The world’s most well-known Marilyn Monroe impersonator says she feels “bittersweet” in regards to the seventieth anniversary of the primary ever version of Playboy.
Hugh Hefner turned an instantaneous success after utilizing Marilyn’s bare footage for his inaugural cowl and centrefold – regardless of having by no means met her.
It launched his mammoth profession as a publishing mogul who earned hundreds of thousands and earlier than his dying he controversially made certain he could be buried beside Marilyn.
And for these causes, Suzie Kennedy, who has carried out as a lookalike to the Hollywood display screen legend for 27 years, has combined emotions in regards to the iconic Christmas anniversary.
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(Image: Suzie Kennedy)
Speaking to Daily Star, she mentioned: “It is so bittersweet for me this whole Playboy thing. I will tell you why because Marilyn Monroe was never ashamed of her body which I love.
“I love that she was never ashamed of her sexuality and she was never ashamed when they tried to shame her about those nude pictures. But what makes me sad is that it made Playboy and it made Hugh Hefner and he never paid her.
“He never even met her or gave her the grace… and on top of that he is buried next to her and it is like he benefited from her liberation. She was never ashamed of what she did – so it is bittersweet for me.
“Women should not be ashamed of anything they have done in their lives or of their bodies but it is sad that a man had to capitalise from it and make money from it.”
Colour pictures of Marilyn’s bare physique ended up on Playboy years after she posed for snapper Tom Kelley when she was broke and but to grow to be a profitable actress and mannequin.
And she was later quoted as saying that Tom solely paid her a measly $50 modelling price when she signed away her rights to the racy snaps that went on to assist generate fortunes.
(Image: Getty Images)
(Image: Getty Images)
The landmark cowl confirmed Monroe on prime of an elephant at Madison Square Garden alongside the teasing phrases: “First time in any magazine, FULL COLOR, the famous MARILYN MONROE NUDE.”
Then, a chunk insider he magazine learn: “There were actually two poses shot au naturel back in ‘49, just before the gorgeous blonde got her first movie break. When they appeared as calendar art, they helped catapult her to stardom. We’ve selected the better of the two as our first Playboy Sweetheart.”
But regardless of Playboy turning into a cultural phenomenon, Marilyn felt like she by no means acquired the deserved recognition for her position in it.
Writing in her e-book, Marilyn: Her Life in Her Own Words, she mentioned: “I never even received a thank you from all those who made millions off a nude Marilyn photograph.
“I even had to buy a copy of the magazine to see myself in it… I admitted it was me who posed for that nude calendar even when the Fox executives became nervous and believed this would cause the ruination of any films I would appear in and also the end of my movie career.
“Of course they were wrong. The fans, my public, cheered when I admitted it was me, and that calendar and that Playboy first-issue publicity helped my career.”
(Image: AFP through Getty Images)
(Image: Suzie Kennedy)
Marilyn sadly died on the age of 36 again in 1962 and Hefner mentioned he didn’t get the chance to fulfill her in individual after he solely moved to California after her dying.
He mentioned: “She was actually in my brother’s acting class in New York. But the reality is that I never met her. I talked to her once on the phone, but I never met her. She was gone, sadly, before I came.”
Despite acknowledging that he by no means had a private relationship together with her, he nonetheless splashed out $75,000 for a crypt beside her at Westwood Village Memorial Park Cemetery.
Speaking to the Los Angeles Times, Hefner, who died aged 91 in 2017, mentioned: “I’m a believer in things symbolic. Spending eternity next to Marilyn is too sweet to pass up.”
Her legacy in the meantime is being continued by Londoner Suzie Kennedy who has spent nearly three a long time impersonating her.