National Geographic Traveller India – July 2019

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JULY 2019 | NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC TRAVELLER INDIA 89

E

ven though I was born there,

I still can’t think of one good

thing to say about it. If I close

my eyes, and picture L.A., all

I see is one big varicose vein,”Marilyn

Monroe famously said about the City of

Stars. Yet, it is in Los Angeles that the

Hollywood icon lived the longest, and it

is here that she is interred in the Pierce

Brothers Westwood Village Memorial

Park. She passed away in 1962, but her

stardom lives on, for in the Corridor of

Memories there’s never a lack of fresh

flowers at crypt no. 24.

In her short life of 36 years, Monroe’s

ascent to Hollywood was meteoric—

the camera both worshipped her and

whittled her down. Who can ever forget

the scene from Seven Year Itch where

Monroe, flashing her million-dollar

smile, standing by a subway, is holding

on to a billowing white cocktail dress?

An iconic pose that catapulted her into

an overnight sex symbol.

Pay homage to the icon at Hollywood

Boulevard. Go star-spotting at the

HollywoodWalk of Fame or find her

handprints outside the TCL Chinese

Theatre. Gaze at her extravagant

honeymoon dress or the bustier she

posed in for Playboy, along with the

spread, at the permanent exhibit in

the Hollywood Museum. Eat Monroe’s

favourite spicy beef chilli at Barney’s

Beanery, an L.A. establishment that

has been around since 1920, or grab a

booth at Rainbow Bar & Grill. It used

to be an Italian restaurant called Villa

Nova during her time, and this is where

Monroe met her second husband,

baseballer Joe DiMaggio, on a blind

Stay at the Marilyn Monroe Suite at the Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel (lef t) or grab a booth at the city's iconic Barney's Beanery (r i g h t), where

Monroe once dined.

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date in 1952. Formosa Café, which
Monroe frequented during the filming
of Some Like It Hot, fashioned itself as
the place “where stars dine,” and they
had over 250 autographed photographs
of the who’s who of Hollywood to
back the claim. Currently closed for
renovations, it's slated to be back on its
feet soon.
While the only house she ever bought
was the one she died in, Monroe lived
on and off in the city’s best hotels. The
Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel was also
the site of her first big shoot; she last
stayed in the Beverly Hills Hotel and
Bungalows in 1960 during the filming
of Let’s Make Love with her third, and
last, husband, Arthur Miller. What
the Charlie Hotel is today used to be
Charlie Chaplin’s estate back in the day,
and many struggling actors including
Monroe have called it home at some
point in their lives. All three hotels have
bungalows and suites dedicated to the
star, which any ardent fan can book,
DEPOSITEPHOTOS/INDIAPICTURE and make Instagram stories out of.

(ROOSEVELT HOTEL),

NIK WHEELER/ALAMY/INDIAPICTURE

(POOL TABLE)

FACING PAGE:

ALBUM ONLINE/INDIAPICTURE

(MONROE),

DEPOSITEPHOTOS/INDIAPICTURE

(LOS ANGELES SIGN),

R SCAPINELLO/ISTOCK EDITORIAL/GETTY IMAGES

(STAR)

Los Angeles