Marie Irvine Death, Makeup Artist to Marilyn Monroe
Marie Irvine, a makeup artist to Marilyn Monroe, passed away at the age of 99. She was her go-to makeup artist in New York City during a crucial period in her life. In 1958, Life magazine commissioned photographer Richard Avedon to reimagine Marilyn Monroe as the screen and stage sirens Clara Bow, Marlene Dietrich, Theda Bara, Jean Harlow, and Lillian Russell. It was Irvine who assisted with her makeup, turning her into Ms. Russell’s candy-box pinup and Ms. Dietrich’s steamy Lola Lola from the film “The Blue Angel.”
The photos ran in the Dec. 22 issue of the magazine with an article written by Ms. Monroe’s husband, the playwright Arthur Miller, with the headline, “My Wife Marilyn.” He described the pictures “as a kind of history of our mass fantasy, so far as seductresses are concerned.”
When Marilyn Monroe, having been sewn into her skintight sequined gown, sang a breathless “Happy Birthday” to President John F. Kennedy at a Democratic fund-raiser at Madison Square Garden in May of 1962, it was Ms. Irvine who prepared her beforehand, in Ms. Monroe’s apartment on East 57th Street, and then rushed to the Garden later with the star’s drop earrings, which she had left behind. Erin Parsons, a 45-year-old makeup artist and TikTok star with a passion for vintage makeup and Ms. Monroe, had read of Ms. Irvine’s small part in these famous moments, and when she posted about her search on Jan. 8, her video went viral. More than a million people have viewed it, and it has accrued more than 1,600 comments. One woman was particularly moved by the $125 fee that Ms. Irvine charged for her services on the night of the Garden event, the equivalent of more than $1,200 today.
Ms. Irvine met Ms. Monroe because she was an on-call makeup artist to Mr. Avedon in the 1950s, and he hired Ms. Irvine to help with the Life magazine project. It took three months to complete, largely because of Ms. Monroe’s erratic schedule. When Ms. Foy became ill with leukemia, Ms. Irvine’s role shifted from preparing her for photo shoots to helping her hide the ravages of cancer. Ms. Foy died of the disease in 1957, in her early 50s.
Marie Irvine was born on Dec. 16, 1924, in Pawling, N.Y., in Dutchess County, the only child of William and Theresa (Brendlin) Irvine. She attended a one-room schoolhouse through grade school. She moved to New York City in her late teens and trained to be a secretary at the Katharine Gibbs School. She found a job with Elizabeth Arden, at its flagship salon with the distinctive red door at 691 Fifth Avenue, which served ladies of the carriage trade. There she became a beauty adviser and color specialist for the company.
There is so much more to share about legendary makeup artist Marie Irvine. She not only worked with marilyn monroe but also the beatles, jane fonda, vivienne leigh, the Queen mother – she created editorials with iconic photographers Irving Penn, Richard Avedon, John Rawlings, Milton Greene and more! Thankyou all for celebrating this wonderful artist – I’m so glad she got to see all of your responses before she passed.
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In the late 1960s, Ms. Irvine and her family moved from Queens to Essex County, N.J. Her husband, general counsel for a security firm, did not want his wife to continue working, so she retired — and learned to drive at 44. Once she left the fashion world behind, she rarely spoke of it. Ms. Parsons, the TikTok star, had many questions for Ms. Irvine that were left unanswered with her death.
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