Marilyn Monroe's 90th Birthday Would've Been Today: 5 Stars Who've Been Compared to the Late Hollywood Icon

Singer-model-actress certainly had her struggles, but she'll go down in history as the forward-thinking woman who epitomized old-school glamour

It's been over 50 years since Marilyn Monroe's tragic death, but her legacy has undoubtedly lived on.

Today would have been Marilyn's 90th birthday, and fans around the world have taken to social media to pay tribute to the late Hollywood icon. To this day, the blond beauty's impact and influence can be felt, and some of the biggest stars of today are often compared to the original Norma Jeane Baker.

Marilyn certainly had her struggles, but she'll go down in history as the forward-thinking woman who epitomized old-school glamour. Here's a look at some of today's celebrities who've been compared to the late legend herself.

1. Kate Upton: It's easy to see how the model-actress's looks have been likened to Marilyn's since the start of her career. But while Kate is flattered, she doesn't find that the comparison applies to much beyond her looks.

"I always thought Marilyn was so beautiful and iconic, it was amazing to even be mentioned in the same sentence as her," Kate told British Vogue in a 2014 interview. "But I feel like nowadays it's easy to be genuine and show your personality, whereas I don't think Marilyn had that opportunity. And clearly she had a dark side, and I don't have that."

2. Lindsay Lohan:  Back in 2008, the star stripped down for a series of Marilyn-inspired photos in New York Magazine. She also named her now-defunct leggings line 6126 as an homage to Marilyn's June 6, 1926 birthday.

Megan Fox, who once had a Marilyn tattoo but has since gotten it removed, made her own Marilyn-Lindsay comparison in 2013. "She was sort of like Lindsay. She was an actress who wasn't reliable, who almost wasn't insurable..." she told Esquire. "She had all the potential in the world, and it was squandered. I'm not interested in following those footsteps."

Megan later clarified her comments, explaining, "The journalist and I were discussing why I was removing my Marilyn Monroe tattoo, especially since in his opinion, Marilyn was such a powerful and iconic figure for women. I attempted to draw parallels between Lindsay and Marilyn in order to illustrate my point that while Marilyn may be an icon now, sadly she was not respected and taken seriously while she was still living."

"Both women were gifted actresses, whose natural talent was lost amongst the chaos and incessant media scrutiny surrounding their lifestyles and their difficulties adhering to studio schedules etc.," Megan continued. "I intended for this to be a factual comparison of two women with similar experiences in Hollywood. Unfortunately it turned into me offering up what is really much more of an uneducated opinion. It was most definitely not my intention to criticize or degrade Lindsay. I would never want her to feel bullied, as she does not deserve that. I was not always speaking eloquently during this interview and this miscommunication is my fault."

3. Kim Kardashian: Kanye West, Carine Roitfeld and  Givenchy's Riccardo Tisci have all compared the Keeping Up With the Kardashians star to Marilyn.

"I just wanted a moment with her to understand--and I fell in love," said Riccardo of Kim in a 2014 interview with London's Sunday Times (excerpted by Elle). "She's the Monroe of our age. People think she's like a doll, but actually she's tough and clever."

Carine, the former editor of French Vogue, agreed. "First of all she's beautiful–and in fashion, that is a talent you know," she told Time Out London (as excerpted by the Daily Mail). "She was also a very sweet person, a hard worker. You don't see her in parties drinking loads of alcohol. She's controversial, but so was Marilyn Monroe and I always like controversial people."

4. Scarlett Johansson: Harper's Bazaar pegged the actress as "Our modern Marilyn,"  and they certainly weren't the only ones to see the resemblance. While flattered, Scarlett initially struggled with the comparison. "I think any woman who is curvy and wears a gown to an event is, like, super-sexualized," she told Elle U.K. in a 2012 interview. "I mean, at the time I was 18, 19. I was young...I've always been curvy. It runs in the family. Throw on an evening frock and it's like all of a sudden you have boobs and everyone is like: 'bombshell!' Instantly it was: 'The new Marilyn."

With age, it seems, Scarlett came to embrace the comparisons. In 2014, she channelled Marilyn in a Dolce & Gabbana campaign video, telling People, "The shoot was great, sort of like working on a little movie, which was unexpected but really fun, sort of our tribute to Marilyn."

5. Paris Hilton: Way back in 2006, the heiress compared herself to Marilyn, telling The Sunday Times (via the L.A. Times), "I think every decade has an iconic blonde - like Marilyn Monroe or Princess Diana-and right now, I'm that icon."

A decade later, some are still comparing the former Simple Life star to the late icon. Just last month, in fact, an authorized documentary about Paris' life was announced during the Cannes Film Festival. Don Argott and Sheena Joyce are directing the project, which will start filming at the end of the summer in Ibiza.

"Paris Hilton is a modern day-Marilyn Monroe—beautiful, iconized, world famous, shaped by mass media and misunderstood," the directing duo told The Hollywood Reporter in a statement. "We are thrilled to work with Paris to explore her complicated relationship with the public, the press and the politics that shape our perception of a modern celebrity."