This week in history: Marilyn Monroe brings star power to Chicago

Marilyn Monroe in “Some Like It Hot.”

As reporter in the Chicago Daily News, sister publication of the Chicago Sun-Times:

Every reporter in Chicago likely lobbied for the chance to greet Marilyn Monroe at Midway Airport on March 18, 1959. At the Chicago Daily News, that honor was bestowed upon reporter Emery Hutchinson.

“Marilyn Monroe stepped off an American Airlines plane at midway Airport Wednesday sporting light beige-colored hair and a full-length mink to match,” he wrote.

The famed actress, who died 58 years ago this week, arrived in Chicago to promote “Some Like It Hot,” a Billy Wilder film starring Monroe alongside Jack Lemmon and Tony Curtis. Since its debut, the film is considered by many to be Monroe’s best work, and won her a best actress nod from the Golden Globes in 1960.

Unfortunately, Hutchinson failed to ask Monroe anything about the movie, for which she did her own singing. He did, however, report on “her voluptuous figure,” her measurements and dieting tips. (“‘Activity takes care of the poundage,’ she said with a smile.”)

The story ran on the front page under the headline “Look Who’s Here.”

The front page of the Chicago Daily News, dated March 18, 1959, shows Marilyn Monroe stepping off a plane at Midway Airport in Chicago.