Hollywood wishes 'happy 100th birthday' to movie icon Marilyn Monroe

Fans of movie star Marilyn Monroe gathered at the TCL Chinese Theatre forecourt on Monday (June 1) to mark what organizers billed as Hollywood's official celebration of her 100th birthday, centered on the enduring star's historic handprints and footprints.

Fans attending the event received red roses and birthday cake with Monroe's photograph on it, and sang along to 'Happy Birthday,' led by Monroe impersonator Jessica Sugar Kiper. 

The tribute drew on Monroe’s deep ties to the venue. On June 26, 1953, she and her 'Gentlemen Prefer Blondes' co-star Jane Russell cemented their handprints, footprints and signatures in the forecourt of Grauman’s Chinese Theatre, as it was known then. The ceremony produced some of the defining images of Hollywood’s Golden Age.

Monroe’s connection to the theater began years earlier, according to tour guide Lacey Noel. As a child growing up in Los Angeles, Monroe often went to the cinema and compared her feet with those of stars immortalized in cement. 

Decades later, her imprint remains the forecourt's most visited, showing visible wear from generations of tourists pressing their hands onto hers, a testament, organizers said, to the star's lasting cultural impact.

-Sandra Stojanovic, Jane Ross/Reuters