More news from Australia: a group of Marilyn lookalikes have swum around the Brighton jetty, near Adelaide, raising over $50,000 for Cancer Council SA, reports ABC News. (The event was initially planned as a mass ukulele strum.)
“The event, now in its third year, a little less than The Seven Year Itch, attracted 107 participants, and is part of the larger Brighton Jetty Classic ocean swimming events.
Marilyn Jetty Swim founder Sarah Tinney, an American, said water conditions were perfect for the event.
‘It was easy, much easier than last year, the conditions weren’t so favourable but that’s a great metaphor for life,’ Ms Tinney said.
‘Sometimes you have smooth seas and sometimes you don’t.’
A lot of preparation goes into playing the part of the Hollywood icon, who was born Norma Jeane Mortensen in 1926.
‘Over the years I think we have perfected it. But the basic plan is women come with their foundation on,’ she said.
‘They do their own blush and we do the vintage flicks on the eyes … and we also do the beauty spots you cannot forget or you are not a Marilyn … and we have a lipstick bar.’
‘We try not to [get wet]. We’re Marilyns. We are here for the glamour and we are here for the fundraising.’
Ms Tinney said her mother died after an eight-month battle with cancer in 2007 and she made a promise to raise money to find a cure.
‘My husband actually used to call my mother Marilyn and my dad John Wayne because he’s Australian and they were sort of the only American icons he knew … so I thought that was pretty weird and I saw it as a sign ...'”