How Tall Was Marilyn Monroe?
Marilyn Monroe was a model, actor, singer, and one of the most famous sex symbols in the 1950s and ’60s. She starred in a number of classic films and is often referred to as the original blonde bombshell. Monroe died on Aug. 4, 1962, but more than five decades after her death fans still have questions about her life.
Here are some facts about the late Hollywood icon from her height to what she ate for breakfast to the promise her ex-husband kept long after her death.
How old would Marilyn Monroe be today?
Monroe, whose real name was Norma Jeane Mortenson (later Baker), was born in Los Angeles, California, on June 1, 1926. Meaning that the star who died when she was just 36 years old would be in her late ’90s if she were alive today. Monroe’s mother’s name was Gladys but the identity of her biological father remains a mystery. Monroe stated that she believed actor Clark Gable was her dad.
“He had a thin mustache like Clark Gable,” Monroe recalled when speaking about a picture she saw of a man her mom had dated. “I asked my mother what his name was. She wouldn’t answer.”
In 1935, Monroe saw the movie China Seas, which starred Gable, and at that point onward Gable became “the man I thought was my father,” she said per Glamour.
Marilyn Monroe’s height
Because Monroe wore heels so often on and off-screen, people have questioned just how tall the late Hollywood icon was.
The Some Like It Hot star was 5-foot-5. When it comes to her other measurements, there has been debate over the years about what her exact dress size would be today due to the current sizing system, as well as differing sizes from brand to brand and country to country. Monroe had a number of her clothes custom-made and was actually sown into some of her most memorable gowns including the one she wore when she sang “Happy Birthday” to President John F. Kennedy.
On May 16, 1962, prior to the then-U.S. president’s 45th birthday, Monroe stepped onstage at Madison Square Garden to belt out the tune in a white fur coat before removing it to reveal a shimmering flesh-colored number underneath.
“I don’t think I had ever seen anyone so beautiful as Marilyn Monroe that night. She was wearing skin and beads,” politician Adlai Stevenson said after the event.
Other things you didn’t know about the star
A few other things you may not have known about Gentlemen Prefer Blondes actor is that she was not a natural blonde. Her real color was actually brown. And despite how she was typecast in her films, Monroe was very intelligent with an IQ of 168.
Monroe’s eating habits have also been a hot topic among her fans as her daily breakfast was a bit unusual. For her morning meal, she would warm a cup of milk then break two raw eggs into it, whip them with a fork and drink them. As for her dinner, that consisted of broiled steak or lamb chops with raw vegetables.
The Seven Year Itch star was married three times. First to James Dougherty from 1942 to 1946, then to Joe DiMaggio in 1954, and last to Arthur Miller from 1956 to 1961. Monroe was only married to her second husband for nine months but, as PBS noted, the former New York Yankee great made a promise to put roses at her gravesite every week if she died before him. He did so for more than 20 years after her death but stopped after the flowers kept getting stolen by fans.
