Marilyn Monroe Immortalized On-Screen - Icons Celebrities

Marilyn Monroe Immortalized On-Screen

Many stars tried to imitate her but none could duplicate the beloved sex symbol

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Misty Rowe in Goodbye Norma Jean   1976

Rowe, a long-time “honey” on TV’s overalls-and-hayseed comedy show Hee Haw, teamed with B movie schlock-meister Larry Buchanan for this rather trashy portrait of Monroe’s abuse-filled early years. Rowe portrays her both as a child and as an ambitious starlet whose auditions mainly take place on casting couches. As a reviewer in Time Out London observed, “Misty Rowe fails spectacularly as a reincarnation of Monroe.” of

Catherine Hicks in Marilyn The Untold Story 1980

A TV staple who spent 11 seasons as matriarch Annie Camden on 7th Heaven, Hicks was a newcomer who got her start as a doctor on the daytime soap opera Ryan’s Hope in the 1970s when she snagged this plum role as the famous sex symbol. Her profile rose after being nominated for an Emmy for this well-regarded ABC biopic that spanned Monroe’s history from her orphaned childhood to her tragic death. of

Madonna s Music Video for Material Girl 1985

When you are establishing yourself as a pop goddess, why not borrow from the best? Madonna traded her fingerless gloves and ripped fishnets for Hollywood glamour by emulating Monroe’s gem of a number, "Diamonds Are a Girl’s Best Friend," from 1953’s Gentlemen Prefer Blondes. She said at the time that the scene was a favorite, adding: “Her sexuality was something everyone was obsessed with, and that I can relate to.” of

Misty Rowe in Goodnight Sweet Marilyn 1989

Rowe’s back, and so is that hack Buchanan. Her second go at channeling Marilyn’s Norma Jean persona is simply recycled footage from the 1976 film — while another actress, Paula Lane, tackles the star’s glory years and decline. Clunky dialogue includes such doozies as this line uttered by Marilyn: “I wonder if there are cameras in heaven.” of

Susan Griffiths in Marilyn and Me 1991

Griffiths, an in-demand Marilyn impersonator seen in Pulp Fiction’s diner scene and on TV’s Growing Pains and Quantum Leap, brings out Marilyn’s softer side as she falls for Robert Slatzer, an actor and writer who claimed he and the then-starlet were briefly wed in 1952. Although Griffiths is spared, the Los Angeles Times declared this ABC movie “flat, uninvolving and above all somewhat dubious.” of

Melody Anderson in Marilyn & Bobby Her Final Affair 1993

This USA Network movie offers yet another fictionalized dalliance that Monroe supposedly shared with then-Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy. Anderson, a regular on Manimal and St. Elsewhere who is usually a brunette, sensitively brings out Marilyn’s fragile side. But it's her costar John F. Kelly, an RFK specialist who played the politician previously in four other TV films, who casts the bigger shadow. of

Ashley Judd in Norma Jean & Marilyn 1996

An HBO film that splits Monroe’s psyche in two and has the personas engage with one another is a 1990s version of a female dream team, with Judd as Norma Jean Dougherty and Mira Sorvino as Marilyn Monroe. Judd, in the afterglow of her first big-screen lead in Ruby in Paradise, won critical praise and a Golden Globe nomination for her portrayal. of ADVERTISEMENT of

Mira Sorvino in Norma Jean & Marilyn 1996

Sorvino also garnered a Golden Globe nomination for her role as Marilyn in the HBO movie Norma Jean & Marilyn. The actress, who had recently won an Oscar for playing a mouthy prostitute in Woody Allen’s Mighty Aphrodite, dove in headfirst, even donning Monroe’s original cherry-print halter dress from The Misfits. "Putting it on cemented the part,” she told Entertainment Weekly. ”It was a religious experience.” of

Barbara Niven in The Rat Pack 1998

With her platinum blond bouffant hairdo and breathy voice, Niven makes for a credible enough Marilyn as she flirts with the Kennedy brothers and shoos away her ex-husband Joe DiMaggio. But this HBO film is all about male privilege in the form of Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, Sammy Davis Jr. and Peter Lawford. The ladies, even Monroe, are secondary to this booze-and-broads-chasing fraternity of entertainers. of

Samantha Morton in Mister Lonely 2008

If you like your Marilyn with a side of quirk, this bizarre celebrity salad might do. A Monroe impersonator (two-time Oscar nominee Morton, who dons the famous windblown white halter dress and drops her Brit accent) meets a Michael Jackson look-alike (Diego Luna) and invites him to a Scottish commune filled with other celebrity imitators. This is only for those with an indulgent appetite for offbeat art films. of

Lindsay Lohan on the Cover of New York Magazine 2008

Lohan used her Monroe fixation to put her tabloid-bait behavior on hold by re-creating her idol’s famous “Last Sitting” photo shoot in 1962 — six weeks before she died — with the same photographer, Bert Stern, doing the honors. “I didn’t have to put much thought into it,” Lohan said. “I mean, Bert Stern? Doing a Marilyn shoot? When is that ever going to come up?” In 2012, Lohan took it all off Monroe-style for Playboy. of

James Franco on the Oscar Telecast 2011

As if the actor wasn't floundering enough with his awkward emceeing alongside cohost Anne Hathaway. He also had bumps in all the wrong places when he donned full Marilyn drag. The bit fell flat — not even a texting joke at Charlie Sheen’s expense could save it. Franco’s postshow take: “I was deliberately going to fall onstage and hopefully my dress would fall off or something — they couldn't blame that on me." of

Michelle Williams in My Week With Marilyn 2011

The Dawson’s Creek alum did herself proud. Williams was granted an Oscar nomination for her captivating incarnation that grasps Monroe’s self-defeating insecurities as well as her natural incandescence that came to life whenever she stepped in front of the camera. Both traits are fully on display throughout this sweet fact-based story about an unusual relationship on the set of 1957’s The Prince and The Showgirl. of

Katharine McPhee and Megan Hilty in Smash 2012-2013

The NBC series about the backstage drama and rivalries that erupt during the staging of Bombshell, a Broadway musical about Marilyn Monroe, starred Hilty (the best fit) and McPhee (plucked from the chorus) having a go at the multifaceted lead role that requires singing, dancing and sizzle. of

Kelli Garner in The Secret Life of Marilyn Monroe 2015

This two-part Lifetime miniseries had a mixed reception from critics. Virtual unknown Garner tries her best but lacks that “it” factor. As the Hollywood Reporter noted: “She never seems to be doing anything more than celebrity karaoke, rarely digging deep beneath the long succession of hairstyles and form-fitting clothes.” of to find out about new movies, great games and travel ideas each month. , you can also save on movie tickets, restaurants, airfare, hotels and more and have even more fun!
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