Marilyn Monroe 1926-1962
Marilyn’s Ford Thunderbird, sold for $490,000 at Julien’s in 2018 (see here), is listed among the top 5 cars owned by Hollywood legends on the Driving website today. Marilyn had a 1956 version of the car in Raven Black, loaded with a V8 engine that put out a cool 222bhp, propelling the car to 113mph. It was a gift from her business partner Milton Greene. They are pictured here en route to Marilyn’s civil wedding ceremony in June 1956, with husband-to-be Arthur Miller at the wheel.
Dublin actress turned novelist Deirdre Purcell reveals why Some Like It Hot is her favourite movie in an interview with the Irish Independent today.
“With its peerless performances, not least by Jack Lemmon, it never fails to entertain and for me, now, represents a wonderful lesson in how to script a movie. It was from this I learned that the classic turning point of almost any movie comes 28 minutes in. In this one, it occurs when the two lads, Lemmon and Tony Curtis, clap eyes on Marilyn Monroe sashaying down the railway platform. The destination of the movie is now set. I hired a print of it and showed it at the Strand Cinema in Fairview to entertain our wedding guests. Of course we went there in CIE’s wedding bus.”
According to the Syncopated Times, the jazz radio DJ Chuck Cecil – who has died aged 97 – was a contemporary of Norma Jeane Baker. He was a student at Van Nuys High School, where his fellow alumni included Norma Jeane (who attended from September 1941 – February 1942, before moving on to University Senior High.) Marilyn’s future co-star, Jane Russell, and her first husband, Jim Dougherty, were also students. Five years older than Norma Jeane, they once appeared together in a school play.
Moreover, the article states that Chuck Cecil attended Jim’s wedding to Norma Jeane in June 1942. Although he’s not usually mentioned among the guests at the intimate ceremony, it’s possible that Chuck may have joined them for their reception at the Florentine Gardens Restaurant. As Chuck was around the same age as Jim, he may have known the groom better than the bride.
On the cusp of stardom, Marilyn revisited her ‘alma mater’ (in reality, one of many) and was photographed chatting with students in 1951.