Marilyn Monroe at 100

  

by Pa Rock

Fanboy

Perhaps the most iconic rendition of the musical standard "Happy. Birthday" ever recorded was the one Hollywood sex bomb Marilyn Monroe sang to President Kennedy at his 45th on birthday celebration at Madison Square Garden in New York City on May 19, 1962, a Saturday night.  The blonde actress's breathy and voluptuous rendering of the classic is one for the ages, sounding more like something that should have been sung privately, maybe between satin sheets, rather than in a public venue with more that 15,000 people sharing the intimacy.

Certainly no one could have guessed that the singer, who was 35-years-old and that time, and the 45-year-old President would each live to celebrate only one more birthday.  Marilyn turned 36 on this date (June 1st) in 1962 and died of a barbiturate overdose in Hollywood just over two months after her birthday on August 4th, 1962.  Kennedy, who turned 46 on May 19, 1963, died from an assassin's bullet in Dallas, Texas, just over six months after his birthday.

During her very short lifetime, Marilyn Monroe starred in some of the most memorable movies of the 1950's, and early 1960's.  Some of my favorites of hers include:   Niagara (1953), Gentlemen Prefer Blondes (1953), River of No Return (1954), Bus Stop (1956 - my second favorite), Some Like It Hot (1959 - my all-time favorite), and The Misfits (1962 - the last feature-length film of both Marilyn Monroe and Clark Gable).

In 2007 a friend and I stayed at the historic Del Coronado Hotel in San Diego where Some Like It Hot was filmed, and a couple of years later my daughter, Molly, and her husband, Scott, were married on the beach behind the Del Coronado.  My other brush with the ghost of Marilyn came on a weekend in August 1n 2012 when (for the only time in my life), I happened to spend a weekend in August visiting my son, Tim, and his family in West Hollywood and Los Angeles.  That was also the weekend that encompassed the 50th anniversary of Marilyn's passing, so I made a point of thinking of her while I was in town.

Marilyn Monroe's flame burned brightly and too quickly, but during her brief time with us she managed to leave an indelible mark on American culture.  Happy birthday Lorelei, and Cherie, and Sugar Kane,  and Marilyn.    I hope someone special is singing to you today, maybe Joltin' Joe Dimaggio!