Marilyn Monroe has an ultimate impersonator in stunning Susan Griffiths — who can buy plenty of diamonds as her own best friends!
The 55-year-old actress from Tustin, Calif., has made about $4 million since the 1980s impersonating the ill-fated sex kitten on magazine covers and TV shows and at high-priced corporate events.
“People always told me I looked like Marilyn,” Susan said — and these days, that translates into $1,500 to $4,000 for a single appearance.
Amazingly, it wasn’t until her co-workers at a Macy’s makeup counter persuaded her to audition for an impersonator agency that she considered capitalizing on her dead-ringer status.
Even more shocking — it took Susan until she was 21 years old to see her first Marilyn movie! Since then, she’s boned up for the glamorous role.
“It took a lot of practice to get Marilyn’s mannerisms right — especially her breathy voice,” recalled Susan. “I spent hours poring over her movies.”
Now she even croons off-key like the classic beauty, who starred in 1954’s “There’s No Business Like Show Business” with Ethel Merman.
“Marilyn wasn’t known for being an incredible singer,” she said, “but I had to study with several vocal coaches.”
All that prep paid off with numerous acting gigs that allowed her to breathe new life into old Marilyn — like in “Quantum Leap” and “Pulp Fiction.”
Susan even played Marilyn to Jimmy Kimmel’s JFK on the cover of GQ.
But there have been some offers she doesn’t find worthy.
“I was also offered a chance to model nude while impersonating Marilyn, but I turned it down,” Susan said. “I felt it was disrespectful to her memory.”
