Marilyn's Legacy

In March 1960, Marilyn was presented the 1959 Golden Globe Award for Best Actress in a Musical or Comedy for her critically acclaimed performance as "Sugar Kane" in Some Like It Hot.

Marilyn also received the 1961 Golden Globe Award for World Film Favorite Female in March 1962. Her most recent film performance, at the time, was in The Misfits. Marilyn had previously received the 1953 Golden Globe in the same category.

In 1959, Marilyn was honored with the Crystal Star by the French film industry for her performance as "Elsie Marina" in The Prince and the Showgirl (1957). Additionally, the Italian film industry presented her with the David di Donatello statuette for the same performance opposite Sir Lawrence Olivier.

Marilyn gave acting coach Paula Strasberg pearls that had been a gift from the Emperor of Japan.

Marilyn gave her 1955 black convertible Ford Thunderbird to John Strasberg, son of acting coach & mentor Lee Strasberg.

Marilyn participated in fund-raising events for the Arthritis Foundation, March of Dimes, & Milk Fund for  Babies. She spent her last birthday appearing at a benefit for the Muscular Dystrophy Association.

Other random acts of kindness...a choreographer's assistant recalls Marilyn handing a crew member a roll of money to defray the cost of a relative's surgery. The crew member cried, & Marilyn hugged him & walked away silently. While visiting an orphanage in Mexico in 1962, Marilyn donated $10,000.

Marilyn's stand-in, Evelyn Moriarty, recalls Marilyn anonymously donating $1,000 to pay funeral expenses for a crew member's deceased wife during the production of Let's Make Love in 1960.

When the Mocambo, a "whites only" nightclub in Los Angeles, refused to hire jazz vocalist Ella Fitzgerald in fear of offending their bigoted patrons, Marilyn persuaded the management to book the singer by agreeing to be present each night of the engagement to attract crowds.

Marilyn was pregnant during the filming of Some Like It Hot & miscarried a male child in December 1958. She had miscarried twice before during her marriage to Arthur Miller & suffered from chronic endometriosis, a gynecological condition that prevented her from carrying a child to term.