Happy Birthday, Mr. President

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Marilyn Monroe singing Happy Birthday, Mr. President

Happy Birthday, Mr. President is a variant on the traditional Happy Birthday to You song. This version was originally sung by Marilyn Monroe to then-President of the United States John F. Kennedy.

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- Marilyn Monroe's original performance of the song
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1 History
2 Impact
- 2.1 References in Popular Culture
3 References

[edit] History

President Kennedy celebrated his forty-fifth birthday on May 19, 1962 at Madison Square Garden. Over 15,000 people attended along with numerous celebrities, including Marilyn Monroe. Monroe's dress was noted for being flesh colored with 2500 rhinestones sewn into it. The dress was so tight-fitting that Monroe had to be literally sewn into it once she had dressed. It was designed by Jean Louis.

John F. Kennedy thanking Marilyn Monroe

Peter Lawford was at the event that night to introduce Monroe. He made a play on the actress's lateness by giving her a number of introductions throughout the night, after which she did not go on stage. As she finally came on stage several hours into the show, Lawford introduced her as the "late Marilyn Monroe."

The song itself simply took the traditional Happy Birthday to You lyrics:

Happy Birthday to you,

Happy Birthday [insert name]

Happy Birthday to you.

With "Mr. President" inserted as Kennedy's name. While the original song is generally sung for children, Monroe's performance was notably sultry.

Monroe continued the song with a snippet from the classic song Thanks for the Memory, for which she had written new lyrics specifically aimed at Kennedy:

Thanks, Mr President

For all the things you've done

The battles that you've won

The way you deal with U.S. Steel

And our problems by the ton

We thank you so much

Monroe's delivery, her racy dress, and her general image as a sex symbol made the President's response humorous when he said, "I can now retire from politics after having had Happy Birthday sung to me in such a sweet, wholesome way."

[edit] Impact

Monroe's dress from the event

The song and Monroe's performance have been remembered for numerous reasons. First, it was one of her last major public appearances (Monroe died August 5, 1962). In addition, there are persistent rumors that President Kennedy and Marilyn Monroe had had an affair, giving Monroe's performance another layer of meaning. Monroe's dress has become famous as a symbol of the song, selling in 1999 at auction in New York for over US$1.26 million.

[edit] References in Popular Culture

In The Simpsons episode "Rosebud", Waylon Smithers imagines Mr. Burns popping out of a cake and singing "Happy Birthday, Mr. Smithers" to him in a similar tone to Monroe's performance.
John F. Kennedy, Jr. put Drew Barrymore on the cover of his magazine George in a dress very similar to Monroe's.
Madonna did a parody of Monroe's performance when she hosted the television show Saturday Night Live in 1992.
Dave Chappelle talked about this and the Lewinsky Scandal in his HBO special, "Killing Them Softly."
In the film Wayne's World, Wayne (Mike Myers) dons one of his girlfriend's (Tia Carrere) bras and gets her to laugh by singing the song to her in a mock-sultry voice reminiscent of Monroe.
On an episode of MTV game show Remote Control celebrating the birthday of then-announcer Colin Quinn, the "Sing Along with Colin" channel was changed to "The Birthday Channel"; upon this channel being selected, then-hostess Kari Wuhrer sang "Happy Birthday, to Mr. Quinn" in a similar sultry voice.
In an episode of The Golden Girls, Blanche Deveraux sings the song to Premier Gorbachev while Rose is in Russia on a "Mission of Peace", with the following lyrics:

Happy Birthday to You,

Happy Birthday, Mr. Number One Communist

Happy Birthday to You.

In an episode of Sabrina the Teenage Witch, Aunt Hilda Spellman sings the song to the head of the witch's council (as seen on an old film), with the following lyrics:

"Happy Birthday to You,"

"Happy Birthday, Mr. Head of Witch's Council"

"Happy Birthday to You."

In an episode of The Sopranos, Tony Soprano goes to visit a woman he believes is the subject of his father's drawn-out affair, and while he is there looking at pictures of them, she puts on an old hat and sings "Happy Birthday, Mr. President."
At the 50th birthday celebration of Prince Charles of the United Kingdom in 1998, Geri Halliwell parodied Monroe's performance, changing the lyric to 'Happy Birthday Your Royal Highness'.