Some people don’t miss fingers, they got extra ones.
Marilyn Monroe (1926-1962), idol.
Marilyn Monroe is by no doubt the most prominent celebrity of the twentieth century. She was lucky to be the first in right time and use it to her advantage. Monroe was an icon and set a standard for generations to copy her. She also was the first ultimate scarecrow for young girls’ mothers, and only Madonna – Monroe’s most successful copycat – managed to surpass her master on this ground.
Marilyn brought into fashion what later Heath Ledger and Michael Jackson would follow: that is dying at a young age from hypnotic drugs overdose.
However, that somehow even enlarged her popularity. Gossips about Monroe regularly appeared through the next decades.
One of the long time favourite is sixth toe hoax. A photographer claimed that Monroe was polydactyl, with extra toe on her left foot, and produced this photo of 18 y.o. Marilyn:
When she came to Hollywood, the sixth toe was surgically removed, which is a common procedure. The hexadactyly claim has later debunked with half a dozen arguments. So it’s just and artifact of the poorly shot and/or developed image.
The photographer probably made this up to promote his publisher’s then new book about Marilyn. He did that for money.
But other people just love to believe that the successful and seemingly perfect idols still have some impurities. That is the only reason while the Monroe being a freak thing is still so widely popular.
A next step in freak show evolution.