Marilyn says, "It is a simple bust-firming routine which consists of lifting five-pound weights from a spread-eagle arm position to a point directly above my head. I do this 15 times, slowly. I repeat the exercise another 15 times from a position with my arms above my head. Then, with my arms at a 45-degree angle from the floor, I move my weights in circles until I'm tired. I don't count rhythmically like the exercise people on the radio; I couldn't stand exercise if I had to feel regimented about it."

Marilyn says, "I start warming a cup of milk on the hot plate I keep in my hotel room. When it's hot, I break two raw eggs into the milk, whip them up with a fork, and drink them while I'm dressing. I supplement this with a multivitamin pill, and I doubt if any doctor could recommend a more nourishing breakfast for a working girl in a hurry."

Monroe expert Gene London says, "Her pout was created with five different varieties of lipstick and gloss: darker reds on the outer corners, lighter shades in the middle to lend dimension, with a highlighted cupid’s bow and bottom lip."

London says, "Further contour tricks were used to shape her nose, sharpen her cheekbones, make her eyes look more deep-set, arch her brows, and emphasize her heart-shaped face."

London says, "She had the heaviest peach fuzz beard of any actress in Hollywood. They [studio chiefs] wanted to remove the facial hair, but Marilyn absolutely refused. She said that when the light hit the fuzz it caused her face to have a soft glow, so they didn’t have to photograph her through special lenses, lace, or Vaseline the way they did with so many stars."

London says, "Marilyn took to placing marbles in her bras, or she’d take three buttons … and sew the buttons together and place those inside her dress."

Marilyn says, "My dinners at home are startlingly simple. Every night I stop at the market near my hotel and pick up a steak, lamb chops or some liver, which I broil in the electric oven in my room. I usually eat four or five raw carrots with my meat, and that is all. I must be part rabbit; I never get bored with raw carrots."

Marilyn says, "I have developed the habit of stopping off at Wil Wright's ice cream parlor for a hot fudge sundae on my way home from my evening drama classes. I'm sure that I couldn't allow myself this indulgence were it not that my normal diet is composed almost totally of protein foods."

Marilyn says, "Depending upon my activities, I sleep between five and ten hours every night. I sleep in an extra-wide single bed, and I use only one heavy down comforter over me, summer or winter."

Marilyn says, "I have never been able to wear pajamas or creepy nightgowns; they disturb my sleep.”