MARILYN: HER MAGIC LINGERS ON

The real Marilyn Monroe was nobody you'd look at twice—unless she wanted you to

- Maurice Zolotow

EVERY DAY, tourists swarm over the forecourt of Mann’s Chinese Theatre (formerly Grauman’s) in Los Angeles, looking in awe at the hand prints, footprints and signatures of the movie stars of the past. In the centre, on a golden coloured block, are the imprints Marilyn Monroe made on 26 June 1953. You never have to wonder where her square is, because that’s the one with the crowds.

Many of those peering at Marilyn’s footprints, or trying to fit their fingers into the concavities of hers, are adolescent girls. What’s eerie is that some resemble, in posture, clothes and even voice, Marilyn herself. It’s a look inspired by pop singer Madonna, whose recent video hit Material Girl was modelled on Marilyn in Gentlemen Prefer Blondes.

Marilyn haunts us in a way few performers ever have. She appeared in only 28 films and starred in 16—several of them classics: The Seven Year Itch, Bus Stop, Some Like It Hot, The Misfits. Director John Huston always spoke of her as if she were some mysterious force of nature—“like a fog bank that starts building up at dusk with the turn of the tide.”

I first met Marilyn Monroe in 1953 at a dinner honouring Walter Winchell. He was flanked on the dais by 20th Century Fox production boss Darryl Zanuck and an expressionless mannequin costumed in a skin-tight, emerald-green-sequinned gown, thick makeup and false eyelashes.