Marilyn had many interests. She loved to write poems, read books and listen to music. Marilyn's favourite colours were- Red, Beige, Black and White. Marilyn's favourite drink was- Dom Perignon 1953, Marilyn's favourite photograph of her was by- Cecil Beaton (Where she is in the White Dress), Marilyn's favourite perfumes were- Chanel no 5 and Joy, Marilyn's favourite resturant was- Romanoff's, Marilyn's favourite store was- Bloomingdale's, Marilyn's favourite performance was- In Korea (Singing to the troops), Marilyn's favourite plays were- A Streetcar Named Desire and Death of a Salesman
Marilyn liked music by Frank Sinatra and Ella Fitzgerald
1962- Something's Got to Give (Never Completed) (Ellen Arden) 1961- The Misfits (Roslyn Taber) 1960- Let's Make Love (Amanda Dell) 1959- Some Like It Hot (Sugar Kane) 1957- The Prince and the Showgirl (Elsie Marina) 1956- Bus Stop (Cherie) 1955- The Seven Year Itch (The It Girl) 1954- River of No Return (Kay Weston) 1954- There's No Business Like Show Business (Vicky) 1953- How to Marry a Millionaire (Pola Debevoise) 1953- Gentlemen Prefer Blondes (Lorelei Lee) 1953- Niagara (Rose Loomis) 1952- Don't Bother to Knock (Nell Forbes) 1952- We're Not Married! (Anabel Norris) 1952- Clash by Night (Peggy) 1952- Monkey Business (Lois Laurel) 1952- O. Henry's Full House (Streetwalker) 1951- As Young As You Feel (Harriet) 1951- Hometown Story (Iris Martin) 1951- Let's Make It Legal (Joyce Mannering) 1951- Love Nest (Roberta Stevens) 1950- All About Eve (Claudia Caswell) 1950- The Asphalt Jungle (Angela Phinlay) 1950- Love Happy (Grunion's Client) 1950- The Fireball (Polly) 1950- Right Cross 1950- A Ticket to Tomahawk (Clara) 1949- Ladies of the Chorus (Peggy Martin) 1948- Dangerous Years (Evie) 1948- Scudda Hoo! Scudda Hay 1947- The Shocking Miss Pilgrim
One of Marilyn's favourites was "How Stanislavsky Directs" by Michael Gorchakov.
"She really wanted to be Jean Harlow. That was her goal. She always said she would probably die young, like Harlow; that the men in her life were disasters, like Harlow's; that her relationship with her mother was complicated, like Harlow's. It was as if she based her life on Harlow's - the instant flash, then over." - Amy Greene. To Marilyn, Jean Harlow was more than a hero: Harlow's life was in many ways a blueprint of her own. The parallels in the lives of Monroe and Harlow are overwhelming: both were brought up by strict Christian Scientists (in Norma Jeane's case, her beloved foster parent, Ana Lower); both were married three times; both left school at sixteen to marry their first husbands (Harlow eloped with a millionaire); both spent their lives seeking out their father; and both died in tragic and some say suspicious circumstances. They both acted opposite Clark Gable in the last film they ever made. Intrigingly, Gable once said of Harlow, "She didn't want to be famous, she wanted to be happy," a quote that can be equally applied to Marilyn. They were both great lovers of animals and willing to provide a haven for strays. Both of them tested the morals of their days by posing nude, flaunting their bodies, and eschewing underwear; both of them acted under their mother's maiden names. Each lived on North Palm Drive at one point in their lives. Marilyn, like Harlow, had to go on a one woman strike to improve her extremely unfavorable contract terms and payment rates at the height of her popularity. The parallels continue even at the end of their lives; both actresses were regularly prescribed sedatives by their doctors; just months before both actresses died, they went to a presidential birthday celebration (Harlow went to President Franklin Delano Roosevelt's birthday ball, Marilyn to President John Kennedy's), for which they were reprimanded by their studios. After she had become a star, Marilyn became ruefully aware of the striking similarities in their lives. In 1957 she told Milton Greene: "I kept thinking of her, rolling over the facts of her life in my mind. It was kind of spooky, and sometimes I thought, am I making this happen? But I don't think so. We just seemed to have the same spirit or something, I don't know. I kept wondering if I would die young like her, too." A month or so before she dies, Marilyn went with Sidney Skolsky to visit Jean Harlow's mother, "Mama Jean" Bello, to ask her permission to press ahead with their planned film of Harlow's life. "Mama Jean" reputedly looked at Marilyn and exclaimed that her baby had come back to life. The next meeting for this project was allegedly scheduled for August 5, when Skolsky was due to go to Marilyn's house and work on a treatment for The Jean Harlow Story. Even in death Marilyn emulated her heroine. The flowers delivered every week to her grave by Joe DiMaggio were the fulfillment of a promise he had made to Marilyn that he would be as devoted to her as William Powell had been to Harlow. Powell regularly sent flowers to his love's resting place in Forrest Lawn.