Marilyn Monroe's playboy photos....

With the popularity of my earlier Playboy related posts featuring Debbie Gibson (see previous post here) and Tiffany (see previous post here), I thought I'd go back in time, 53 years ago to be exact, to when the very first issue came out in 1953. Featured as Playmate and Miss December 1953 was no other than the timeless Marilyn Monroe.

Marilyn Monroe, Norma Jeane Baker in real life, is easily one of the world's most recognizable celebrities, and was controversial both in life and in death.

Married at age 16, she was a factory worker, then a model before she signed on as an actress for 20th Century Fox. She adopted the screen name Marilyn Monroe with Marilyn taken after actress Marilyn Miller and Monroe, being her mother's maiden name. She was just 20 at the time.

She became a celebrated star, owed more from her powerful sex appeal and charisma rather than her acting ability. She starred in a string of hit movies (mostly playing the role of a stereotypical dumb blonde), entertained troops during the Korean War, was divorced and remarried twice, was a nominee and winner of various awards, featured in Playboy as mentioned above, and even sang her own sultrous version of Happy Birthday to then U.S. President John F. Kennedy.

Of course, she also had her dark moments. She suffered physical abuse from former husband baseball great Joe DiMaggio, was diagnosed with endometriosis (she once had an ectopic pregancy which necessitated an abortion, and a subsequent pregnancy ended in a miscarriage), had psychiatric problems, and reportedly had a string of affairs with other famous celebrities, notable of which were President Kennedy, Frank Sinatra, and Marlon Brando, among others.

She died at the age of 36 in August of 1962, ruled to be from suicide by an overdose of barbituates. Conspiracy buffs have speculated on a variety of theories regarding her passing, the most reknowned of which linked her death with her alleged affair with President Kennedy. Also believed to be involved in her death was the CIA, and even the mob. More than 40 years later, the mysterious circumstances surrounding her death are still open to debate and speculation. As recently as August of last year, the Los Angeles Times published a story on the existence of secret tapes that prove that Marilyn Monroe's death was not a suicide.

Like President Kennedy's own death, I doubt it if we will ever find out what really happened.

One thing is certain though. Her death has immortalized her memory, and she is as much a part of popular culture today as she was as well known during her time. There will probably be no one else like her.

If you want to see her Playboy photos, click here. The link is bandwidth limited, so if it doesn't work, just try again at a later time.

Update: My Ripway account has unfortunately expired, so the above link is dead. I'll be transferring the pictures to another host, and will be updating the link soon.