In 1995, the U.S. Postal Service released a collectible postage stamp that began its Legends of Hollywood commemorative stamps series. The 32-cent Marilyn Monroe stamp is the inaugural issue in the popular Legends of Hollywood stamp series.

The Career of Marilyn Monroe

According to the Internet Movie Database, Norma Jeane Baker, later known as Marilyn Monroe, was born on 1 June, 1926, in Los Angeles, California.

Monroe's Hollywood career was tragically short, but her film performances, natural beauty, sultry voice, and off-screen lifestyle quickly cemented her as part of American culture for all eternity. The public began to take notice of her on-screen presence in The Asphalt Jungle (1950) and All About Eve (1950), resulting in larger roles in movies such as Monkey Business (1952), Gentlemen Prefer Blondes (1953), How to Marry a Millionaire (1953), The Seven Year Itch (1955), Bus Stop (1956), Some Like it Hot (1959), and The Misfits (1961).

Marilyn's performance in The Seven Year Itch contained a scene that is one of the most memorable and iconic moments in movie history, with Marilyn standing on a subway grating while the wind from a passing subway blew her white skirt up and Marilyn coyly attempted to hold the skirt down.

Marilyn Monroe died on 5 August, 1962, in Los Angeles, California. Her death was ruled a suicide by drug overdose, but fans have endlessly argued that her death was an accidental drug overdose or a murder.

USPS Marilyn Monroe Stamp Design

As told in the USA Philatelic: Beyond the Perf, Issue 008, for the image of Marilyn on the stamp, the U.S. Postal Service and the Citizen's Stamp Advisory Committee selected a portrait of Marilyn Monroe by artist Michael Deas. Deas based his painting on a publicity photo of Marilyn from the 1950s.

The selvage art (or the art in the surplus margin around the sheet of stamps), is a clipped version of the same painting used on the stamp. The original selvage art showed Marilyn in her iconic billowing skirt from The Seven Year Itch, but the picture was changed when the majority owner of the Monroe estate felt the image was demeaning to Marilyn's memory.

Stamps in the Legends of Hollywood Series

The USPS Legends of Hollywood series of United States stamps began in 1995 with the release of the Marilyn Monroe stamp and continues to be one of the longest-running and most popular stamp series in USPS history. As of 12 May, 2010, there are 16 stamps in the Legends of Hollywood series, with no end in sight.