A longtime fan of Marilyn Monroe is spending thousands of his own money on campaigning for the Academy to afford her a lifetime achievement award at the Oscars, claiming her talent was ‘raped by the entire industry.’
Artist Michael Moebius is rallying for the late icon, who died over six decades ago, to be credited for her services to film and entertainment – and has even planned an elaborate $30,000 stunt to capture the attention of Academy bosses ahead of this year’s ceremony on Sunday night.
Michael is also fighting for Hollywood heavyweights James Dean and Elvis Presley to be honored for their ‘unparalleled contributions to cinema and culture,’ and has launched a Change.org petition to help mobilize public support.
‘Everyone thinks they have an Academy Award because they are household names, but they don’t,’ he told DailyMail.com exclusively.
One Marilyn Monroe fan has launched a campaign to get her a posthumous lifetime achievement at the Oscars
Artist Michael Moebius is rallying for Marilyn, Elvis Presley, and James Dean, to all receive nods from the Academy for their ‘unparalleled contributions to cinema and culture’
‘Everything they did is connected to the entire industry of Hollywood. They are like the gods of the whole industry, and if you think about it, they all had a sad story.
‘They were all raped by the entire industry.’
Michael launched a Change.org campaign in December to put pressure on the Academy to act, and at the time of writing the petition has been signed over 56,000 times.
He said: ‘We’re not judging the acting or the music, we’re just saying their achievement for the entire industry and their influence was so tremendous.
‘I think everyone will be on our side to give them something back, because they entertained everyone.’
Michael launched his campaign after trying to envisage an image of Marilyn, James, and Elvis accepting Oscars for one of his artistic projects.
When he ultimately realized that all three were snubbed, he was motivated to take action and painted all three of them holding Oscars in an imagined year-long piece.
‘I was going to paint them together in a beautiful amusing way on a Hollywood night out you know, having a fun time,’ he said. ‘But they’ve never been together like this.’
Born in 1926, Marilyn was among the great stars from the Golden Age of Hollywood – but has never been recognized by the Academy
Michael is also fighting for James Dean (l) and Elvis Presley (r) to be honored by the Academy
Michael’s business partner Kevin Esfandi is also involved in the ambitious campaign and has questioned why the trio has been ‘overlooked.’
Speaking to DailyMail.com, he said: ‘When you look at the list of posthumous Oscars granted, lifetime achievement awards granted, and awards in general by the Academy and recognition by the Academy that’s been done, it’s a pretty lengthy list.
‘But you don’t see any of these three names appear on it.
‘Are they not good enough? Is this an oversight? Are they already so big that there’s no need to recognize them? But isn’t that kind of backwards? Is that the penalty of leadership? Like, you’re so recognized that you don’t even get an award?’
He is hopeful that this will soon change – as he revealed the elaborate plan to capture the attention of the Academy.
Each year in the leadup to the Oscars, Hollywood studios plaster huge billboards all over Los Angeles of the nominated films along with the tag ‘for your Oscar consideration.’
Michael has teamed up with his business partner Kevin Esfandi (left) and the pair are planning to park billboards calling for Marilyn, James and Elvis’s posthumous awards
He spent one year imagining what Elvis, Marilyn, and James would have looked like collecting the lifetime recognition Oscars
‘We’ve created very similar comparable ,’ he shared. ‘We have a few different digital billboards going up all around the city, and we’re gonna tie them thematically to Oscar time.
‘We have these huge billboard trucks which have screens on all sides and the back and we’re going to literally park them in in front of their offices.’
Revealing how much money they’re throwing behind the project, Kevin predicted between $20,000 and $30,000.
‘It will be worth it,’ he enthused. ‘It’s important to bring this the Academy’s attention – and there’s really no better way to bring it to their attention than to actually put it right in front of their faces.’
Born in 1926, Marilyn was among the great stars from the Golden Age of Hollywood.
Over the course of her career, she starred in 29 films before her tragic death, aged 36, following a barbiturates overdose in 1962.
While Marilyn was never nominated for an Academy Award, she did win the Golden Globe for Best Actress in a comedy or musical film in 1960 for her role in Some Like It Hot.
Marilyn was never recognized by the Oscars, but did pick up a Golden Globe before her death
Elvis was also snubbed by the Academy, despite his illustrious career as an actor
James is also considered one of the best male film stars of the Golden Age of Hollywood.
Born in 1931, he enjoyed huge success before his life was cut short, aged 24, in a car crash.
Following his death in 1955, James became the only actor to receive two posthumous Best Actor Oscar nominations – one in 1956 for his role in East of Eden, and another in 1957 for his role in Giant.
Despite never winning an Oscar, James did receive a Golden Globe Special Achievement Award one year after his death.
Additionally, Elvis starred in a whopping 31 feature films during his lifetime and was once one of Hollywood’s highest paid stars.
While he was hugely decorated for his contribution to music and gained for 14 Grammy nominations, three Grammy wins, and receiving the Lifetime Achievement Award at 36, his acting was not recognized by the Academy.
Hosted by Jimmy Kimmel, the 96th Academy Awards will take place at the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood on Sunday.