Born Norma Jean Baker on this date in Los Angeles in 1926, the illegitimate daughter of a film-negative cutter who was often hospitalized for schizophrenia during Norma Jean's childhood. No wonder this young woman was married at the age of 14 -- to a merchant seaman named Jim Dougherty. While Dougherty was off at sea, Norma Jean got a job helping assemble target-planes, then started posing as a pin-up model. A movie career? Why not? But, in those days, Hollywood didn't give contracts to married women. So, in 1946, Norma Jean went to Las Vegas, and got a divorce. As she'd hoped (and inevitably, given her extreme beauty), she soon got a screen test from Howard Hughes. She signed no contract with Hughes. 20th Century Fox signed her, instead, and gave her a new name to boot. "Marilyn" came from Fox's casting director. :"Monroe" was her mother's maiden name. Her career started slowly. Bit parts, little notice. Needing the money, she posed nude for an ambitious little magazine called Playboy. The resulting photo -- MM on her side, reclining on crushed red velvet -- helped make a little magazine into a big one. Then Miss Monroe attached herself to an agent at the William Morris Agency, Johnny Hyde. He got her some parts. She became the aging Hyde's mistress. The exchange worked out better for her than for him. He died making love to her one night. She went on to a stardom that began with a good role (arranged by Hyde) as a ingenue in Joe Mankiewicz's classic, "All About Eve." . At Fox, Marilyn Monroe made more than 20 films. And she even ended up being a pretty good actress. Critics finally had to admit this, in spite of her obvious public acclaim as the sex goddess of her time. She demonstrated her acting skills most memorably with a movie called "Some Like It Hot," a comedy starring Jack Lemmon and Tony Curtis that is set, mainly, at the Hotel del Coronado near San Diego, an elegant Victorian hotel that continues to play the movie on an in-house channel 24 hours a day. Miss Monroe married two other men -- Joe DiMaggio, the famous New York Yankee centerfielder, and Arthur Miller, one of America's finest playwrights. Marriage to DiMaggio lasted less than a year, a year (1954) in which the studio sent her on a highly publicized tour to Korea to entertain U.S. troops, and, incidentally, set her image for all time as America's ultimate sex symbol. Marriage to Miller lasted somewhat longer -- five years -- but MM was unhappy with that relationship, too, burdened as she was with too much abusive baggage from her childhood -- and, no doubt, from Hollywood, too, which turned out to be every bit as dysfunctional for her as her schizphrenic mom. 'Twas rumored that Miss Monroe had an affair with Pres. John F. Kennedy, and rumor seemed to be confirmed when, at JFK's Birthday Ball in 1960, MM sang the sexiest, sultriest "Happy Birthday" anyone had ever sang anywhere in public. That night, at least for the first few hours that night, she was wearing a transparent silk gown that was so tight she had to be sewn into it. After her divorce from Miller on Jan. 24, 1961, Miss Monroe went into a spiral of despair and depression. She died of an overdose of sleeping pills in the summer of 1962, thought by many an author (more books have been written about her than about any other actress in history) to be a martyr to Hollywood's principal industry: sex.

MODEL: No woman should ever try to emulate Marilyn Monroe's public persona, or her private life, which was given over (one wonders how willing she ever was) to men who were not interested in her person, but their own pleasure.

Top of the pops. If you were born on June 1, you enjoy being popular or at least checking out who or what is popular. Staying current is very important. You study the latest music, movies, arts, even how to walk, talk, and dress. Ruled by the number 1 and the sun, you strive to be number one at some point in your life.

The real you. Some may think you extroverted, even a show-off, but underneath you may feel distant and a bit lonely. You put up a pretty believable face. Few will ever get to know the real you, unless you let down your guard. Since you hate to be alone, you are rarely without a mate. In fact, you are a glutton for social activities and collect a whole stable of friends and acquaintances.

Student of life. You pride yourself on knowing a little bit about everything and don't like to show ignorance. The depth of your knowledge, however, may be lacking. You may dig deeper in a few areas, though they may be more related to entertainment than serious academic subjects.

Other people. You can read people's wants and needs very well and would make a good detective or salesperson, if you could stay focused. Unfortunately, you can't read yourself very well and therefore may not realize your unique creative potential.

Some advice: Look deep inside yourself and appreciate your strengths while you improve your weaknesses. Ignore what others think or expect of you. Pursue your dreams and be yourself.

Also born on this day: Le Petomane (French entertainer) Cleavon Little (actor) Marilyn Monroe (actress, icon) Brigham Young (Mormon leader) Morgan Freeman (actor) Jonathan Pryce (British actor) Reverend Ike (evangelist) Colleen McCullogh (Australian novelist) Andy Griffith (actor) Nelson Riddle (bandleader, arranger) Pat Boone (singer)