Remembering Marilyn

While the legend of Marilyn Monroe will always be closely associated with LIFE—her first cover shoot for the magazine, in April 1952, made by the great Philippe Halsman, remains one of the most famous and collectible covers in the history of the magazine—it might surprise some people to learn how seldom she actually appeared in the magazine itself.
There's little question that LIFE recognized Marilyn's singular, profound appeal from early on in her career, but she only graced LIFE's cover six times while she was alive. (She appeared on several more covers after her death in August 1962, including later editions after the magazine ceased publishing as a weekly.) Six times—that's fewer than Dwight Eisenhower, for example, while Liz Taylor holds the record with fourteen appearances on the cover of the premier photographic magazine of the age.