These five friends have recreated the same pose every five years for three decades, ever since 1982. Though they quickly went to shirts after the first one!
Meanwhile, MM fan Peter Schnug took these photos of himself at Marilyn's spot at Grauman's Chinese Theater when he was 15, 37 and 49:
By Johnny Lopez & Josh Wells
I'm throwing a bone to the Gaga-haters (this inspired if unconscionably mean triptych) only because the very first thing I thought of when I saw Lady Gaga's Machete Kills teaser image was Madonna at the Oscars in 1991, and the very first thing I thought of when I saw Madonna at the Oscars in 1991 was Marilyn Monroe. I'm glad Gaga is trying her hand at acting, but you couldn't pay me to see this movie with Mel Gibson and Charlie Sheen in it.
I'd never heard this audio of Marilyn Monroe's final interview, in which—among other things—she addresses that infamous quote of Tony Curtis saying kissing her was like kissing Hitler. It also shows that she didn't talk "like that" all the time...
This Marilyn Monroe clip from There's No Business Like Show Business (1954) says it all about this week in NYC and about global warming. In fact, for some fans, it says everything there is to say about life...
Via In Touch (June 18, 2012): This Marilyn homage is made entirely of toast. Artist Henry Hargreaves uses a food torch to get just the right shading.
With thanks to Greg: This piece on autograph hounds of the '50s is so up my Shubert Alley! For one thing, a small detail reveals what I believe is at the core of many autograph hounds and other starfuckers—an internalization of what our moms find impressive.
If you don't already know the amazing Dan-O-Rama, you should—his video montages are epic and epically entertaining. Dan just sent me his 4-DVD anthology, which he's selling for $49 until June 30—and you must consider buying this. It's got Madonna, Annette Funicello, Bette Davis, Marilyn Monroe, Rock Hudson and even a little-known actress by the name of JOAN CRAWFORD.
Check it out and let me know what you think if you splurge.
Marilyn Monroe would be turning 86 years old today had she lived.
Do yourself a favor—if you are interested in celebrity, in self-examination, in New York City, in Marilyn Monroe and/or Liz Taylor, in sex, in humor...check out Mr. Wow Blog, a new, no-frills, all-thrills blog by an anonymous gay man with a talent for writing that will soon be anything but. It's in its infancy but this promising entry should keep you coming back to watch it get through the toddler years and beyond.
Auntie Mamie
Mamie Van Doren—80 and still a girl gone wild—reminisces about her Hollywood years in this juicy interview from Norway.
At a Golden Globes ceremony, after spending some time sitting "on the john for a long time" because she feared running into Marilyn Monroe for the first time since she'd been rebranded in her image, she finally heard Marilyn giggling and came out to face her:
"She hadn't seen me since I'd become Mamie and so when I got out there she says, 'Well, I see you finally made it—I knew you'd make it someplace, you know. Now you're Mamie and I'm no longer Norma Jeane, I'm Marilyn Monroe. I felt better after I talked to her."
Mamie recalls having to be a quadruple threat:
"You had to be able to sing, dance, act and, uh, fuck the right producer! [Laughs]...That's probably why I didn't get some of the movies I didn't get."
Kissing co-stars
Finally, her memories of the Doris Day/Clark Gable film Teacher's Pet (1958) sound more interesting than the film itself:
"I was lucky enough to be able to do a movie with [Clark Gable] and kiss 'im, I had a kissing scene with 'im and they cut it out because it was too juicy, I guess...I was a good kisser, too, so between the two of us, y'know, and then we finish it off in the dressing room, yeah."
