Norma Jean Mortenson was born 85 years ago, on June 1, 1926. Raised as Norma Jean Baker, she became known as Marilyn Monroe, a model and actress and the most-famous sex goddess of all time. Here's a publicity shot, circa 1948. Another iconic American actor was born the same day. There's a picture of him at the end of this gallery.
Photo: Getty Images, Hulton Archive / Hulton Archive

Shot by artist and photographer Mat Collishaw for the brand's autumn 2011 campaign, the new campaign will feature pieces from Webster’s fine collection Murder She Wrote, as well as the silver collections Superstud and shark-jaw inspired range Les Dents de la Mer.

For the shoot, Lowe took on the role of a femme fatale to reflect the theme of the Murder She Wrote collection, which takes a woman scorned as its base.

Webster said: "We have known Daisy for a few years and have watched her blossom into that rare combination of glamorous British rock chick, a combination that can only be born in the UK and helps define why Britain is so unique in its approach to design and style. So, perfect for Stephen Webster - we love her!"

Lowe is the daughter of musician Gavin Rossdale of rock band Bush, and designer Pearl Lowe, so her partnership with Webster is appropriate.

"For this campaign we wanted a more artistic approach, something completely leftfield for jewellery. Mat Collishaw felt like an obvious choice. His art work - achieved by creatively using layered photography techniques - has given us something truly dynamic and new” added Webster.

With her little-girl vulnerability, thick regional accent and homespun good sense, Cheryl Cole has long been the U.K.'s sweetheart. And until yesterday, it looked as though the support of Simon Cowell would be enough to propel the Girls Aloud singer to the pinnacle of her TV career, a coveted judging slot on Fox's version of The X Factor.
Now it seem that Cowell has lost his battle to keep Cheryl, with Fox bosses taking the view, according to reports, that her strong North Eastern British accent is problematic. Other reports cite a lack of chemistry with Paula Abdul, homesickness and the fact that she hasn't been up to the mark in the glamor stakes as reasons she may have been ditched.
In Britain, Cole's place in the national consciousness owes as much to the tabloid frenzy surrounding her power-couple breakup with her cheating ex-husband, Premier League soccer star Ashley Cole, as it does to her judging role on Britain's X Factor.
But she won over audiences for her unapologetic -- and to many, unenviable -- Geordie accent, as well as her support for underdog contestants and her fondness for addressing wannabe contestants as "pet."
In the North East of England the Geordie accent is known for its drawn out vowels and its its clipped words: 'yes' becomes 'ya' and the last consonant is often dropped. A spoof in the Guardian newspaper suggested that American audiences might have trouble understanding Cheryl's dialect, struggling to understand that when she said "Ya dazzlin, pet. Keep gannin like that and yazall be a star," what she meant was "you are doing very well, keep going and you will be a star."
In reality, her accent is far from as problematic, and if anything, her heartfelt directness seemed to endear her further to British audiences.
Most notably, her performance earned her the all-important support of Simon Cowell, who elevated her to the top of the pile of his U.K. judging line up and made it clear that he wanted her to be part of the US show.
Of course, the decision to ditch Cheryl may have been part of a strategic campaign of hype-building around the show. After all, Cowell has along history of playing his leading ladies against each other, whether it is pitting Dannii Minogue against Cheryl, Cheryl against Paula Abdul, or now, Cheryl against Nicole Scherzinger, who is now rumoured to take her place.
But if the reports are true and a downcast Cole is heading back to the UK with her dreams in tatters, she can at least be assured of a national welcome.
"Agree Cheryl Cole is better off in the UK where she is very good. What do the Yanks know anyway?" tweeted The Apprentice host Alan Sugar.
Dannii Minogue, who was recently fired from the X Factor U.K. judging line-up Tweeted "Judging [X Factor] should come with a life jacket, drop-down oxygen and a life raft."
Meanwhile, comedian Russell Brand also offered his commiserations while being interviewed on ITV morning show Daybreak.
"Our Cheryl? That cannae be right," he said, imitating Cole's famous Newcastle accent. "I've come to this country in good faith and they've kicked our Cheryl off? Oh no! She's Britain's sweetheart."
Asked if he thought that an American audience would have trouble with Cheryl's accent, Brand advised: "Just listen more, just listen very intently. All them things she's saying -- that's English.

Once a cruise ship entertainer, the singer has made the finals on American Idol, won a Best Supporting Oscar for Dreamgirls before, devastatingly, losing her mother, brother and nephew in a shocking murder.

"I've been through everything, from the bottom to the top," Hudson tells Insider, via phone, ahead of her first trip to Australia this weekend.

"Ever since American Idol, I've been on a roller-coaster that has not stopped - there's been ups and downs and all the way round and the world has been watching me go through it.

"At times, I feel as though I'm on the outside too, wondering what turns it's going to take, the ups and downs, and how I'm going to get through it."Despite all the turmoil, the mother of 21-month-old David Jr says music has been her saviour.

"It is my expression of me in every way, musically, personally, how I feel right now and everything. Music is my way of bottling it up and passing it along to somebody else."

Hudson admits her new album, I Remember Me, which features the tracks I Got This, Everybody Needs Love, Why Is It So Hard, Feeling Good and Believe, does reflect her life right now.

"It captures every part of me," she says. "Even I Remember Me, that's me personally, that's how I feel about my life and my journey and where I am today, and then Feeling Good is an expression of my weight-loss journey.

Overall it's just the vibe of me."Strength is also a common theme throughout the album - a trait she believes runs in her family.

"My mother was very strong and my sister, so I guess that's where it comes from."

Her strength was never more tested than when her mum Darnell Donnerson, brother Jason, and nephew Julian, 7, were shot dead in their Chicago home 2 1/2 years ago allegedly by her sister's estranged husband. Charged with the murders, he is awaiting trial.

She credits her strong nature, and the help of Weight Watchers, for driving her to lose nearly 40kg. "I do [feel sexy] and I always did," she says, laughing. "It's just like, the rest of the world is catching up. I always knew it was there. It's not new to me."

Hudson exercises daily, and is conscious of what she eats, but doesn't want to lose more weight. Despite being careful with food, she admits chocolate is her guilty pleasure.

"At this point, I don't really want to lose any more weight. I'm trying to shy away more from cardio and doing more cardio and training. So every morning, I get up and do four sets of 25 reps of crunches, of squats and, like, push-ups."

Her personal life is also flourishing with Hudson engaged to wrestler David Otunga, the father of her toddler son. The couple recently moved back to Chicago from Florida.

"When I'm on the road, I can't wait to go home and be mummy.

"He [David Jr] is such a blessing," Hudson says.

"I have never seen a baby have such an impact on the people he meets. There is never a dull moment. He keeps me happy, he keeps me uplifted and he keeps me smiling at all times."

Hudson flew into Melbourne yesterday to face a week packed with promotions, beginning tonight with an appearance on Dancing With The Stars.

Along with various radio interviews, she will also appear live on Seven's Sunrise on Thursday morning.

Her family remain in Chicago, as it's "a long way to travel".

"I've been excited [to come to Australia] since American Idol, and I've never been able to," the R&B-soul singer said.

"When I got the call, I was like, I don't care what's going on and I don't care what they want me to do, I am coming. So here I come."

Remember yesterday’s fascinating exchange between Jack Black and Angelina Jolie? It was an example of movie stars in Promo Mode, talking to reporters about the most agreeably inane stuff you can imagine, just so there’s something to write about. Here’s today’s example:
Cats were a big part of Antonio Banderas and Salma Hayek's lives long before they got in touch with their inner felines for "Puss in Boots," an animated spinoff to the "Shrek" franchise. Hayek has lived with cats all her life, among them a tailless kitty rescued by one of her dogs years ago.
Surely there’s more to it than that, Selma. More! More!
Though she loves cats, Hayek said she's more of a dog person. She has 10 dogs now and one cat, the feline coming to her thanks to a canine she used to have.
"I had a dog that is no longer with me that rescued that cat without a tail," Hayek said. "This dog, she's dead now, but she was on a ranch that I have, and she showed up with this cat that didn't have a tail. I don't know what did it. We took care of the cat, but it was this dog that was the friend of the cat."
I don’t think they spontaneously offered cat-related tales; they were probably asked if they drew on any experiences to voice the computer-animated creatures. This would have been a fine time to stare at the reporter with either amusement or incredulity - your choice! - and ask “do you mean, was I ever 18 inches tall, walked on my hind paws, wore period costumes and conversed with enormous green ogres? No. It’s called acting. Sometimes we just have to make it all up.”
Here’s the trailer.

George Michael will pay his "respects" to his late pal Dame Elizabeth Taylor by dedicating one of his London concerts to the Hollywood actress later this year (11).
The British singer announced a set of European dates for his Symphonica: The Orchestral Tour on Wednesday (11May11), his first live shows in three years.
Michael is planning to use his gig at London's iconic Royal Opera House in Covent Garden in November (11) to help raise funds for Taylor's Aids Foundation and honour her memory following her death in March (11).
He tells WENN at a press conference, "At the moment there are four opera houses booked - two of them will be for charity. The one here in the Opera House here in Covent Garden will be for charity and hopefully in honour of Elizabeth Taylor and making some contributions to her foundation... I knew her and she was such a wonderful lady and she worked so tirelessly and completely selflessly. I'd like to pay my respects in some way."
Michael also reveals he will also be working with France's First Lady and former model, Carla Bruni, to raise funds for an Aids charity she works closely with.
He adds, "She's a spokesperson for an amazing charity called (Born Hiv Free) and it seems to be stunning statistics, but she assures me they're true, but because the French take care of people in terms of health - it's so much better than other nations, including ourselves (Britain) - there were only two babies registered in France last year that were born with Hiv... That's because of a massive treatment plan which, when I heard about this charity, I was blown away by how logical it was and how many lives it was saving and how easily it could be done. So I immediately was interested in trying to associate the Parisian Opera House show with her charity."
Michael will play at the Palais Garnier in Paris, France next April (12) and the show will mark the end of the first leg of his tour.

Just when you thought the most oddly named babies on the Hollywood block belonged to Mariah Carey and Nick Cannon, Alicia Silverstone announces the arrival of her son, Bear Blu.

On her blog, The Kind Life, the "Clueless" actress posts: "My husband and I welcomed our 7 lb 15 oz baby boy Bear Blu Jarecki into the world on May 5th at 7:50am (PT). We are all three in love! I'm so grateful to this community for all the love, support, good wishes and happy vibes you've sent me during my pregnancy...it has been wonderful. Thank you all!"

Perhaps Carey's twins Moroccan and Monroe will soon have playdates with Alicia Silverstone's baby, little Bear. Any guesses on what pregnant singer Pink will name her baby?

Paula Abdul has been confirmed as the final judge for The X Factor. A source close to the negotiations confirmed the news on Saturday. Official confirmation of the deal was held up due to negotiations running through the eve of the first taping.

Abdul's rep didn't respond to requests for comment on the news, though she is expected to be on hand for the show's first taping today.

Hollywood actress Julia Roberts has confessed that she has no ‘mom guilt’ working less and spending more time at home with her family.

"Nope. I felt I earned the right to stay home and be home and get super selective about what I wanted to do work-wise," the Usmagazine quoted her as telling the Access Hollywood in an interview.

Roberts, who had tied the knot with cameraman Daniel Moder in 2002, has three children Henry, 3 and twins Hazel and Phinnaeus, 6.

As a perfect housewife she generally indulges herself into cooking but with a few conditions while her stay in the kitchen.

“I have a steadfast rule that I run a kitchen, not a diner, so I just make one meal. I try to be healthy, but listen, I love myself some bacon! So I have to cook what I think we're all going to enjoy. But I try to make it as healthy as possible," she added.

Country singer Miranda Lambert is hoping for the same "wow factor" that Prince William and Kate Middleton has Friday when she marries fellow country singer Blake Shelton on May 14.

The blonde bride-to-be told CMT Radio this week that her wedding will be much different but she is hoping to achieve the same awe with her ceremony.

Pictures: The royal wedding
Pictures: Celebrity brides and brides-to-be

The 27-year-old Grammy winner divulged few other details about the wedding in her interview. She has been dating Shelton since 2006 and became engaged to him last May.

The Texas singer-songwriter said she woke before dawn April 29 to watch the royal wedding at Westminster Abbey.

I think it was gorgeous," she said. "Just the wow factor of the royal wedding was, you know, every bride wants."