8) Marilyn made far less than her fellow actors. For instance, Jane Russell was reportedly paid about 10 times as much as Marilyn for her performance in Gentlemen Prefer Blondes! And, it was the first time that Marilyn had her own dressing room on the 20th Century lot. Even in 1962, her payment for the film Something’s Got To Give was around only 10% of what Elizabeth Taylor was receiving for her work in Cleopatra.

Via/ Wiki Commons

9) Marilyn was an avid reader with around 400 hundred books in her possession at the time of her death.

10) Marilyn rarely spoke in her natural voice, instead affecting a change in pitch and delivery designed not only to increase her sex appeal, but to eliminate her high-pitched stammer.

11) Her honeymoon with Joe DiMaggio was a combined trip. They flew to Tokyo after getting married and from there Marilyn traveled to Korea to entertain the troops in a series of U.S.O. shows.

Via/ Flickr

12) On the set of How To Marry a Millionaire, both Betty Grable and Lauren Bacall (who was also nicknamed Betty) took Marilyn under their wings. Marilyn was often not confident in her acting skills and could appear distant, yet the two veterans saw her most unusual qualities as endearing.

13) While it is true that Joe DiMaggio did have flowers sent to Marilyn’s tomb each week until his death, their divorce was hard for both of them to face. Friends of his have said that he was talking about remarrying Marilyn right before her death and the two spent time together consistently in the years between their marriage and her death. She even called him her hero.

Via/ Wiki Commons

14) When Marilyn died, it was Joe who made the arrangements, called Whitey to do her makeup, and decided on a small funeral for the enormous star.

15) While conspiracy theories abound, the original finding of “probable suicide” by the Los Angeles Coroner’s office was upheld when the case was reviewed in 1982.

We can only wonder what her life would have been like had she not died that August night in 1962. Would she have married Joe again? Would she have continued her fabulous movie career? Any way you look at it, though, this screen legend re-invented bombshell as we know it and changed the movie industry forever.

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