New face of Max Factor has been dead for 53 years

Marylin Monroe in the film Gentlemen Prefer Blondes.

She may have been dead for more than half a century, but that has not stopped Marilyn Monroe becoming the new face of a beauty brand.

Max Factor has announced that the late actress will be its "global glamour ambassador" and will star in its advertising campaigns this year.

The adverts will emphasise the role that make-up played in transforming mousy Norma Jeane Mortenson into the blonde bombshell of Some Like It Hot and The Seven Year Itch.

Monroe was a Max Factor client in the 40s, when the American brand had a beauty parlour in Hollywood Boulevard and catered for the starlets of the day.

"Marilyn made the sultry red lip, creamy skin and dramatically lined eyes the most famous beauty look of the Forties, and it's a look that continues to dominate the beauty and fashion industry," said Pat McGrath, of Max Factor.

"It is the ultimate look that defines glamour - nothing else compares."

The brand has previously used Gwyneth Paltrow and Gisele Bundchen, the supermodel, in its campaigns.

Monroe died in 1962, aged 36, but her estate continues to make millions of dollars each year.

Last year, she was ranked sixth in Forbes magazine's annual list of the highest-earning dead celebrities, making an estimated NZ$21 million.

The rights to Monroe's image belong to the Authentic Brands Group, a licensing company that specialises in "adjoining celebrity talent to brands".

Deals in recent years include Monroe-branded spas and nail salons, a cafe and a line of clothing for teenage girls at the US department store Macy's.

The firm also has the rights to license the image of Elvis Presley and Muhammad Ali, including his "floats like a butterfly, stings like a bee" sound bite.

It is not the first time that Monroe has promoted a beauty brand: she was one of several Hollywood icons recreated through CGI technology in a 2011 television advert for Dior's J'Adore perfume.