Tag Archives: IconicBeauty

Douglas Kirkland has been passionate about images since he was a child. Coming from Canada he started working for a small photo studio in Virginia. A few years later he met the photographer of whom he was an admirer and went to New York for the position of Irving Penn’s assistant. Despite the prominent position […]

Marilyn Monroe, best known for being a mid-century sex symbol, is rarely thought of as a fitness icon, but during a 1952 interview with LIFE magazine, she revealed that she exercised regularly. Monroe was a devotee of yoga and enjoyed practicing. It was a fact she didn’t publicize much and there are few photographic records of her […]

As part of publicity for the film Gentlemen Prefer Blondes which was soon to be released, Marilyn, along with co-star and friend Jane Russell, immortalized themselves in a very Hollywood way by adding their signatures, handprints, and footprints to the courtyard at Grauman’s Chinese Theatre on Hollywood Boulevard on June 26, 1953. Marilyn Monroe This is a […]

When Marilyn Monroe posed for Earl Moran in the first of their sessions that took place between 1946 and 1950, she was just 19 and an aspiring actress, while Moran had established himself as a leading illustrator of beautiful women; his work for magazines and calendars placed him in the company of Alberto Vargas and […]

Here’s a collection of rare photos of a young Marilyn Monroe in 1948, when she was just 21, with another then-aspiring actress, Laurette Luez, and Hollywood veteran Clifton Webb on the set of a comedy called Sitting Pretty. Neither Marilyn nor Luez were in that movie. But Luez was under contract to Twentieth Century Fox — […]

Ladies of the Chorus is a 1949 American musical romance film directed by Phil Karlson and starring Adele Jergens, Marilyn Monroe and Rand Brooks. The screenplay, written by Harry Sauber and Joseph Carole, was based on a story by Sauber. Released by Columbia Pictures, Ladies of the Chorus features Marilyn Monroe in the first major role of […]

Marilyn Monroe blowing a kiss for the camera upon arriving at Idlewild Airport to work on the film, The Seven Year Itch. Marilyn Monroe The Seven Year Itch, released in 1955, was an adaptation of a hit Broadway show of the same name and featured a memorable performance by Marilyn Monroe. Billy Wilder preferred shooting in […]

Norma Ann Sykes (1936–2016) was a 1950s English glamour model who progressed to a minor film career. She was best known for her hourglass figure of 42.5-inch (108 cm) breasts coupled with a tiny 19-inch (48 cm) waist and 36-inch (91 cm) hips. Marilyn Monroe When 19-year-old Norma Ann Sykes shimmied on to the BBC’s […]

These vintage photos of Marilyn Monroe hosting a press party held at her home in Los Angeles taken by Earl Leaf on March 3, 1956. 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 […]

For sheer, undiluted resonance, few entertainment-industry tropes can match the singular image of Marilyn Monroe informing the world that “diamonds are a girl’s best friend.” The scene in which she sings those words arrives midway through the classic 1953 comedy, Gentlemen Prefer Blondes, as Marilyn’s character, the refreshingly loot-happy Lorelei Lee, performing in a cabaret in […]