--- title: Marilyn Monroe Sings 'Happy Birthday' to JFK: A Photographer Remembers description: The story behind Bill Ray's classic portrait of Marilyn Monroe singing 'Happy Birthday' to JFK at Madison Square Garden in May 1962. canonical: https://time.com/3879743/marilyn-monroe-john-kennedy-happy-birthday-may-1962/ author: Ben Cosgrove article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2014-04-30T17:54:12.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-08-04T08:01:57.878Z og:title: Marilyn Monroe Sings 'Happy Birthday' to JFK: A Photographer Remembers og:description: The story behind Bill Ray's classic portrait of Marilyn Monroe singing 'Happy Birthday' to JFK at Madison Square Garden in May 1962. og:url: https://time.com/3879743/marilyn-monroe-john-kennedy-happy-birthday-may-1962/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt578f8a3c2c08e050/6988471b5f570f3d24b1a854/marilyn_sings_jfk_1962.jpg?branch=production&width=595&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 595 og:image:height: 335 og:image:alt: Marilyn Monroe sings to JFK, by Bill Ray og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Marilyn Monroe Sings 'Happy Birthday' to JFK: A Photographer Remembers twitter:description: The story behind Bill Ray's classic portrait of Marilyn Monroe singing 'Happy Birthday' to JFK at Madison Square Garden in May 1962. twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt578f8a3c2c08e050/6988471b5f570f3d24b1a854/marilyn_sings_jfk_1962.jpg?branch=production&width=595&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Behind the Picture: Photos From the Night Marilyn Sang to JFK, 1962 > Sponsored content. 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They are at time.com/newsletters and are separate from a paid subscription. ## Video: Marilyn Sings to JFK: The 50th Anniversary of an Iconic Photo [Watch (HLS stream): Marilyn Sings to JFK: The 50th Anniversary of an Iconic Photo](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/Rrnhu3Eg.m3u8) (4:05)  _Published 2012-05-15. Photographer Bill Ray shares the behind-the-scenes story of his classic picture of Marilyn Monroe_ by [Ben Cosgrove](https://time.com/author/ben-cosgrove/) ## Ben Cosgrove Apr 30, 2014 5:54 PM UTC  Not published in LIFE. Marilyn Monroe sings "Happy Birthday" to President John F. Kennedy, New York, May 19, 1962. Not published in LIFE. Marilyn Monroe sings "Happy Birthday" to President John F. Kennedy, New York, May 19, 1962. Bill Ray by [Ben Cosgrove](https://time.com/author/ben-cosgrove/) ## Ben Cosgrove Apr 30, 2014 5:54 PM UTC Fifty-plus years ago, on a spring night in New York City, 35-year-old [Marilyn Monroe](http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000054/) — sewn into a sparkling, jaw-droppingly tight dress — stood alone in a spotlight on a dark stage. She took a breath, began to sing — and 15,000 men and women who filled the old [Madison Square Garden](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Madison%5FSquare%5FGarden#History) that night knew, simply _knew_, that they were seeing and hearing something that they would never, ever forget. The song, of course, was “Happy Birthday,” and Marilyn’s breathy, intimate rendition — sung, as if the two of them were utterly alone, to [President John F. Kennedy](http://www.whitehouse.gov/about/presidents/johnfkennedy) — has been celebrated, analyzed and lovingly parodied countless times in the five decades since that indelible performance. But beyond the buzz that Marilyn’s “Happy Birthday” generated — including, of course, tossing fuel on the already smoldering rumors about an affair between the movie star and the president — the moment, captured from above by photographer Bill Ray in his iconic picture of Monroe, played a key role in the legends that eventually grew around both the actress and JFK. Marilyn, after all, died less than three months later; Kennedy was assassinated the following fall. For stargazers and dusty old historians alike, the night that Marilyn sang to JFK remains an uncanny, once-in-a-lifetime collision of sex, politics, power and pop culture. **\[WATCH: Bill Ray discusses how he got his famous shot of Marilyn.\]** “For most people my age,” remembers Ray, who was 26 in 1962, “Kennedy was something of a god. We were so relieved to have a young, good-looking person in the White House after Eisenhower.” Of the setup for the birthday gala that night in the Garden, Ray recalls that “all of the photographers were in front in the beginning of the show, but it was another one of these events where security says, ‘Hey, we’re really glad you came. Take a few pictures — and get your ass out!’ The Secret Service started clearing everybody out after a few shots. I was afraid of being held in a cattle pen with the rest of the photographers, so I got away and started moving around the Garden on my own.” Trying to find an angle from which he might be able to get both Marilyn and JFK in the same frame, Ray moved higher and higher up in the Garden. He had made his way on to a catwalk, literally up among the building’s girders, when the moment that would forever define the evening suddenly arrived. “It had been a noisy night, a very ‘rah rah rah’ kind of atmosphere,” Ray told LIFE.com. “Then _boom_, on comes this spotlight. There was no sound. No sound at all. It was like we were in outer space.” Marilyn was onstage, taking off a white fur to reveal that utterly gorgeous, scandalous dress underneath. “It was skin-colored, and it was skin-tight. It was sewn on, covered with brilliant crystals. There was this long, long pause . . . and finally, she comes out with this unbelievably breathy, ‘Happy biiiiirthday to youuuu,’ and everybody just went into a swoon. I was praying \[that I could get the shot\] because I had to guess at the exposure. It was a very long lens, and I had no tripod, so I had to rest the lens itself on the railing, and tried very, very hard not to breathe.” Here, on what would have been JFK’s 97th birthday, LIFE.com presents Bill Ray’s unforgettable picture of Marilyn, alone in the spotlight, along with many more photos from the president’s birthday gala at the Garden that were not published in LIFE magazine. _— Ben Cosgrove is the Editor of LIFE.com_ [\[Visit BillRay.com to see more of Ray’s work and to buy prints.\]](http://www.billray.com)  Not published in LIFE. Marilyn Monroe sings "Happy Birthday" to President John F. Kennedy, New York, May 19, 1962. Bill Ray  Not published in LIFE. John F. Kennedy at Madison Square Garden for a "Birthday Salute" in his honor, New York, May 19, 1962. Bill Ray  Not published in LIFE. John F. Kennedy arrives in a limo at Madison Square Garden for a "Birthday Salute" in his honor, New York, May 19, 1962. Bill Ray  Not published in LIFE. John F. Kennedy enters Madison Square Garden prior to a "Birthday Salute" in his honor, New York, May 19, 1962. Bill Ray  Not published in LIFE. The great comedian Jack Benny on the sidewalk outside Madison Square Garden prior to attending a "Birthday Salute" in honor of JFK, New York, May 19, 1962. Bill Ray  Not published in LIFE. The regal Ella Fitzgerald, backstage before singing at a "Birthday Salute" in honor of JFK at Madison Square Garden, New York, May 19, 1962. Bill Ray  Not published in LIFE. The stage and seating at Madison Square Garden during a "Birthday Salute" in honor of JFK, New York, May 19, 1962. Bill Ray  Not published in LIFE. President John F. Kennedy at a "Birthday Salute" in his honor at Madison Square Garden in New York, May 19, 1962. Bill Ray  Not published in LIFE. Vice President Lyndon Johnson, Madison Square Garden, New York, May 19, 1962. Bill Ray  Not published in LIFE. Singer Peggy Lee on stage at Madison Square Garden during a "Birthday Salute" in honor of President Kennedy, New York, May 19, 1962. Bill Ray  Not published in LIFE. Cake at Madison Square Garden during a "Birthday Salute" in honor of President Kennedy, New York, May 19, 1962. Bill Ray  Not published in LIFE. A couple high above the action at Madison Square Garden during a "Birthday Salute" to President Kennedy, New York, May 19, 1962. Bill Ray  Not published in LIFE. John F. Kennedy at Madison Square Garden during a "Birthday Salute" in his honor, New York, May 19, 1962. Bill Ray  The program from a "Birthday Salute" in honor of President John F. Kennedy, New York, May 19, 1962. Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images  The lineup of performers for a "Birthday Salute" in honor of President John F. Kennedy, New York, May 19, 1962. Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images ## Transcript I've never seen anybody that took a look at this picture that didn't know that it was Marilyn Monroe. I didn't hear anybody well that's Jane Mansfield or somebody else. so, oh my god, that's Marilyn singing happy birthday to JFK. [ MUSIC ] So, JFK came to New York. 50 years ago in May. To celebrate his birthday. For most people my age and in 1962 when they had the birthday party at Madison Square Garden I was 26. Kennedy I think was a god. We were so relieved to have a nice young, good looking person in there after Eisenhower. Well I was assigned by Life Magazine to cover the birthday party and it was at the old Madison Square Garden between 50th and 51st Avenue. You know it's always very exciting photographing a president of the United States. Since then I've photographed quite a few, in fact I had photographed both Truman and Eisenhower before that, but it was a very exciting moment. [ MUSIC ] Well, it's a picture of Marilyn Monroe singing Happy Birthday, Mr. President to JFK. Who was, visiting New York on, May 19th and 20th of 1962. And all of the stars from Hollywood. Well, most of the stars from Hollywood, and all the heavy hitters from New York. Were there, with the exception of Jackie Kennedy, who had let it, announced that she was visiting her horse friends in Virginia. Marilyn was on the program, along with Jack Benny, and Jimmy Durante, and Ella Fitzgerald, and Peggy Lee, and Maria Callas, and Henry Fonda. And Mike Nichols, and Elaine May, and on and on and on. Photographers were free to roam in the beginning, and then, when the evening started to, when the entertainment started to get going, why, it was clear that all of the photographers were gonna be kind of herded behind a rope and rounded up, and that's when I got out of there. And started my way up around up in those girders. Luckily I had a 300 millimeter telephoto lens, which was my only opportunity to try to get a picture of the performers. Marilyn in particular, with Kennedy looking up at her. The evening sort of unfolded in very nice regular sort of way with some of the garden lights on, ambient light on. And at one point, all the lights went out. It was just totally dark. I mean pitch black. And then the spotlight came on, and there was Marilyn Monroe in this dress. Which didn't have any zippers, didn't have any buttons. Didn't have any sewing on her body. And was covered in these Sorority Crystals that looked like diamonds that are flashing like that. And you could just hear one big breath when gasp. And it was perfectly quite and as she started the song, this breathe sexy song. Happy birthday Mr. president. Happy birthday to you. Happy birthday to you. And it was as if she had hit a memory switch. You really didn't know what had happened before. And God help anybody who went on after her. And it was incredible. And when she finished the light went out, couldn't see a thing. And then president Kennedy was up there thanking her but Marylin had evaporated, she was gone. I can now retire from politics after having had Happy Birthday sung to me. [ NOISE ] They were gonna harass anybody with the press that was down there in front, that, that was certain. That, that's the way it was shaping up. And I just went up far enough and out of the way far enough that I wasn't bothered. Well I think it makes me think it was one of the more incredible moments in my career. It eas an all star evening. 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