Remembering Marilyn :Playboy Tribute to Iconic Star for 50th Anniversary of Death

This past August marked the 50th anniversary of Maryilyn Monroe's daeth , but the iconic actress's image lives on.

The star, who died at the age of 36, graces the cover of Playboy's December issue , which is fitting since she was the magazine's very first cover girl in 1953.

Today, Playboy celebrates Monroe and her career, highlighting the spectrum of her beauty and power, with classic nude photos from her days as a pinup girl to photos taken in her last days. Playboy founder Hugh Hefner remembers the star on the 50th anniversary of her death, telling the magazine:

"She was most in control when she was in the nude. What would be a position of vulnerability for others was a position of power for her," he said.

For much more Marilyn Monroe, click over to Playboy, or pick up a copy of the December issue, on sale Nov. 20.

In this undated publicity photo courtesy Running Press, Marilyn Monroe is shown wearing a knife-pleated gold lamé gown .

In this 1946 file image taken by photographer Joseph Jasgur and released by Julien's Auctions, Norma Jean Dougherty, who eventually changed her name to Marilyn Monroe, is shown. Copyrights and images from Marilyn Monroe's first photo shoot sold for $352,000 at Julien's Auctions after a bankruptcy judge in Florida ruled that photos taken of Monroe were to be sold at auction in Dec. 2011 to settle the debts of the photographer. (AP Photo/Julien's Auctions, Joseph Jasgur,

In this 1953 publicity file photo provided by Running Press, Marilyn Monroe is shown on set in the film, "Gentlemen Prefer Blondes." Monroe is probably best remembered for her comic turns in this film. The picture is included in a new 2012 book, "Marilyn in Fashion," published by Running Press. (AP Photo/Courtesy Running Press)

In this undated publicity photo courtesy Running Press, Marilyn Monroe is shown in the first photo taken of her in the famous white dress from the "The Seven Year Itch." For a brief scene in "The Seven Year Itch," in September 1954, her character strolls on a Manhattan street on a stifling summer evening. When a subway rattles beneath her, Marilyn stands astride a sidewalk vent to catch a cool breeze that swirls her skirt up around her waist. (AP Photo/Courtesy Running Press)

A South Korean man is reflected on a frame of a photo of late U.S. actress Marilyn Monroe during her photo exhibition at a department store in Seoul, South Korea, Friday. June 8, 2012. (AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon)

Description Promotional photograph of actor Marilyn Monroe (1950s) | Source http://www. art. com/gallery/id--0/posters. htm? marilyn+monroe | ...

In this Sept. 9, 1954 file photo, Marilyn Monroe poses over the updraft of a New York subway grating while in character for the filming of "The Seven Year Itch" in New York. Monroe's flirty dress from "The Seven Year Itch" is going to a collector who bid $4.6 million at a weekend auction of Hollywood memorabilia. The dress was among the film costumes and props collected by Debbie Reynolds over four decades. (AP Photo/Matty Zimmerman, File)

SAN FRANCISCO, UNITED STATES: Picture dated of the fifties showing American actress Marilyn Monroe (R) with her husband baseball legend Joe DiMaggio. (PhotNEW YORK CITY, UNITED STATES: American actress Marilyn Monroe poses in 1959 for the photographers at La Guardia Airport before to fly to Chicago, for the presentation of her film 'Some like it hot'. (Photo credit should read STR/AFP/Getty Images)

NEW YORK CITY, UNITED STATES: American actress Marilyn Monroe poses in 1959 for the photographers at La Guardia Airport before to fly to Chicago, for the presentation of her film 'Some like it hot'. (Photo credit should read STR/AFP/Getty Images)

The crypt of Marilyn Monroe is seen at the Westwood Village Memorial Park Cemetery in Los Angeles August 3, 2012. August 5th will be the 50th anniversary of the mysterious death of the Hollywood legend. AFP PHOTO / ROBYN BECK (Photo credit should read ROBYN BECK/AFP/GettyImages)