Marilyn Monroe dress, which prompted veteran star Joan Crawford to describe her behavior as "unbecoming an actress and a lady" to the press. While "Niagara" made Monroe a sex symbol and established her "look", her second film of the year, the satirical musical comedy "Gentlemen Prefer Blondes", established her screen persona as a "dumb blonde". Based on Anita Loos' bestselling novel and its Broadway version, the film focuses on two "gold-digging" showgirls, Lorelei Lee and Dorothy Shaw, played by Monroe and Jane Russell. The role of Lorelei was originally intended for Betty Grable, who had been 20th Century-Fox's most popular "blonde bombshell"
Bombshell (sex symbol) Bombshell (sex symbol) The term bombshell is a forerunner to the term "sex symbol" and originally used to describe popular female sex icons. In modern usage, bombshell refers to a very attractive woman. The "Online Etymology Dictionary" by Douglas Harper attests the usage of the term in this meaning since 1942, and in the meaning of "shattering or devastating thing or event" since 1860. The first woman to be known as a bombshell was Jean Harlow, who was nicknamed the "blonde bombshell" for her film "Platinum Blonde" (1931). Two years later, she starred in the Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer film "Bombshell" (1933). One