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Carmel Magazine Digital Edition SU16

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service club luncheons. It was at one of those meetings that representatives of Castroville, an agricultural town 15 miles from Salinas that— then and now—specializes in the growing of artichokes, had the bright idea to make the ambitious future movie star the "California Artichoke Queen. " There are many stories about this event, with many, many different versions and details of what occurred that day and why. In fact, if published photos of Marilyn wearing the Artichoke Queen sash didn't exist, the whole seemingly implausible episode could easily be viewed as apocryphal, an urban myth. One particularly far-fetched story claims that the California Artichoke & Vegetable Growers Corporation enlisted Monroe to "put some shine on an industry for decades controlled by New York mobster Ciro "the Ar tichoke" Terranova," according to a 2011 Bloomberg arti- cle. Another says that Marilyn enjoyed her fresh artichoke hearts covered in sugar. A few years later, Marilyn returned to Monterey County, this time to do what she had set her sights on doing: act in a Hollywood movie. Some scenes for the 1952 potboiler "Clash by Night" were filmed on Cannery Row, then a still-bustling sardine-processing district. She was by no means the international super- star she was to become: Marilyn's salary for this film was $500 per week. Still, that was an improvement. Three years earlier when she appeared in the Marx Brothers' "Love Happy," she was paid a paltry 138 C A R M E L M A G A Z I N E • S U M M E R / F A L L 2 0 1 6 This image, from "The Seven Year Itch," helped make Monroe a household name. It also hastened the end of her marriage to jealous Joe DiMaggio. Photo: Sam Shaw Inc./Getty Images A few years later, Marilyn returned to Monterey County, this time to do what she had set her sights on doing: act in a Hollywood movie.

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