Marilyn Monroe

b. Norma Jean Mortenson, 1 June 1926, Los Angeles, California, USA, d. 5 August 1962, Brentwood, California, USA. As well as being a talented comedienne and the number 1 sex symbol in movies during the '50s, Monroe proved to be an appealing interpreter of flirtacious ballads in several of her most popular films. As one of the LADIES OF THE CHORUS (1949), she made a promising start with Lester Lee and Allan Roberts's Every Baby Needs A Da-Da-Daddy, which, with its reference to Tiffany's, was a precursor to one of her most celebrated performances a few years later, when the same New York store cropped up Diamonds Are A Girl's Best Friend, from Jule Styne and Leo Robin's score for GENTLEMEN PREFER BLONDES (1953). In that film Monroe duetted with another of Hollywood's top glamour girls, Jane Russell, on Two Little Girls From Little Rock, Bye Bye Baby and a Hoagy Carmichael/Harold Adamson number, When Loves Goes Wrong. Co-starred with Robert Mitchum in RIVER OF NO RETURN (1954), Monroe's role as a saloon singer conveniently gave her the opportunity to put over the title song and I'm Gonna File My Claim, amongst others, and, in the same year, she registered strongly with a bundle of Irving Berlin numbers in THERE'S NO BUSINESS LIKE SHOW BUSINESS. These included A Man Chases A Girl (with Donald O'Connor), After You Get What You Want You Don't Want It, Heatwave, Lazy and You'd Be Surprised. In 1959 she made what was to become her most commercially successful film—arguably the highlight of her career. The classic SOME LIKE IT HOT, with Tony Curtis, Jack Lemmon and Joe E. (nobody's perfect) Brown, contained some of Monroe's most efective vocal peformances, such as I'm Through With Love, I Wanna Be Loved By You and Running Wild. She sang for the last time on screen in LET'S MAKE LOVE (1960). Apart from contributing the film's highspot, a compelling version of My Heart Belongs To Daddy, Monroe duetted with a couple of European heart-throbs, Yves Montand and Frankie Vaughan, on Sammy Cahn and Jimmy Van Heusen's Specialization, Incurably Romantic and the title song. Her final performance, a sultry rendering of Happy Birthday Mr. President and Thanks For The Memory, was given in May 1962 for President Kennedy's birthday celebrations in Madison Square Garden. Just over two months later she died, in mysterious circumstances, at the age of 36. One of the musical selections chosen for her funeral service was a recording of Over The Rainbow, sung by Judy Garland, another show business legend who met a tragic end. Since her death, it has been estimated that over 100 Monroe biographies have been published. She was also the subject of several songs, the most famous being Elton John's ‘Crying In the Wind’. Others included James Cunningham's Norma Jean Wants To Be A Movie Star and Elvis And Marilyn by Leon Russell.