San Francisco Frontiers - Happy birthday: Hollywood honors Marilyn Monroe, 100 years on

More than six decades after her tragically early death, the city was awash with references to the bottle-blonde icon on what would have been her 100th birthday.

"When you think of Hollywood, you think of Marilyn," tour guide Lacey Noel told AFP on Hollywood Boulevard's Walk of Fame.

"There's some sort of beautiful, mysterious, and captivating aura that she has that will never go away."

At the historic Chinese Theatre, where Monroe's handprints are immortalized alongside "Gentlemen Prefer Blondes" (1953) co-star Jane Russell, fans gathered to sing "Happy Birthday" -- echoing her famed sultry serenade to president John F. Kennedy.

One hundred roses and a cake were placed at the site, a symbol of Hollywood's golden age and a popular tourist hotspot.

Tributes began on Sunday, with the Academy Museum opening "Marilyn Monroe: Hollywood Icon," an exhibit celebrating her film career and life cut short.

The Academy Museum will host special screenings of her prolific filmography throughout the month, including "The Asphalt Jungle" (1950), "Niagara" (1953), "The Seven Year Itch" (1955), "Some Like It Hot" (1959), and "The Misfits" (1961).

The exhibit, which runs until February 2027, includes hundreds of original pieces, some rarely on display -- such as Monroe's famed pink dress worn during her iconic performance of "Diamonds Are a Girl's Best Friend" in "Gentlemen Prefer Blondes."

Later in the week, on June 4, Julien's Auctions will put nearly 200 pieces of Monroe memorabilia under the hammer as part of its special "100 Years of Marilyn" sale.

The items include unpublished photographs, a script with notes from her final production, the unfinished short film "Something's Got to Give," and personal items such as handwritten recipes and her Elizabeth Arden lipstick.

- Image maker -

Born in Los Angeles on June 1, 1926, Monroe had an unstable childhood spent between orphanages and foster homes. She married for the first time at age 16.

She had her first brush with show business in 1944, while working in a factory, when a photographer arrived to capture photos of women working on production lines during World War II.

Launching into the world of modeling soon after, she divorced her husband and made a history-defining decision: dyeing her brown hair platinum blonde.

She landed her first contract with Fox, and by the age of 30 had established herself as a global star.

Behind the scenes, Monroe founded her own production company, attended the prestigious Actors Studio in New York, and even defied the studios.

In the 1950s, while under contract with 20th Century Fox, she refused to act in the adaptation of the musical "The Girl in Pink Tights," deeming the script mediocre and her salary -- three times less than that of co-star Frank Sinatra -- unfair.

Her collaboration with Fox gave the world some of the most famous images of all time, including Monroe seemingly trying to keep control of a white dress as she stood on a New York City subway vent for "The Seven Year Itch."

Aside from her cinematic performances, Monroe's fame was driven by a private life that provided endless fodder for scandal rags, feeding a public obsession and making her the archetypal 20th Century celebrity.

After her first marriage at the age of 16 there was a brief and tumultuous union with baseball legend Joe DiMaggio, followed by a five-year marriage to acclaimed US playwright Arthur Miller.

But there were also suggestions that she became involved with both John F. Kennedy and with his brother Robert F. Kennedy, as well as with Hollywood figures like Marlon Brando and Frank Sinatra.

Monroe died from a drug overdose in her Los Angeles home in August 1962. She was just 36 years old.

L.Nguyen--SFF