Born Norma Jean Baker, Marilyn Monroe went from playing bit parts to becoming one of the most celebrated film personalities of her time. She was honored on a single postage stamp. Hers was the classic show business tragedy. Following her third marriage (to playwright Arthur Miller), Marilyn struggled to understand theories of acting, wanting to star in the classics. She became difficult and nearly unemployable when this effort failed.

Her best-known performances were in Gentlemen Prefer Blonds, 1953; How to Marry a Millionaire, 1953; The Seven Year Itch, 1955; and Some Like It Hot, 1959. Story of a Star's Star The Marilyn Monroe stamp was issued by the U.S. Postal Service in minisheets of twenty, which include a large illustration of the actress. In addition to that bit of glamour, the stamp issue included a star-shaped perforation where four stamps join, or at the margins where two stamps join.

The star for this "star" is a USPS first. But, something funny happened on the way to the perforator. An estimated 1.7 million stamps carry one of two "irregularities," a term the USPS used to describe the problem: -- a skipped star-shaped perforation, which is a pane containing one stamp without the star inserted. In its notice to its own stamp distribution offices and philatelic centers, the USPS noted that the star perforation was created to complement the Legends of Hollywood series and become a permanent fixture with the series. Although they lose their "shape" when the stamps are separated from the pane, the star perforations make an attractive and interesting addition to an unbroken stamp pane.