Interesting facts about Marilyn Monroe (17 pictures)

It’s hard to imagine a star whose life has been examined more relentlessly than that of Marilyn Monroe. Monroe has had every detail of her life — her Dickensian childhood, her brief but unforgettable movie career, her liaisons with famous men, her mysterious death 51 years ago (on August 5, 1962) — picked over by biographers and novelists, reporters and FBI agents, filmmakers and fans. And yet there is still plenty about Monroe that isn’t common knowledge. Here are some details that even dedicated Monroephiles may not know, facts that only add to our continuing fascination with pop culture’s most durable sex symbol.