On July 15, 1953, the movie Gentlemen Prefer Blondes opened in American theatres. It proved to the world that a starlet called Marilyn Monroe was no lightweight wannabe.
After years of being overlooked, Monroe finally began to overcome the odds attacked up against her and deliver hits like this one. Playing a gold-digger called Lorelei Lee, she charmed the socks of all who traipsed into movie halls to watch her. By the time she finished with Hollywood, blondes really were having a lot more fun.
It had been a long, hard road for Monroe, who was born Norma Jean Mortensen into a life of neglect. Her mother was institutionalised when Norma was five, and the latter moved from one foster home to another before ending up in an orphanage. After a young marriage, she was spotted by a photographer and the arduous climb to Hollywood began.
Stardom, drug addiction and a few marriages to some pretty famous men later, she finally succumbed to an overdose of sleeping pills. Will we ever have a doe-eyed stunner like her again?
Photograph: A still from Gentlemen Prefer Blondes
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