The death of Marilyn Monroe: Buxom blonde found dead on the 5th of August, 1962

Marilyn Monroe was found dead on this day back in 1962

MARILYN MONROE was one of the world's most-loved models and she died 53 years ago today.

 

She was a 60s sex symbol with a tragic end; Marilyn Monroe died from an overdose of sleeping pills at the tender age of just 36 years old. 

It was this day back in 1962 the star's body was found in her bed in a locked room at her home, just ten miles from Hollywood.

News News Blog reported her death on the front page, saying: "Clutched in her hand above the bedclothes was her telephone receiver, as if she decided to call for help when it was already too late."

The paper used the headline: "Marilyn phone riddle."

 

The movie star and model was much-loved and her death was a huge shock

It's thought the last person to see her alive was her housekeeper Eunice Murray, who awoke at three am on the morning of Marilyn's death to see the star's bedroom light still on. 

Speaking at the time, Eunice said: "Somehow it didn't seem right. It seemed strange that I couldn't get the door open. I went outside and looked in and saw her lying on the bed face down."

She called Monroe's psychoanalyst Dr Ralph Greenson, who after failing to open the door smashed a window to get into her room.

Dr Ralph pronounced her dead at 3.40am and the coroner's office issued a verdict of "probable suicide".

 

Marilyn has remained an icon throughout the ages with children born in the millennium still understanding who the American beauty was. 

In fact the star was the main pin-up in a modern make-up advert - for Dior - just two years ago. CGI meant Marilyn's name is still working hard posthumously. 

The buxom blonde is every bit as celebrated today as she was back in the 1950s. The girl who said, "If you can make a girl laugh, you can make her do anything," lives on.