Marilyn Monroe Urban Legends

There is no doubt that Marilyn Monroe is a screen legend. One cannot achieve the levels of fame and stardom that she did in their life time without having certain myths and urban legends associated with their history. The three most common urban legends about Marilyn Monroe, her dress size, her extra toe and her sex film are all false.

Marilyn Monroe’s dress size seems to spark quite a bit of controversy simply because she was considered a sex goddess for her time. In fact she was voted sexiest person of the 20th century by Playboy Magazine. Actress Elizabeth Hurley recently remarked about Marilyn Monroe that she was overweight, repeating the often quoted dress size of 16 saying, "I've always thought Marilyn Monroe looked fabulous, but I'd kill myself if I was that fat,'' she told Allure magazine.

The fact is that dress sizes have not remained consistent over the years. Since most of Marilyn Monroe's dress were tailor made to fit her it is hard to get an accurate reading as to what dress size she would be wearing today. However for a women that was 5 ft. 5 ½ inches tall and weighed between 118 and 140 pounds Marilyn would most likely wear a size 12 by todays standards. Some of the confusion may stem from the fact that an American dress size of 12 is actually a British dress size of 16.

The myth of Marilyn Monroe's extra toe comes from a photograph early in her career taken at Zuma Beach in California. On March 18, 1946 Photographer Joe Jasgur shot pictures of the then 20 year old Norma Jean Baker, later known as Marilyn Monroe. In one of the shots the sand clumps up next to her toe and it appears as if she has six toes on her left foot.

It is from this single picture that this urban legend has spread. However photos by the same photographer at the same beach taken only five days later clearly show that she had five toes on each foot. Indeed there are many other pictures of her feet taken throughout her career, both before and after this photo which clearly show no extra appendages.

Also a sixth toe would have been noted on either her birth certificate, death certificate or autopsy report. None of the above indicates an extra toe.

The longest running rumor or urban legend includes a supposed film reel involving the young Marilyn Monroe before she became famous engaged in sex acts.

The story goes that allegedly the FBI came into possession of a 15 minute reel of 16mm film showing the young Marilyn Monroe performing oral sex on an unidentified man.

The story of the sex movie recently resurfaced when a copy was allegedly sold for $1.5 million dollars to a New York businessman who claimed he wanted the film kept under wraps. However the rumor seems to come from Keya Morgan, a memorabilia collector who is coincidentally releasing a Marilyn Monroe documentary at the same time.

Morgan has thus far refused to disclose the names of either the buyer or seller of the alleged sex film and has not been able to provide a single piece of evidence that this alleged sale ever even occurred.

It is unfortunate that these kinds of stories cloud the achievements of the blonde bombshell. For her fans, these obviously false rumors can never tarnish the life of this screen legend.

For more Marilyn Monroe Facts, Memorabilia and Information about her Tragic Death visit the Marilyn Monroe Murdered Website.