marilyn Monroe

Marilyn Monroe

Marilyn Monroe

Marilyn Monroe

Marilyn Monroe

Marilyn Monroe

Marilyn Monroe

Marilyn Monroe

Marilyn Monroe

Marilyn Monroe

Marilyn Monroe

Marilyn Monroe

Marilyn Monroe

Marilyn Monroe

Marilyn Monroe

Marilyn Monroe

Marilyn Monroe

Marilyn Monroe

Marilyn Monroe

Marilyn Monroe

Marilyn Monroe

Marilyn Monroe

Marilyn Monroe

Marilyn Monroe

Little-known facts about Marilyn Monroe will leave you stunned! See more here: Marilyn Monroe

February 25, 2025
Marilyn Monroe Wardrobe and Hair Tests for ‘Gentlemen Prefer Blondes’ (1953) – C1

William Travilla had designed costumes for just two films featuring Marilyn Monroe – Don’t Bother to Knock and Monkey Business, both in 1952 – before he started work on the Howard Hawks musical that catapulted the actress to name-above-the-title status: 1953’s Gentlemen Prefer Blondes. But he already intimately knew her style likes and dislikes, with the latter rooted in anything that didn’t show off Monroe’s figure to its fullest advantage.

Marilyn Monroe

A contract designer at Twentieth Century-Fox since 1950, Travilla once called a tan jersey dress he designed for Monroe to wear in a Monkey Business skating scene “the only costume of mine that Marilyn ever hated,” precisely because its full pleated skirt concealed, rather than showcased, her gorgeous hips and legs. Monroe at first refused to wear the dress, until Hawks, also the director on this comedy starring Cary Grant and Ginger Rogers, intervened.

But the costume Travilla designed for a musical number in Gentlemen Prefer Blondes was a different matter entirely. The song was “Diamonds Are a Girl’s Best Friend,” written by Jule Styne and Leo Robin, with Monroe’s Lorelei Lee performing an ode to her love of maximum sparkl. In a televised interview that aired decades after the film’s release, Travilla reminisced about what was demanded for the scene: “The idea then was that the studio make her the sexiest, most exciting, almost-naked lady on the screen.”

Marilyn Monroe

Marilyn Monroe

Marilyn Monroe

Marilyn Monroe

Marilyn Monroe

Marilyn Monroe

Marilyn Monroe

Marilyn Monroe

Marilyn Monroe

Marilyn Monroe

Marilyn Monroe

Marilyn Monroe

Marilyn Monroe

Marilyn Monroe

Marilyn Monroe

Marilyn Monroe

Marilyn Monroe

Marilyn Monroe

Marilyn Monroe

Marilyn Monroe

Marilyn Monroe

Marilyn Monroe

Marilyn Monroe

Marilyn Monroe

Marilyn Monroe

Marilyn Monroe

Marilyn Monroe

Marilyn Monroe

Marilyn Monroe

Marilyn Monroe

Marilyn Monroe

Marilyn Monroe

Little-known facts about Marilyn Monroe will leave you stunned! See more here: Marilyn Monroe

February 22, 2025
Candid Photos of Marilyn Monroe at Madison Square Garden During Rehearsal for JFK‘s Birthday Gala, 1962 – C1

Marilyn Monroe was meticulous about this appearance, and she valued it enough to spend $12,000.00 on a dress that she’d asked Oscar winning designer Jean Luis to create for her. “I want you to design a truly historical dress, a dazzling dress that’s one of a kind,” she said to him. “A dress that only Marilyn Monroe could wear.”

Marilyn Monroe

Marilyn planned and rehearsed the song she was to sing for her performance, and she sang it to President Kennedy exactly the way she’d rehearsed it. She also rehearsed the song at Madison Square Garden the morning of the performance.

According to Joan Copeland, the younger sister of playwright Arthur Miller, Monroe’s former husband, Monroe was so late to go on stage that night that she missed her cue. Watching her “running around trying to find a door,” Copeland noticed that Monroe was out of breath and anxious, and consequently was unable to sing properly.

Marilyn Monroe

Marilyn Monroe

Marilyn Monroe

Marilyn Monroe

Marilyn Monroe

Marilyn Monroe

Marilyn Monroe

Marilyn Monroe

Marilyn Monroe

Marilyn Monroe

Marilyn Monroe

Marilyn Monroe

Marilyn Monroe

Marilyn Monroe

Marilyn Monroe

Marilyn Monroe

Marilyn Monroe

Marilyn Monroe

Marilyn Monroe

Marilyn Monroe

Little-known facts about Marilyn Monroe will leave you stunned! See more here: Marilyn Monroe

February 22, 2025
10 Fascinating Black and White Photos of Marilyn Monroe in Shorts at Home in 1953 – C1

Andre de Dienes (1913–1985) was a Romanian American photographer, noted for his work with Marilyn Monroe and his nude photography. Here’s a collection of some fascinating black and white portraits of Marilyn Monroe at home, taken by Andre de Dienes in 1953.

Marilyn Monroe

Marilyn Monroe

Marilyn Monroe

Marilyn Monroe

Marilyn Monroe

Marilyn Monroe

Marilyn Monroe

Marilyn Monroe

Marilyn Monroe

Marilyn Monroe

Little-known facts about Marilyn Monroe will leave you stunned! See more here: Marilyn Monroe

February 19, 2025
Beautiful Portrait Photos of Marilyn Monroe (then Norma Jeane Dougherty) by H. Maier Studios, circa 1943-44 – C1

Born 1926 as Norma Jeane Mortenson and raised in Los Angeles, Marilyn Monroe spent most of her childhood in a total of 12 foster homes and an orphanage before marrying James Dougherty in 1942 at age sixteen.

Marilyn Monroe

Monroe was working in a factory during World War II when she met a photographer from the First Motion Picture Unit and began a successful pin-up modeling career, which led to short-lived film contracts with 20th Century Fox and Columbia Pictures.

Before famous for playing comic “blonde bombshell” characters, and became one of the most popular sex symbols of the 1950s and early 1960s, as well as an emblem of the era’s sexual revolution, here are beautiful portraits of Marilyn Monroe (then Norma Jeane Dougherty) by H. Maier Studios, Los Angeles, around 1943-44.

Marilyn Monroe

Marilyn Monroe

Marilyn Monroe

Marilyn Monroe

Marilyn Monroe

Marilyn Monroe

Marilyn Monroe

Marilyn Monroe

Marilyn Monroe

Little-known facts about Marilyn Monroe will leave you stunned! See more here: Marilyn Monroe

February 19, 2025

► Necessary Cookies Standard

Necessary cookies enable essential site features like secure log-ins and consent preference adjustments. They do not store personal data.

None

► Functional Cookies Remark

Functional cookies support features like content sharing on social media, collecting feedback, and enabling third-party tools.

None

► Analytical Cookies Remark

Analytical cookies track visitor interactions, providing insights on metrics like visitor count, bounce rate, and traffic sources.

None

► Advertisement Cookies Remark

Advertisement cookies deliver personalized ads based on your previous visits and analyze the effectiveness of ad campaigns.

None