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"
Ben Nye Ben Nye Benjamin Emmet "Ben" Nye, Sr. (January 12, 1907 – February 9, 1986) was an American makeup artist for the Hollywood film industry for over four decades, from the 1930s to the early 1980s. He worked on over five hundred 20th Century Fox films both in and out of Hollywood. Including "Gone with the Wind" (1939), "Miracle on 34th Street" (1947), "Gentlemen Prefer Blondes" (1953), "The King and I" (1956), "The Fly" (1958), "Valley of the Dolls" (1967), and "Planet of the Apes" (1968). His brother was actor Carroll Nye, best remembered today as Frank Kennedy, Scarlett O'Hara's second