Author Archives: le duong

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 […]

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 […]

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 […]

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 […]

On December 10, 1950, Marilyn Monroe began her second contractual relationship with Twentieth Century Fox. (Their initial association had lasted one year, beginning August 26, 1946.) As Young as You Feel, shot between December 15, 1950 and late January 1951, was Monroe’s first assignment under the new contract. It was during the production of this film […]

Marilyn Monroe enjoying an ice cream sundae at Wil Wright’s, a Southern California chain of ice cream parlors that operated until the mid-1970s. The photos were taken by none other than Andre de Dienes in 1952. In an interview with Pageant magazine in September 1952, Monroe revealed that she loved sundaes, “It’s a good thing, I suppose, […]

Having a Marilyn Monroe look-a-like competition in 1958 was not something out of the ordinary, considering that the Hollywood diva was in the prime of her career and she was considered the most beautiful woman in the world. Arguably, she still holds the title today. Marilyn Monroe Marilyn Monroe look-a-like competition in Hastings, UK, ca. […]

Robert Slatzer wrote a book called “The Life and Curious Death of Marilyn Monroe” published in 1974. Although the book is of value to fans, much of what is in the book that isn’t common knowledge or verifiable through public records, seems to be fabrication. Robert Slatzer claims he met Norma Jeane Baker, a young […]

In June 1956, Miller left his first wife, Mary Slattery, whom he married in 1940, and married film star Marilyn Monroe. They had met in 1951, had a brief affair, and remained in contact since. Monroe had just turned 30 when they married; she never had a real family of her own and was eager […]

Marilyn Monroe having breakfast in bed at the Bel Air hotel in Los Angeles, 1953. She was photographed by Andre de Dienes during the filming of How To Marry a Millionaire. Marilyn Monroe Marilyn Monroe Marilyn Monroe Marilyn Monroe le duong