The German pop artist Michael Moebius has created several Marilyn-inspired works, including ‘Bubblegum Marilyn’ (see here.) And now, as the Daily Mail reports, Moebius has launched a campaign for Marilyn to be awarded a posthumous Oscar, alongside fellow Fifties icons Elvis Presley and James Dean.
“Michael is also fighting for Hollywood heavyweights James Dean and Elvis Presley to be honored for their ‘unparalleled contributions to cinema and culture,’ and has launched a Change.org petition to help mobilise public support.
‘Everything they did is connected to the entire industry of Hollywood. They are like the gods of the whole industry, and if you think about it, they all had a sad story. They were all raped by the entire industry.’
Michael launched a Change.org campaign in December to put pressure on the Academy to act, and at the time of writing the petition has been signed over 56,000 times.
He said: ‘We’re not judging the acting or the music, we’re just saying their achievement for the entire industry and their influence was so tremendous. I think everyone will be on our side to give them something back, because they entertained everyone.’
Michael launched his campaign after trying to envisage an image of Marilyn, James, and Elvis accepting Oscars for one of his artistic projects. When he ultimately realized that all three were snubbed, he was motivated to take action and painted all three of them holding Oscars in an imagined year-long piece.
‘I was going to paint them together in a beautiful amusing way on a Hollywood night out you know, having a fun time,’ he said. ‘But they’ve never been together like this.’
Michael’s business partner Kevin Esfandi is also involved in the ambitious campaign and has questioned why the trio has been ‘overlooked.’
Speaking to DailyMail.com, he said: ‘When you look at the list of posthumous Oscars granted, lifetime achievement awards granted, and awards in general by the Academy and recognition by the Academy that’s been done, it’s a pretty lengthy list. But you don’t see any of these three names appear on it.’
‘Are they not good enough? Is this an oversight? Are they already so big that there’s no need to recognise them? But isn’t that kind of backwards? Is that the penalty of leadership? Like, you’re so recognized that you don’t even get an award?’
He is hopeful that this will soon change – as he revealed the elaborate plan to capture the attention of the Academy. Each year in the leadup to the Oscars, Hollywood studios plaster huge billboards all over Los Angeles of the nominated films along with the tag ‘for your Oscar consideration.’
‘We’ve created a very similar comparable advertisement,’ he shared. ‘We have a few different digital billboards going up all around the city, and we’re gonna tie them thematically to Oscar time. We have these huge billboard trucks which have screens on all sides and the back and we’re going to literally park them in in front of their offices.’
Revealing how much money they’re throwing behind the project, Kevin predicted between $20,000 and $30,000. ‘It will be worth it,’ he enthused. ‘It’s important to bring this the Academy’s attention – and there’s really no better way to bring it to their attention than to actually put it right in front of their faces.’
While Marilyn was never nominated for an Academy Award, she did win the Golden Globe for Best Actress in a comedy or musical film in 1960 for her role in Some Like It Hot.
Following his death in 1955, James became the only actor to receive two posthumous Best Actor Oscar nominations – one in 1956 for his role in East of Eden, and another in 1957 for his role in Giant. Despite never winning an Oscar, James did receive a Golden Globe Special Achievement Award one year after his death.
Additionally, Elvis starred in a whopping 31 feature films during his lifetime and was once one of Hollywood’s highest paid stars. While he was hugely decorated for his contribution to music and gained for 14 Grammy nominations, three Grammy wins, and receiving the Lifetime Achievement Award at 36, his acting was not recognised by the Academy.”
Moebius’ new painting, ‘Celebration,’ is based on a publicity shot for Andrew Dominik’s Blonde (2022), which was widely panned as an exploitative and inaccurate take on Marilyn’s life – although Ana de Armas earned an Oscar nomination for her performance. The actors’ heads have been replaced with images of Presley, Monroe and Dean; in Marilyn’s case, the source image is a photo by Sam Shaw, captured as she danced with agent Charles Feldman at a wrap party for The Seven Year Itch.
The idea behind this campaign is nothing new, as columnist Sheilah Graham is said to have petitioned the Academy on Marilyn’s behalf in 1964, just two years after her death. While Graham knew Marilyn personally – the star attended her wedding in 1953 – she wasn’t always kind to Monroe in print, in her lifetime or afterwards. Whatever her motivation, the bid was unsuccessful.
More recently, author James Turiello took up the cause in a series of books, including Marilyn: The Quest for an Oscar (2015.) He has also made the case for Elvis and Errol Flynn.
Ahead of this year’s Oscar ceremony on Sunday, March 10, musician Robbie Robertson has earned a posthumous nomination for Best Original Score. Among the long list of prior posthumous nominees was Lamar Trotti, the original writer on Marilyn’s 1954 film, There’s No Business Like Show Business.
Among the sixteen posthumous winners, only two awards went to actors (Peter Finch for Network in 1977, and Heath Ledger for The Dark Knight in 2009.) Furthermore, while Douglas Fairbanks, Edward G. Robinson, and Audrey Hepburn received honorary awards posthumously, all three were honoured shortly after their deaths.
It’s unlikely that the Academy will now change their policy regarding posthumous honorary awards, as it would potentially open the floodgates for countless other artists who never won Oscars. Also, the inflammatory language used in Moebius’ petition – claiming that Marilyn and other stars were ‘raped by the entire industry’ – is unlikely to win over the Hollywood establishment.
In the short term, this campaign may be more effective as a ruse to promote Michael Moebius’ art. But ultimately, the lack of Academy recognition is largely irrelevant to iconic figures like Marilyn, Elvis and Dean, whose abiding influence has outshone that of most Oscar winners.
The Marilyn Report 