Even though her alleged affair with JFK had previously been leaked, Marilyn famously sung happy birthday to the president in front of a stadium full of adoring fans. Her breathy voice captivated listeners while her skin tight sparkly dress made jaws drop. I must admit that her voice is one of my favorite sounds.
Viewers of this late Spring night a half century ago remember this to be “history in the making.” Life online states, “She took a breath, began to sing — and 15,000 men and women who filled the old Madison Square Garden that night knew, simply knew, that they were seeing and hearing something that they would never, ever forget.”
Life explains this captivating event to be “tossing fire into the fuel” of JFK and her alleged affair. The way she sang gave “Happy Birthday” gave it a sexual tension that no one could deny. Life explains, “For stargazers and dusty old historians alike, the night that Marilyn sang to JFK remains an uncanny, once-in-a-lifetime collision of sex, politics, power and pop culture.”
Billy Ray, the photographer of the famous night, gave personal insight on who he viewed the night. He said, “Then boom, on comes this spotlight. There was no sound. No sound at all. It was like we were in outer space.” Marilyn was onstage, taking off a white fur to reveal that utterly gorgeous, scandalous dress underneath. “It was skin-colored, and it was skin-tight. It was sewn on, covered with brilliant crystals. There was this long, long pause … and finally, she comes out with this unbelievably breathy, ‘Happy biiiiirthday to youuuu,’ and everybody just went into a swoon. I was praying [that I could get the shot] because I had to guess at the exposure. It was a very long lens, and I had no tripod, so I had to rest the lens itself on the railing, and tried very, very hard not to breathe.”
Marilyn in the Media 