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She was the epitome of the blond bombshell.
Women tried to imitate her. Men lusted after her. And one more thing - Marilyn Monroe was actually a bottle blonde. She was born a redhead.
Had she lived, the woman also known as Norma Jean Baker and Norma Jean Mortensen would have been 80 today.
And here's what the most famous blonde on the silver screen would have looked like if she was around to celebrate her birthday.
The picture by age-progression artist D'Lynn Waldron is based on an early photo of Monroe.
Waldron, whose work has appeared in magazines and newspapers, uses forensic analysis of the face to understand how age changes it.
"This is what she would have gone back to being if she aged gracefully," Waldron said. "I have had her age naturally but very well."
Baseball star Joe DiMaggio broke millions of men's hearts when he married Monroe in 1954, but the actress couldn't leave behind a movie career for domestic bliss.
They divorced in less than a year.
In 1955, she met playwright Arthur Miller. She was attracted to Miller's intellect and he said he felt giddy in her presence. They got married in 1956 and divorced six years later.
During the Camelot years, there were rumors of an affair with President John F. Kennedy, rumors heightened after she sang a sexy version of "Happy Birthday" to JFK at Madison Square Garden in 1962.
She was found dead in her Los Angeles home that August, apparently of a drug overdose.
andy.geller@nypost.com
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