If Marilyn were still alive, she would have turned 80 on June 1. Born Norma Jeane Mortenson in 1926 in Los Angeles, Marilyn's mother listed the father's address as unknown. Her mother was mentally unstable. Due to the fact that she was unmarried at the time, little Marilyn was forced to spend her first seven years in a foster home. These tragic beginnings may have contributed to the immense sadness she had to deal with as an adult.

A little before she died, Marilyn agreed to remarry baseball legend Joe DiMaggio (the Gary Sobers of baseball), after separating from him years ago. The wedding date was set for August 8, 1962. She was also offered a role in the film Something's Got to Give, with a huge salary. Neither the marriage nor the film came to be though, with her death on August 5.

Much has been written and speculated about the events surrounding her death, and even though it has officially been labelled a suicide, the disbelievers continue to exist in large numbers. Was it an accidental drug overdose? Or was Marilyn murdered because she knew too much about people like John and Robert Kennedy?

Much of the shadows in Marilyn's life emerged in the years following her death. When she died, the actress had just $2,200 in her checking account at the City National Bank in Beverly Hills.

The one thing that's certain is this. Marilyn may be long dead, but the world's fascination with her is far from over. She continues in death, as she did in life, to generate a mix of mystery, desire and intrigue.

Perhaps, for this immortal diva, death was only the beginning.

Compiled by Cultural Correspondent