Playboy magazine is paying a special tribute to screen icon Marilyn Monroe on her 50th death anniversary by publishing rare nude photos of the actress.

The magazine dug deep into its archive of 10 million photos to publish the photographs in the December issue, the Daily Mail reported.

"It's really all about the collection," said Jimmy Jellinek, Playboy's editorial director.

The very first issue of Playboy had Monroe as the cover girl. That famous photograph by Tom Kelley, with Monroe on red velvet cloth, was purchased by Hefner.

The photos range from her first days as a pin-up girl to her final pictorials with the leading photographers.