Marilyn Monroe Sings Happy Birthday, Mr President JFK WATCH 1962 SENATORS Ticket

Description: Marilyn Monroe Sings 'Happy Birthday, Mr. President' JFK 🇺🇸 MAY 19, 1962 | MADISON SQUARE GARDEN Marilyn Monroe was an icon of her time and remains a famous, and infamous, figure in American history. An actress, sex symbol, and cautionary tale about the pitfalls of fame, Monroe is known for many things, but arguably her most well-remembered moment came in May of 1962, on President John F. Kennedy's 45th birthday. On Saturday, May 19, 1962, in front of a televised crowd of 15,000 Democratic donors at Madison Square Garden, Marilyn Monroe serenaded President John F. Kennedy and sang 'Happy Birthday, Mr. President' to JFK on his 45th birthday. Altho the song lasted only one minute, it remains arguably THE most timeless and memorable moment of Marilyn Monroe's remarkable career! Meanwhile, back in Washington, First Lady Jackie Kennedy and the kids were staying at the Kennedy's Glen Ora estate in VA, and the Washington SENATORS were playing the Athletics at DC Stadium, just 4 miles down Constitution Ave. from the White House. JFK had just thrown out the First Pitch on OPENING DAY a few weeks prior at DC Stadium, as he would again a few weeks later at the 1962 MLB All-Star game at DC Stadium (later renamed RFK Stadium in honor of JFK's younger brother, Bobby). This ticket, between the Washington SENATORS and Kansas City Athletics, commemorates this DAY in history when Marilyn Monroe sang 'Happy Birthday, Mr. President' to JFK on his 45th birthday. Saturday, May 19, 1962 Kansas City Athletics at Washington SENATORS DC Stadium - Washington, DC Altho not a ticket to the actual JFK gala in NYC (which sold on eBay for nearly $1,500 in June 2024), this May 19, 1962 SENATORS ticket from DC Stadium pulls in Jackie Kennedy (who took a "haunting" call from Monroe only a month prior), JFK's cabinet members, White House staff & all the DC politicians back in Washington who watched the event on TV with the rest of America. One columnist wrote that Monroe seemed to be "making love to the president in direct view of 40 million Americans" - and there is no city that better represents America than Washington DC, our nation's capital. Therefore, this Washington SENATORS ticket from DC Stadium, is indeed appropriate to commemorate this date in history when Marilyn Monroe sang 'Happy Birthday, Mr. President' to JFK, Jackie & the rest of America! It is eerie that Jackie Kennedy took what she called a "haunting" phone call from Marilyn Monroe in April 1962 while at the family's Hyannis Port, MA residence. The party President Kennedy marked his 45th birthday with a Democratic fundraiser at Madison Square Garden in New York, where tickets cost up to $1,000 at the time (over $10,000 in today's dollars!). The 15,000-strong guest list consisted of celebrities, stars and political heavyweights of the time, with Marilyn Monroe scheduled as the night's biggest star. At 35, she was already a Hollywood icon struggling with addiction and the realities of fame and turned up to the party late, as was her signature. Appearing at the party in a rhinestone gown that she had to be sewn into, Marilyn Monroe took to the stage and sang one of the most sultry renditions of 'Happy Birthday' ever heard to President Kennedy. The performance has been parodied countless times in the decades since, but there was more to Monroe's appearance than a little song and dance. Her presence at the party left First Lady Jackie Kennedy fuming, but not with her husband, and was immortalized in the only photo of Monroe, JFK and Robert Kennedy together. She was introduced three times before sauntering onto the stage in a dress so tight she had to be sewn into it, and so expensive it was auctioned for almost $5 million in 2016. Life magazine photographer Bill Ray told Town & Country magazine that the event had been rowdy until Monroe appeared and everything suddenly changed gears. "Then boom, on comes this spotlight," he recalled. "There was no sound. No sound at all. It was like we were in outer space. There was this long, long pause and finally, she comes out with this unbelievably breathy, 'Happy biiiiirthday to youuuu,' and everybody just went into a swoon." Marilyn's song No one had ever considered 'Happy Birthday' a particularly sexy song – that is, until Monroe sang it breathlessly to the President of the United States in front of 15,000 guests. To this day it's an iconic moment in American culture and has been mimicked, parodied and satirized time and again in media and pop culture. But there were rumors of a connection between the pair for months before Monroe sang her now-famous "Happy Birthday, Mr President" to JFK. There were claims they had spent the night together after a Palm Springs party in March of 1962, and suggestions that he even invited her to his birthday event after beginning an affair. Nothing was ever confirmed, but Monroe's sexy song and her figure-hugging, flesh-toned dress did nothing to quell the rumors. After her performance, JFK addressed the crowd with a grin, saying: "I can now retire from politics after having had 'Happy Birthday' sung to me in such a sweet, wholesome way." Jackie's reaction Jackie Kennedy wasn't at the party that night, instead staying at their Glen Ora estate in Virginia with her children. But she did watch it on TV, with the rest of America, and was left furious with the evening's events – but not by Monroe's appearance, or her husband's reaction. "Life's too short to worry about Marilyn Monroe," she told her sister, according to a new biography by James Patterson. It was actually Robert Kennedy, her brother-in-law, that left Jackie fuming. It was her understanding that Robert, affectionately known as Bobby by family, had come up with the idea to have Monroe perform in the first place. "My understanding of it is that Bobby was the one who orchestrated the whole goddamn thing," she told her sister-in-law the day after the party. "The Attorney General is the troublemaker here, Ethel. Not the President. So it's Bobby I'm angry at, not Jack." The photo But what about that infamous photo, the only one ever taken of both Kennedy brothers with Monroe? After the party, the President, Robert and Monroe attended a private reception at a New York town house, where the three spent time chatting. It was there that Cecil Stoughton, the official white House photographer, snapped the only known photo of the trio together. In it, Monroe can be seen speaking with Robert while JFK stands with his back to the camera, his shadow cast over Monroe as he watches her. Just a few months later, she would be dead from an overdose. A little over a year after her passing, the President would be shot and killed in a public assassination, his brother dying in a similar attack in 1968. ----------------------------------- Marilyn Monroe's sultry song to President John F. Kennedy in May 1962 marked one final hurrah before her life came to a sudden end less than three months later By Tim Ott | Updated: SEP 8, 2020 Heading into 1962, Marilyn Monroe was trying to revive her sputtering personal and professional careers. She was still very much a movie star, but her previous year's feature, The Misfits, was a disappointment. She was also coming off a divorce to Arthur Miller, gallbladder surgery and a stay at a Manhattan psychiatric hospital, all of which combined to leave her in a fragile state. By the spring, things were looking up – Monroe was settling into a new home in the quiet Brentwood section of Los Angeles, and she had been offered a leading role in Something's Got to Give, a remake of the 1940 screwball comedy My Favorite Wife. Furthermore, she was looking forward to performing at a major Democratic fundraiser to honor President John F. Kennedy at New York City's Madison Square Garden on May 19, 1962. Rumors of an affair between Monroe and JFK began months before the event Monroe and Kennedy were already intimately acquainted, though researchers generally downplay the notion of any sort of lengthy affair between the two. Most agree that they spent the night together following a party at Bing Crosby's Palm Springs home in late March, during which time, some speculated, he extended the invite to join the Big Apple fundraiser – an event timed to celebrate his 45th birthday, altho his actual birthday came 10 days later. Monroe left the set of Something's Got to Give on May 17 and spent the next two days rehearsing in New York with her anxiety growing over the impending moment. On the night of the event, she was sewn into a special outfit for the occasion – a Jean Louis-designed, flesh-colored gown embedded with more than 2,500 rhinestones and tailored to hug her curves. Monroe's dress showed off her famous figure - and also gave the illusion that she was naked The televised gala featured the talents of such stars as Ella Fitzgerald, Bobby Darin and Maria Callas. Throughout the night, JFK's brother-in-law, actor Peter Lawford took advantage of Monroe's reputation for being late and constantly introduced her, only to look back at an empty stage and call for the next guest. Toward the end of the night, Monroe finally shimmied onto the stage, with Lawford eerily welcoming her as "the late Marilyn Monroe." The actress then shed her ermine stole to reveal her gown, its tone and shimmering crystals giving the impression she was naked and illuminated. "The figure was famous," recounted Time magazine. "And for one breathless moment, the 15,000 people in Madison Square Garden thought they were going to see all of it." Monroe launched into her quiet, breathy rendition of "Happy Birthday," gaining steam with encouragement from the audience, before dovetailing into a version of "Thanks for the Memory," with reworked lyrics that lauded the president for his hard work. She then exhorted everyone to join the birthday wishes before the camera panned to a giant cake being carried out, her long-awaited appearance quickly over. Afterward, while thanking the performers from the stage, Kennedy joked that he could "retire after having had 'Happy Birthday' sung to me in such a sweet, wholesome way." Monroe and JFK never saw each other again Altho the sultry performance ignited the longstanding rumors of their affair – journalist Dorothy Kilgallen described it as "making love to the president in the direct view of forty million Americans" – it also marked the end of their interactions. The starlet and the President mingled briefly at an afterparty of studio boss Arthur B. Krim, leading to the only known photo of the two (along with brother Robert), and never saw each other again. Monroe returned to shooting Something's Got to Give only to be fired right after her 36th birthday for repeated absences. Fox attempted to rehire her after costar Dean Martin threatened to quit, but filming never resumed. On August 5, 1962, Monroe was found dead in her Brentwood home from a drug overdose. Fifteen months later, President Kennedy followed her to an early grave. While 'Happy Birthday, Mr. President' lasted all of a minute, it remains arguably Marilyn Monroe's most enduring moment, no doubt because it serves as a reminder of her magnetism, her life in the blinding spotlight and her link to another tragic luminary from the same time.

Price: 349.95 USD

Location: Bourbonnais, Illinois

End Time: 2025-01-27T01:06:52.000Z

Shipping Cost: 4.95 USD