Hollywood honors Marilyn Monroe, 100 years on

Hollywood wished a breathy “Happy Birthday” to Marilyn Monroe on June 1 as Tinseltown celebrated 100 years since the birth of one of its most famous daughters.

More than six decades after her tragically early death, the city was awash with references to the bottle-blonde icon on what would have been her 100th birthday.

“When you think of Hollywood, you think of Marilyn,” tour guide Lacey Noel told AFP on Hollywood Boulevard’s Walk of Fame.

“There’s some sort of beautiful, mysterious and captivating aura that she has that will never go away.”At the historic Chinese Theater, where Monroe’s handprints are immortalized alongside “Gentlemen Prefer Blondes” (1953) co-star Jane Russell, fans gathered to sing “Happy Birthday,” echoing her famed sultry serenade to president John F. Kennedy.