Born in two different eras, the similarities between the legendary movie star Marilyn Monroe and controversial public figure Courtney Stodden have become more than just simple coincidences.
Some may be skeptical about that statement, but it's not just Stodden's lookalike appearance that's bringing on this notion.
The two women have gone through comparable circumstances that Stodden is quite aware of. She has often boasted her love for the Niagara actress, and even visited her grave with white roses and a heartfelt note.
"If I could bring you back for just one day, I'd tell you how much you're missed," a snippet of her letter read. "This world can be cold & cruel but in my saddest moments, I think of you & suddenly I'm filled with your light - your beautiful light!"
While it may seem like Stodden is just a huge fan of the late actress, there's a truly genuine connection between the two women. Not convinced? Well, here are six reasons Monroe and Stodden are more alike than we thought.
1. They both went under the knife
Unbeknownst to the general public, Monroe had went under the knife several times during her 37 years. However, the secret of her plastic surgeries came to light in 2013 when her x-rays and medical records were released.
They indicated Monroe (who used the alias "Joan Newman") had a nose job, hairline electrolysis (to get rid of her widow's peak), cartilage implant on her chin, and breast implants.
She also used hormone cream for her peach fuzz and wore false teeth.
"Nobody really thought about Marilyn Monroe having plastic surgery. It was always speculation"”did she or didn't she?" Martin Nolan, executive director of Julien's Auctions, told Reuters. "They thought she was such a natural beauty... They didn't want to believe."
On the flip side, Stodden has been more vocal about her physical alterations. Along with having breast implants and lip injections, she also went under the knife for a nose job, which she allowed Entertainment Tonight to film.
"I'm not wild about my bump on the side of my nose," Stodden told the cameras before her $13,000 operation. "In pictures or on red carpets, I just feel really self-conscious about this bump."
When asked if the opinion of others had influenced her decision to get work done, Stodden said people will judge her appearance regardless.
"I'm a confident girl, I'm happy. And honestly I think that's all that matters - following your heart, looking the way you want to look, dress what you want to dress. As long as you aren't hurting anybody else, I think you're fine," the former teen bride said.
2. Monroe and Stodden both got married as teenagers
While the world was stunned when it was revealed a then 16-year-old Stodden married actor Doug Hutchinson just before his 51st birthday. The pair tied the knot in 2011 to an onslaught of disapproval from the general public, but they didn't let it affect their newfound martial bliss.
In an Interview with ABC News that same year, the Washington state native said she met Hutchinson after she learned he was teaching an acting class in Hollywood.
However, when the Lost actor found out Stodden was underage, Hutchinson said he was initially in disbelief.
"[My] world turned upside down.... It didn't make me want to walk away, but it definitely was a struggle inside my heart ... because I had already started falling for her."
Since they lived thousands of miles apart, the first four months of their courtship constituted of only emails and phone calls.
"It was a really beautiful and unique way to get to know someone, because we didn't have the distraction of the physical... We could only get to know each other through our words and our sentiments," Hutchison said.
While Stodden and Hutchinson called it quits in 2017, this isn't the first time the couple have broken up. In 2013, the duo separated for a year after the Celebrity Big Brother star decided she needed to experience life on her own.
"I had just recently finished a stint on Celebrity Big Brother in the UK and I think I turned 19 on the show and I was in the house for about a month and it was the first time I was away from Doug," Stodden explained.
"After I got off the show, I was like: 'You know what, I need to sow my wild oats. I need to go out. I need to date. I need to screw,' so that was basically the primary reason for that separation and we were separated for about a year maybe," she added.
Maybe there's hope for this May-December romance yet.
This parallels Monroe's experience as a teenage bride, who also tied the knot at only 16 years old.
Monroe wed James Dougherty in 1942 when she was still known as Norma Jean Mortenson. He was five years her senior, and she dropped out of high school to be his bride.
However, when the marine merchant came back from a two year overseas assignment in 1946, he found out his wife had started a career in modeling, hoping to eventually transition into becoming an actress.
Finally, when Monroe decided to follow her dream to become a Hollywood icon, she decided she didn't want Dougherty to join her on her journey to stardom.
"My marriage didn't make me sad, but it didn't make me happy either," Monroe said. "My husband and I hardly spoke to each other. This wasn't because we were angry. We had nothing to say. I was dying of boredom."
Until his death in 2005, media outlets constantly hassled Dougherty for intimate details on his first bride, but would never take their bait.
"I never knew Marilyn Monroe, and I don't claim to have any insights to her to this day," Dougherty told United Press International in 1990. "I knew and loved Norma Jean."
3. Monroe and Stodden have each dealt with mental illness
Mental illness was hereditary in Monroe's family, and having spent the majority of her life living in orphanages and foster homes had a great effect on her. Monroe indulged in substance abuse while on movie sets, which brought her life into a downward spiral.
Before her death in 1962, Monroe was admitted to the Payne-Whitney Psychiatric Clinic against her will.
Monroe wrote a letter to her doctor while institutionalized, and insisted her cell was meant for seriously mentally ill patients and she was grossly ignored by the staff.
"He told me I was a very, very sick girl and had been a very, very sick girl for many years," she wrote. "He asked me how I could possibly work when I was depressed. He wondered if that interfered with my work.
"He was being very firm and definite in the way he said it. He actually stated it more than he questioned me so I replied: 'Didn't he think that perhaps Greta Garbo and Charlie Chaplin perhaps and perhaps Ingrid Bergman they had been depressed when they worked sometimes but I said it's like saying a ball player like DiMaggio [her second husband] if he could hit ball when he was depressed. Pretty silly,'" she added.
Stodden has also had a long battle with mental illness, and is candid to her fans when she's experiencing it.
After separating from Hutchinson and a devastating miscarriage, Stodden admitted she suffers from anxiety and is battling depression.
"I feel too much," Stodden captioned her photo on Instagram. "I soak up too much energy from myself and others. I love too deeply. I'm extremely insecure. Terribly childlike and vulnerable. This is me and my struggle with depression."
"But I have faith I'll prevail. If you're a sufferer of anxiety or depression - know you're not alone," she concluded.
In January of this year, Stodden acknowledged her mental health took a turn for the worse during her public plea to Hutchinson to come back.
"So, obviously, I've been crying "” again. I just want to be honest with you guys about some things. Me and my husband have been going through a really rough time "” separation, and ultimately divorce, coming up in a week. I've, at the last minute, realized that I don't want it and I want to try to make things work," she said.
"Ever since we've been separated and he's moved away, I've been really depressed and I've realized that I don't deserve him," she continued, still crying. "I love him so much and I need him back in my life. I just need him to come help me and be with me and I love him," she added.
Hopefully Stodden has stayed strong, and has found helpful techniques to improve her mental health.
4. Each lady has posed nude
Viewed as a scandalous decision in her era, Monroe made the decision to do a nude photo shoot in 1949 when she was struggling early on in her career.
While she was only paid $50 for her time, photographer Tom Kelley ended up selling the images to Playboy for $500, where she became the magazine's first Playboy cover girl.
While she didn't consent for the pictures to be published in Playboy (although Hugh Hefner did obtain the pictures legally), Monroe owned up to the fact her image nakedly plastered in the magazine, stating she "did what she had to do" and the public forgave her.
On the other hand, Stodden has frequently mentioned her love of posing provocatively. The starlet often posts pictures of herself in the buff, including an image of her on a tractor, covering her most intimate body parts.
She said she strips in front of the camera to celebrate feminism, the importance of loving your body, and how empowering it is to be nude.
"I absolutely love my body and everything about it. I work hard at keeping it tight and in shape, which gives me the confidence to show it off and feel great about myself," she said in an interview with E! News.
She also took the initiative to star in her own sex tape, Courtney Uncovered.
5. They both suffered a miscarriage
Since she was a young girl, Monroe always wanted to become a mother. Unfortunately, she struggled to conceive, and when she did, she experienced tragic miscarriages.
In 1957, Monroe was rushed into an emergency surgery after suffering from an ectopic pregnancy, which resulted in the lost of her unborn baby.
While it was never proven, actor Tony Curtis claimed the Gentlemen Prefer Blondes actress once fell pregnant with his child while they were married to other people.
In his autobiography, The Making of Some Like It Hot, Curtis wrote their relationship first began in 1950, before rekindling their romance in 1958.
When she first broke the news to Curtis, who was also expecting his second child with then-wife Janet Leigh, said he was "stunned."
"I just stood there. The room was so silent that I could hear tires screeching on Santa Monica Boulevard," he wrote.
Sadly, Monroe would suffer from a miscarriage soon after, and she never fulfilled her dream of becoming a mother.
As previously mentioned, Stodden had been vocal about the traumatic miscarriage of her first child in 2016.
She announced she was four months pregnant in an interview with Us Magazine. "I already love this baby so much. I just fear the thought of motherhood. It's such an overwhelming responsibility and I want to be the very best mommy that I can possibly be."
However, Stodden and Hutchinson would receive the devastating news she lost the baby only a few weeks later.
"It is with a heavy heart to inform you that last week Courtney Stodden suffered a heartbreaking miscarriage. Courtney and her husband, Doug, are at an emotional loss for words and are using this time to grieve with their close family and friends," a rep for Stodden said. "Please respect their privacy as the couple try to cope with losing their precious baby and seek the support they both need."
6. Each blonde bombshell could hold a tune
While we all knew Monroe could hold a tune after she famously sang "Happy Birthday Mr. President" to John F. Kennedy, it turns out she was more serious about her singing than it was previously believed.
She spent plenty of time with voice coaches and Ella Fitzgerald (who claimed Monroe helped launch her career).
"I owe Marilyn Monroe a real debt ... she personally called the owner of the Mocambo, and told him she wanted me booked immediately, and if he would do it, she would take a front table every night. She told him "“ and it was true, due to Marilyn's superstar status "“ that the press would go wild," Fitzgerald explained.
"The owner said yes, and Marilyn was there, front table, every night. The press went overboard. After that, I never had to play a small jazz club again. She was an unusual woman "“ a little ahead of her times. And she didn't know it," she added.
Even though her voice was often overshadowed by clothing choices, personal life, and proactive manner, she still strove to also be known for her music.
"I won't be satisfied until people want to hear me sing without looking at me. Of course, that doesn't mean I want them to stop looking," Monroe said in an interview with Collier's Magazine in 1954.
Stodden also shares Monroe's desire to make a name for herself in the music industry. In 2016, she released the song, "Mistletoe Bikini," a raunchy Christmas tune, inspired by her lifelong crush on St. Nick.
"'Mistletoe Bikini' is basically a song about how I've always had a crush on Santa Claus ever since I was a little girl," she explained. "The song [and video] is about my crush and you know, maybe a little later in the video we have an affair behind Mrs. Claus' back. It's fun and it's really catchy."
Since the release of the seasonal track, Stodden has dropped other bops, including "Orange Juice and Pink Pills," and "6Teen."
"This is more than a passion project for me ... this is a reaction to how dark Hollywood can be," the aspiring singer told Us Magazine. "It's an emotional journey and I'm excited to show people a side nobody has ever seen."
To learn more about Courtney Stodden, the 21st century Marilyn Monroe, click here.
[H/T: Daily Mail, In Touch Weekly, Reuters, Revelist]
