Who was more beautiful in their prime: Marilyn Monroe or Madonna?

Norma Jean, certainly

Add Bette Midler in there and you have a winner!

Marilyn and it’s not close. But you know that already OP.

Hahahahaha!

You're kidding, right?

Should have done a poll. It is one of the great joys in life to vote for Vivian Vance.

I prefer Sophia Loren to Marilyn, Elizabeth, Grace Kelly, Rita Hayworth, Ava Gardner and everybody. Skank Madonna doesn't make the grade in any degree, in any category, in any era...which is why OP's joke isn't funny in the slightest.

The only time I thought Madonna looked beautiful was at the 1991 Oscars.

JANET.

Only in madonna's dreams would she come even close to marilyn

Madonna was never beautiful except with the help of lots of make-up and coloring her dark hair blond. Marilyn Monroe had that special IT factor that Madonna did not have physically.

OP is Stevie Wonder

Madonna with dark hair - looks like a witch on Halloween.

Marilyn was more beautiful.

But I thought Madonna was at her most attractive during the Girlie Show tour. The short hair suited her. And her body was in amazing shape.

Marilyn, without a doubt, but Madonna deserves credit for constantly reinventing her looks over the years.

Madonna wins

Kelly Ripa.

Madonna

MM, Sophia Loren, paulina porizkova, Helena Christensen, christy turlington and pre-surgery/tweaks Naomi Campbell MILES before Madonna

Madonna has not yet reached her prime!

[quote]The only time I thought Madonna looked beautiful was at the 1991 Oscars.

Maybe the pictures I just looked at are all bad angles or bad lighting because I don’t see it, R7

What a dumb question. Madonna was NEVER beautiful. Marilyn was a goddess. Everybody who knew her commented on how gorgeous she was.

Marilyn wasn’t naturally beautiful.

Ms. Norma Jean Baker without a doubt. ♥️

Interesting tidbit:

“According to the National Enquirer, Marilyn Monroe confessed her lesbian encounters to her psychiatrist, Dr. Ralph Greenson. The tabloid even claimed that the doctor had audio tapes to back it up. This is totally plausible because Marilyn’s psychiatrists tape-recorded every session with Marilyn. They were as fascinated by her as her fans were. According to the tapes, Marilyn hooked up with screen legend Joan Crawford. The Enquirer quotes Marilyn as saying, ‘We went to Joan’s bedroom. Crawford had a gigantic orgasm and shrieked like a maniac. Next time I saw her, she wanted another round … and I turned her down.’”

MM had a nose job and something done to her chin via plastic surgery.

I suspect Madonna has had at least three nosejobs: one pre-fame, one after 1991 and another more recently. Adding in her BBL, fake cheekbones, multiple face and eyelifts, collagen and botox, breast implants and lift(s), that's a fucktonne of work. And she still needs filters and photoshop. And fishnet by the crate load. Plus gloves and jewellery, PVC dresses, push up bras and trashy mini dresses. Mega heels for her petite stature.

Does she live in Calabasas? Might as well move there and become part of the Kardashian ensemble cast and gain more social media followers as their numbers dwarf hers in that department. Could help with album sales.

[quote]The only time I thought Madonna looked beautiful was at the 1991 Oscars.

Funny you should say that, R7. Madonna's Oscar appearance was clearly an imitation of Marilyn's appearance at the premiere of How To Marry A Millionaire, especially the hairstyle.

Marilyn wins, of course. She was already a print model before getting plastic surgery. Her appeal was enhanced by her warm charisma.

The stuff about Marilyn's lesbian experiences comes from tapes that only an old coot named John Miner supposedly heard. He had no proof of what he said; he simply claimed that Ralph Greenson, Marilyn's psychiatrist, allowed him to listen to tapes he'd made of sessions with Marilyn and that he took "extensive notes" while listening to them. Here's a letter that Anthony Summers wrote to The Independent that should clear the whole "Marilyn Tapes" thing up:

Sir - I was surprised to see the lengthy story (Sunday Independent, 7/8/05) on John Miner's claims about Marilyn Monroe - including what he says is in a "transcript" of tapes the actress made before her death in 1962. I am the author of a biography of Monroe, and former deputy district attorney Miner approached me with this yarn back in 1995. He made it clear he wanted money f

Sir - I was surprised to see the lengthy story (Sunday Independent, 7/8/05) on John Miner's claims about Marilyn Monroe - including what he says is in a "transcript" of tapes the actress made before her death in 1962. I am the author of a biography of Monroe, and former deputy district attorney Miner approached me with this yarn back in 1995. He made it clear he wanted money for publication of the "70 to 80" pages of handwritten notes he had made in "a sort of shorthand" back in 1962. Various publications, he said, had made him six-figure offers to reveal what he knew about the Monroe case.

Vanity Fair magazine, to which I contribute on occasion, arranged to bring Miner and his material to me on the US east coast. He arrived with just 35 pages - not in shorthand but cursive narrative - on a yellow legal pad. Original notes containing "exact quotes", Miner said, were in storage. He would look for them. He never produced the notes, conceded that he had put the 35 pages together only recently, and accounted for their astonishing detail by saying he was gifted with a remarkable memory - and had virtually total recall of audiotapes he had heard more than 30 years earlier! Neither I nor the editors at Vanity Fair thought such vaporous stuff merited publication. Miner's tale vanished, only to surface again in 2003 and - now - in your pages.

In 2003, when I was consulted by a television company that was preparing a report on Miner's renewed claims, a background check revealed that "John W Miner" - with addresses the same as his - had been the subject of a bankruptcy case in 1996, just months after he had come to me with the purported Monroe material. The following year, John W Miner was suspended from the practice of law for a period by California's state bar, and placed on probation for two years. Miner, meanwhile, told me that he thought his phone was being bugged and his letters opened, and that someone had been following him. None of this, and nothing in Miner's material, encourages me to believe he has a contribution to make to serious history.

Anyone agree that Madonna and Marilyn have the same nose?

Lol what the fuck? Madonna is not beautiful. Attractive and sexy in her prime maybe. Great body but never had a pretty let alone beautiful face. Straight men finding her hot does not make her a great beauty. They think big boobs, blonde hair and tons of makeup is "beautiful."

Madonna needs to in fact thank her gay makeup artists, fashion designers and photographers who made her look stunning.

Whitney Houston was stunningly beautiful. Tina Turner was beautiful. Vanessa Williams was beautiful. The late Selena was beautiful.

Marilyn was stunning and charismatic and a beauty. I don't think she was as beautiful as Elizabeth Taylor, Dorothy Dandridge or Ava Gardner but she was up there. Marilyn had the Hollywood makeover but even in her Norma Jean days she was intriguing and popped out.

In addition to her beauty Marilyn had "it." A certain something that set her apart for all the other beautiful young starlets. Also she was brilliantly photogenic (Garbo and Louise Brooks had that quality, too). Marilyn was really something special. Madonna is not. Also Marilyn had vulnerability that Madonna totally lacks, and that made her more appealing too. How can anybody compare MM and Madonna? There IS no comparison.

Young Marilyn Manson by a mile.

What's next comparing Justin Timberlake to Paul Newman? Comparing Justin Bieber to James Dean? Ariana Grande to Audrey Hepburn?

R28, what do you think is wrong with her face? Just wondering .

Ugh timberlake. Remember when the tabloids were trying to portray him as a womaniser with the nickname Trousersnake? He needs a nose and chin job more than norma Jean ever did

R34 He was just a wannabe Usher, then a wannabe Michael Jackson and then a wannabe Prince without any of the talent. He already got a (bad) nose job and hot-combs his curly nappy hair.

Lady Gaga

Madonna was never beautiful

Monroe was by far the more beautiful, but Madonna knew how to work an outfit and play to the camera. I thought she was adorable in "Who's That Girl" and she looks stunning in the videos for "Open Your Heart" and "Cherish." She certainly wasn't a dog, as many seem to be implying.

Madonna is only being compared because of "Material Girl" and aping Monroe's looks with the fake mole and lipstick. She is an imitation and never could compare.

Grace Kelly. (By the way - ahem - false dilemma/false dichotomy.)

I’d say Madonna. People may not like Madonna but in her prime, Madonna was a very very beautiful woman

Marilyn.

Madonna looks like a piece of shit compared with Marilyn Monroe.

R33 I don't think anything was wrong with pre-surgery Madonna's face. She's just not as beautiful as Marilyn was. Some people just aren't blessed with great physical beauty. Madonna made up for it in stage presence, personality and understanding how to market herself on MTV. She's distinctive and stood out in an oversaturated market of pop tarts. That's respectable. But in terms of looks, she's never been a great beauty.

IMO, Madonna had a better body (than Marilyn).

Here are some Polaroids of Madonna from the early '80s. Face looks beautiful, IMO.

Monroe, but Madonna was beautiful in her youth. She had an iconic face.

Madonna ain't so bad.

Madonna was very interesting looking. Like a living art piece.

Marilyn was sex on a stick and gorgeous.

[quote]Madonna is only being compared because of "Material Girl" and aping Monroe's looks with the fake mole and lipstick. She is an imitation and never could compare.

It wasn't just Material Girl. For the 1991 Oscars, Madonna copied Marilyn's public appearance at the How To Marry A Millionaire premiere.

Her photospread in Vanity Fair's April '91 issue duplicated several photos of Marilyn.

In Who's That Girl, she copied Marilyn's first appearance on the cover of Life magazine (see below).

In two photos, one of which is the movie poster for Truth Or Dare, Madonna wore the actual outfit Marilyn wore in Bus Stop.

Marilyn wore a showgirl costume with feathers and rode a circus elephant for a charity benefit in Madison Square Garden. Madonna wore a very similar costume with feathers and rode a circus elephant in a Japanese commercial for Nippon Boutique.

Her Celebration album cover copied one of Andy Warhol's famous silkscreen paintings of Marilyn.

Hell, her Burning Up video was "inspired" by Andre de Dienes' photos of young Norma Jeane lounging barefoot in the middle of a road.

There are more examples I haven't mentioned. Add to all this the instances of Madonna copying the images of Marlene Dietrich, Jean Harlow, Bette Davis, Jean Seberg, Jayne Mansfield, Bettie Page, Amanda Lear, etc. . . and then it can hardly be an"homage". She suffers in comparison to the originals. She's no better than Lady Gaga when it comes to copy pasting, but she's been doing it far longer. How reductive.

One of Madonna's April '91 Vanity Fair imitations, right:

Another copycat photo in Vanity Fair, top row:

From the Japanese commercial for Nippon Boutique, top right:

stills from Burning Up video:

SUSAN BOYLE, ROSE .

Madonna was never beautiful, she was pretty.

A piece of shit dyed blonde is way fucking prettier than Vadge, cunt.

R49, what made her look like art? Just wondering

If Madonna had brown eyes and kept her natural brown hair. Nobody would call her striking. She had a great figure though.

Wow r35 that's gotta be the worst nosejob in history. What the hell did he look like before?

No.

I've seen photos of young Madonna with little makeup. She was ordinary, at best. And in one of the those nude photos where she's sporting a forest of hair in her armpits and crotch you can see her face. She has a hairy upper lip.

bump

Some people are pretending Marilyn was this great beauty when she wasn't. Without the plastic surgery, bottle blonde hair and makeup she just looked like a pasty pudgy potato.

I thought the hair, makeup, styling and lighting in the Like A Prayer video gave Madonna one of her most beautiful looks.

This was an especially flattering angle.

Madonna was never beautiful but had an impressive bush when young.

R22 Marylin was soft and vulnerable. Madonnas has always been harsh.

Madonna no doubt. Marylin is also beautiful but her look is a bore. Madonna is much much more interesting and her body is also sexier.

[quote]Marylin

Oh, dear.

Fuck off with the Oh, dear. It’s fucking tiring and old

Marilyn. Duh.

Didn’t Madonna complain Gaga had stolen her act? The numerous times Madonna stole from Marilyn shows her hypocrisy. She just copied everything. I am sure Ms Monroe would have been furious. And shame on the designers and art directors as well.

There is an homage and then there is theft of creative property. What do you gentlemen think?

@ R65 photo looks like Julia Louis Dreyfus, Elaine of Seinfeld.

R64 Brunette pre-nose job Marilyn was still prettier than Madonna.

[quote] Madonna no doubt

There's plenty of "doubt." I think if a real poll were held Marilyn would win by a landslide. I think most people would be bewildered by the question: "Who's more beautiful, Marilyn Monroe or Madonna? WTF?"

I think that even if Marilyn hadn’t become a a blonde bombshell movie star she would be known where ever she went as an extremely pleasing extremely pretty feminine girlish woman. She would be the really pretty but not popular girl in school. The Pretty woman who works the counter at the dry cleaners. She had that rate quality that both men and women liked Marilyn - except maybe the Kennedy Women!!

Late '40s , pre-nosejob Marilyn was IMHO prettier than 'classic' '50s Marilyn.

R76, why not popular? Just wondering

Pictures of Marilyn Monroe and Madonna when they were teenagers show that Marilyn was pretty and Madonna was not.

#78 - 76 here. I think that in High School she would have had too many issues and problems at home to be fully “present” in school. I think high school would be Something she endured rather than enjoyed. I’m sure everyone would like her and she would very sweet and smile and lower her eyes - but make no real connection. She would participate enough to fit in - not stand out. She would have been dreamy planning to hurry up and get out of there - even if it was to get married or get a glamorous job at the perfume counter at a department store. That’s just how I picture her.

There are photos of Monroe without makeup, R64. She was gorgeous. She had baby soft, flawless skin. Her make-up artist said she was one of the most beautiful women he had ever made up.

There are also photos of her pre-plastic surgery and she was just as gorgeous then too. She only had work on her chin and nose which, imo, wasn't required.

Your expectations for female beauty are ridiculously high.

R81, My expectations are not high, I just don't see anything remarkable about her looks. Quincy Jones said something to the effect of she wasn't much to look at....

If Madonna was asked this question. She answer Marilyn too. First of all, why would Madonna want to emulate Marilyn over and over in music videos, public appearances and magazine covers if she didn't think Marilyn was beautiful?

Hell every female singer or celebrity seems to have tried to pull of a Marilyn look. Who is trying to look like Madonna?

[quote] Quincy Jones said something to the effect of she wasn't much to look at

Quincy Jones? Who cares what he says? He's a nutjob. He said he was invited to Sharon Tate's house on the night of her murder in order to pick up "hair products" from Jay Sebring. I don't believe that, either.

Quincy Jones and Madonna should have bonded over their love of big dicks.

Madonna

You need a new pair of eyeglasses, R86.

Ha ha OP is back to shit stirring. That’s like asking which animal is bigger: a blue whale or a mouse? Literally everyone knows the answer to that question.

R88 what is wrong with Madonna's looks?

For R89

R90 she looks a lot like marilyn there

Madonna was never beautiful, or talented. But she was smart and managed to turn her total lack of assets into a career.

R91. That was deliberate. She's been copying Marilyn's style intermittently throughout her career.

Im sorry but Madge in her time was stunning.

Marilyn was a pinup model for years before stardom. Madonna would not be because her face is too harsh looking. Madonna's Playboy pics only exist because she was famous. She would not be a Playboy Playmate otherwise.

Madonna’s eyes and eyebrows are striking.

[quote] Im sorry but Madge in her time was stunning.

Compared to Marilyn in her time she was a dog.

Madonna always looked better as a brunette. She looked lovely in the videos for "Like a Prayer" and "The Power of Goodbye". That being said, she never even approached Marilyn's beauty.

I've always thought Madonna looked like a cross between Marilyn Monroe and Elizabeth Taylor.

Madonna. Madonna was striking when she put effort into it. But she had plenty of natural looks with less makeup where she is beautiful. Those eyes!

Here

Wow.

I like this photo shoot

[quote] I've always thought Madonna looked like a cross between Marilyn Monroe and Elizabeth Taylor.

You are blind.

This is one of my favorite Madonna pics, in addition to almost all the Vanity Fair shoots.

That is a great photo of her. Not original in the slightest, but still good.

Monroe was beautiful in the face but her body was spotted with moles.

Madonna could only be considered beautiful to her fanbase. She's not ugly, she was good-looking and appealing when she was young. But she certainly was not in the league of Kelly LeBrock, Sharon Stone, Michelle Pfeiffer, Kim Basinger, Jennifer Connelly and Demi Moore who were considered 80s beautiful. Linda Fiorentino, Alyssa Milano and Gia Carangi were much more beautiful Italian-Americans. Marilyn was considered one of the most beautiful actresses at the time of her fame. And Madonna was not even considered the most beautiful of singers. If Madonna tried out for Hollywood in the 40s and 50s, she would get rejected. Marilyn could still be an actress today.

R94 LOL

I loved this look from the Papa Don't Preach video. Her skin looked flawless.

R108, what do you think of Elizabeth Taylor's looks? Just wondering.

Marylin had a chin implant

Madonna was very photogenic

R111 Elizabeth was much more beautiful than Madonna and Marilyn. Madonna just reminds me of all the Italian American princesses I went to school with in New Jersey.

Madonna’s face is as beautiful as Marilyn’s but her face is more unique, iconic and photogenic. Madonna also has a nicer body.

Had^^

Shouldn't even be a question. Marilyn, of course.

I agree, r110, if you consider a quarter-inch of make-up skin.

Madonna is just a poser drag queen who got lucky with a handful of records. Nobody will be talking about her 60 years after her death.

Madonna is ugly, inside and out.

[quote]Compared to Marilyn in her time she was a dog

Wouldn't Marilyn in her time be considered a "dog", too? she wasn't thought of as a great beauty like Elizabeth Taylor or Grace Kelly. The "great beauty of her time" got tagged onto her posthumous by her fans. None of the gossip mags or articles from that era described her in that way. Men thought she was hot because she wiggled her hips and put on a baby voice, "something to screw and throw away" was a closer description to how she was viewed as a public image. Sort of like Kim Kardashian.

[quote] Wouldn't Marilyn in her time be considered a "dog", too?

No. In her early youth she was pretty. Madonna never was. Later MM morphed into glamorous sex goddess. Madonna tried really hard to be that, but compared to MM she was nothing in the looks dept.

“Her” not “their”, OP.

Madilyn (or Mardonna).

Equal

This is a stupid question. Both are products of artifice, and Madonna looked her absolute best when she was older than Monroe was at her death.

Madonna had a unique but too adult face. She needed time to grow into that face, and that dud not happen until she was past 40.

Madonna's total look was at it's peak when she was married to Ritchie. Then she looked like an interesting adult woman with something to say for herself. Prior to that, she just borrowed and synthesized from others, made a spectacle of herself and was laughably cheap looking.

Monroe was a baby faced innocent, and was lucky to pass away before that face turned into a sour and wrinkled woman. Also, although she was following the footsteps of blonde Hollywood starlets, she bested them in the image and icon department at every turn while also magically appearing as though she was real. She made the fantasy sweet baby doll real. Madonna has adopted costumes, but never managed to appear genuine. Just arch and putting-it-on.

Here is the image on an interesting and unique _woman_, not a child imitating old starlets to famewhore and get a rise from the public as she had done til then. Madonna at her best was not a grand beauty, but she didn't have to be. Marilyn didn't have much beyond tragic waif, and her being that forever is why she is remembered.

Elizabeth Taylor in her prime was more beautiful than both of them put together.

Monroe had the better face. Madonna had the better body. They were both beautiful. Both iconic. However, Madonna did copy Monroe. A lot.

Monroe was actually pretty. Everyone knows I love Madge, but she has never been technically pretty. She can look pretty, dress up, and look sexy or fierce but pretty is natural thing. Beyonce, Rihanna, Mila Kunis they are pretty. To me Monroe had the better too. She was curvy in all the right places. She just was a pretty ass white woman.

R130, why don't you think Madonna is technically pretty? Just wondering.

r131 She doesn't have the facial symmetry and none of her individual features are delicate. She's not ugly by any means. She's just a regular, schmegular Italian broad from Detroit.

I always felt that during her Girlie Show tour era, pixie blonde hair, lithe body type, that Madonna should have played Peter Pan around that time, it could have been awesome! :-)

Elizabeth Taylor

Anna Nicole Smith

[quote] “According to the National Enquirer, Marilyn Monroe confessed her lesbian encounters to her psychiatrist, Dr. Ralph Greenson. The tabloid even claimed that the doctor had audio tapes to back it up. This is totally plausible because Marilyn’s psychiatrists tape-recorded every session with Marilyn. They were as fascinated by her as her fans were. According to the tapes, Marilyn hooked up with screen legend Joan Crawford. The Enquirer quotes Marilyn as saying, ‘We went to Joan’s bedroom. Crawford had a gigantic orgasm and shrieked like a maniac. Next time I saw her, she wanted another round … and I turned her down.’”

Oh well, if the National Enquirer said it then it must be true! Anyway, those "tapes" never existed. A strange man named John Miner said Ralph Greenson let him listen to the tapes and that he took "extensive notes> But there's no evidence any such tapes existed. The Marilyn depicted in those "tapes" sounds like a middle aged man's idea of what MM would sound like; in other words, she sounds like a brainless slut. On the tapes she tells the paychiatrist Greenson that she knows he's too good and noble to do it but she would love to have sex with him. Total hooey.