This classic sex symbol would have been 87 this year - and yet she died way too early, just at 36. The debate would never end as to whether she committed suicide, whether it was just an accidental overdose of pills or whether it was murder. The latest news of Marilyn confessing about her affair with JFK and wanting to marry him to his then wife Jackie has still made waves, more than 50 years after her death. It's no surprise that many movies have been made about this masses darling - here are two that were made then and now - that made this diva a little more real, and all the more tragic.

Then: Norma Jean & Marilyn (1996)

Ashley Judd played the younger and more real Marilyn Monroe nee Norma Jane Dougherty while Mira Sorvino plays Marilyn Monroe. The film captures the struggle between the real and the fantasy - portraying Norma Jean and Marilyn as two alter egos. Before Marilyn gained fame as a sex symbol, she was a dark-haired, ambitious ingénue named Norma Jean Mortenson nee Baker nee Dougherty. In hindsight, she could be called the classic child abuse victim - from a mentally-ill mother to a series of foster homes where she often faced physical and sexual abuse to finally being married off to her boyfriend who then went off to fight a war - Norma just wanted to be loved. And yet she never really got that, did she. All her three marriages ended in divorce, she had two miscarriages and an ectopic pregnancy and many, many failed affairs. Her most noted affair of course was with the Kennedy brothers - some people believe that to be the cause of her murder/suicide. It's this inner conflict of being a simple girl at heart who wants family and love and playing this blonde diva in the artificial world of fame that this movie highlights. Stellar performances by Ashley Judd as the no-nonsense inner voice and Mira Sorvino as the breathy child-woman she's become plays out with incredible pathos.

Now: My Week with Marilyn (2011)

Michele Williams outshone every other biopic Marilyn - she brought out the luminosity that was Marilyn along with aching vulnerability that made her. Her on-and-off persona of playing the diva is magical - in a scene surrounded with doting school boys, Marylin (Willaims) asks Colin (Eddie Redmayne) teasingly, "should I be her?" and then suddenly transforms from a wholesome girl into a dive not only inspires longing but is pure lust. Michelle's body wasn't really the same as Marilyn - but with the help of a little padding the study she did of Marilyn makes her be the perfect Marilyn on screen ever. She seems to have stolen a bit of Monroe's charm - there's the foolishness, the arrogance, the aching need to be loved, the silliness, the darkness - everything you imagine Marilyn to be and more. She earned an Oscar nomination for this film which is basically based on making of "The Prince and the Showgirl" from the perspective of Colin Clark (Eddie Redmayne) - a third assistant director or gopher on set who is mesmerized by the mystery of Marilyn.