Marilyn Monroe would have been 85 in June. Her popularity has never been greater, says WNYC’s Sara Fishko, thanks to a seemingly inescapable urge to evoke her in any way possible.  Here is the next Fishko Files…

One Blonde Leads to Another 

PHOTO CAPTION:
Clockwise from top left: Catherine Hicks played Monroe in Marilyn: The Untold Story (1980); Diana Dors had a career in Britain in Marilyn’s day; Mira Sorvino played Marilyn in Norma Jean & Marilyn (1996); Theresa Russell played a character modeled after Marilyn in Insignificance (1985); Poppy Montgomery played a fictionalized Marilyn in Blonde (2001); and Jayne Mansfield was a Marilyn-inspired entertainer in Monroe’s time.

For more from the speakers featured in this episode of Fishko Files...

*Susan Doll is a writer and editor at Facets Media. You can read a selection from her book, Marilyn: Her Life & Legend here.

*Lois Banner is currently at work on her second biography of Marilyn Monroe. To see her first book, MM-Personal: From the Private Archive of Marilyn Monroe, click here.

*Joyce Chopra's 2001 mini-series about Monroe, Blonde, is available here.

*Marilyn in New York: BAMcinematek's Marilyn! film festival opens on Friday, July 1st, and runs through July 17th. To see the full schedule (which includes more than a dozen of Monroe's films), visit BAMcinematek's website.

Producer Laura Mayer went to Times Square on a buying trip. She came back with one Marilyn Monroe salt and pepper shaker, four postcards, two magnets, and a framed photo spread of Marilyn images. 

WNYC Production Credits

Mix Engineers: Paul Schneider and Bill Bowen

Assistant Producer: Laura Mayer

WNYC Newsroom Editors: Karen Frillmann and Gisele Regatao