"There was no such person as Marilyn Monroe. Marilyn Monroe was an invention...a genius invention that she created, like an author creates a character."
~Photographer Richard Avedon
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Richard Avedon
Captures Norma Jeane |
Norma Jeane Mortenson, the woman who created and 'played' Marilyn Monroe, would have been 90 years old on June 1st. Celebrations of her life and work sprung up all over the world and all over the Internet.
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Richard Avedon
Captures 'Marilyn Monroe' |
More than 50 years after her death, Marilyn Monroe still captivates, inspires and seduces audiences and fans with her talent and beauty. I still remember the first time I saw her on the big screen - she left us all breathless. Men and women alike.
Today Norma Jeane is also celebrated for her amazing business acumen, which, due to her carefully constructed blonde bombshell image, went largely unnoticed for years. In an interview with Parade magazine, Marilyn Monroe once said, “People expect to find me one of two things, either a tart or a dumb blonde. I’m neither."
From her humble beginnings as an assembly line worker in an aeronautical plant, Norma Jeane went on to create a real-life, larger-than-life character that still endures today. Doesn't sound like the life's work of a 'dumb blonde' to me.
