Ripley's
Believe It or Not!
RIPLEY'S
Ripley's Believe It or Not!
These wonderful portraits can be seen in person at Ripley's Believe It or Not! in Hollywood. They really need to be seen in person to appreciate them. The car license plate portraits were created just for Ripley's by artist Michael Kalish. We are not associated with Ripley's Believe It or Not!, just impressed by their museum!
Posted: April 2026
Ingrid Bergman
Puzzle Piece Portrait
Artist Doug Powell's puzzle portrait is shown here - this one is, of actress Ingrid Bergman. The thousands of pieces used for each portrait are actually from over 90 different puzzles all bought at garage sales! Believe It or Not!
David Bowie
Ziggy Stardust from Broken Records
In 1964, at the age of 17, Bowie was the founder of The Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Long-Haired Men. He went on to defend his hairstyle at an interview with the BBC where he said, "it's not nice when people call you darling and that."
Marlon Brando
Miniature Script Writing:
The Godfather Movie Script
Look carefully. Believe It or Not!, this beautiful and detailed depiction from the Oscar winning movie, "The Godfather" is made up of thousands of letters and words - in fact every word of the script for the film starring Marlon Brando. Created entirely by hand by Rick Almanzan of Los Angeles POPART, it took over 300 hours to complete. Rick is left-handed, and actually writes upside-down so that his hand never crosses the lines he is working on so as not to smudge a single letter.
George Burns
Puzzle Piece Portrait
Doug Powell of Oviedo, Florida, loves to do jigsaw puzzles, but he doesn't build pre-designed puzzles. Shown here is one of Powell's masterpieces George Burns. The thousands of pieces used for each portrait are actually from over 90 different puzzles all bought at garage sales - Believe It or Not!
George Clooney
Portrait of Pushpins
Believe It or Not!, the brightly colored portrait shown here was created entirely of pushpins by Eric Daigh.
Johnny Depp
Mad Hatter Cereal Art
This portrait of the Mad Hatter portrayed by Johnny Depp in Tim Burton's Alice in Wonderland is made entirely from cereal.
Jimi Hendrix
Made of Guitar Picks
Jimi Hendrix is acknowledged as the #1 guitar star of all time. Using a pixelated computer image, Ed Chapman of the U.K. created this likeness of the legend using nothing but ordinary guitar picks! Believe It or Not!
Jimi Hendrix
Three Paint Brushes in Each Hand
Believe It or Not!, this portrait of guitar legend Jimi Hendrix was painted by Denny Dent (1948 - 2004) at the University of California using three brushes in each hand, simultaneously! Dent called his art style "two fisted art attack" and prided himself on both the quality of his finished portraits and the miraculous speed with which he completed them!
Alfred Hitchcock
Bird Drawings
Alfred Hitchcock directed over 60 films including his masterpieces, Psycho and The Birds, which inspired artist Enrique Ramos to design this portrait. Believe It or Not!, everything in this picture, except the word Psycho on the placard, is made from birds!
Michael Jackson
Candy Portrait
This portrait of"The King of Pop" Michael Jackson (1958 - 2009) is made entirely of candy! The hair and jacket are made of licorice, the skin is gummy bears, and the background is hard peppermint candies. There is absolutely no paint of any sort - Believe It or Not!
Angelina Jolie
Airsoft Ball Mosaic
Michigan artist John O'Hearn has immortalized Angelina Jolie using small "Airsoft" colored balls. The balls, which come in only 5 different colors, were placed into 303 thin acrylic tubes by hand to create the finished portrait! Believe It or Not!
John Lennon
Telephone Book Carving
After realizing that paper is just soft wood, artist Alex Queral discovered he could carve life-like portraits into telephone books!
Sophia Loren
Puzzle Piece Portrait
Doug Powell of Oviedo, Florida, loves to do jigsaw puzzles, but he doesn't build pre-designed puzzles. Shown here is one of Powell's masterpieces Sophia Loren. The thousands of pieces used for each portrait are actually from over 90 different puzzles all bought at garage sales - Believe It or Not!
Marilyn Monroe
Candy Portrait
Believe It or Not!, this portrait of Hollywood legend and blond bombshell, Marilyn Monroe, is made entirely of candy! The hair and dress are licorice, the skin is gummy bears and the background is hard candies. There is absolutely no paint of any sort!
Marilyn Monroe
Knit Optical Illusion
Steve Plummer knits portraits onto rugs and shawls that dissapear right before your eyes! Depending on where you view this piece of kinitting you may see nothing, or you may see Andy Warhol's famous Marilyn Monroe. Believe It or Not!
Marilyn Monroe
Birthday Gala Dress
This is one of a number of original drawings Hollywood designer Bob Mackie drew showing Marilyn in the nearly-nude gown. He was just 22 years old when he illustrated the glamorous gown!
Marilyn Monroe
Portrait of 16mm Film
Believe It or Not!, this portrait of Marilyn Monroe, depicting the famous subway scene from the 1955 film The Seven Year Itch, was made by Erika Simmons using nothing but pieces of 16mm film!
Marilyn Monroe
Packing Tape Art
Max Zorn of Amsterdam started his art career as a street artist decorating street lamps. Intrigued by light and shadows, he experimented with transparent mediums, like brown packing tape, on top of light sources to see if pictures could be formed by the light shining through. The portralt shown here, titled "When She Owned the World", shows Hollywood legend Marilyn Monroe In front of New York's Empire State Building. There Is absolutely no paint involved; the entire portralt is made of brown packing tape. Belleve It or Not!
Marilyn Monroe
Sleepwalking Art: "The Look"
Lee Hadwin of Henllan, Wales, has created nearly 200 pencil sketches, Including this portrait of Marilyn Monroe, and a sketch that sold for over $150,000-in his sleep! Believe It or Not! While sleepwalking, Lee draws on walls, tablecloths, furniture and newspapers, but the following morning he has no recollection of what he has done, and when awake displays no artistic talent whatsoever.
Marilyn Monroe
Nail Polish Portrait
Believe It or Not!, there is no paint in this "painting". This portrait was made entirely from ladies nail polish!
Marilyn Monroe
On Anna Nicole Smith's Dresser
From an early age, Anna Nicole Smith (1967 - 2007) was a huge Marilyn Monroe fan. Shown here is a unique hand-painted set of drawers from Smith's estate. Believe It or Not!, Anna Nicole once was worth an estimated $450 million dollars!
Jack Nicholson
Telephone Book Carving
After realizing that paper is just soft wood, artist Alex Queral discovered he could carve life-like portraits into telephone books! Shown here is Oscar winner Jack Nicholson as seen in his most maniacal role as Jack Torrance in Stephen King's "The Shining".
Elvis Presley
Butterfly Art
Believe It or Not!, absolutely no paint was used to create this portrait of Elvis Presley, the "King of Rock N' Roll!" The entire picture is made from butterfly wings!
Tom Selleck
Crayon Portrait
Believe It or Not!, this portrait of Tom Selleck by Don Marco of Duluth, Minnesota, was drawn using a children's pack of Crayola crayons! There is no paint or art pastels of any sort used.
Sex and the City
Final Episode Script
Look very carefully at this portrait of Sex and the City stars, Cynthia Nixon, Kristin Davis, Kim Cattrall, and Sarah Jessica Parker - Believe It or Not!, the figures are made up entirely of the words from the script of the show's final episode!
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The Simpsons
Airsoft BBs Mosaic
This mosaic of The Simpsons is made from Airsoft BBs! It took 61,915 total balls to create and over 6 weeks to finish, ¡Ay, caramba!
Frank Sinatra
Rubik's Cube Portrait
Titled "Blue Eyes" and created from 450 Rubik's Cubes, this portrait was designed and created by Josh Chalom. Depicted here is actor and singer supreme, Frank Sinatra (1915-1998).
Ringo Starr
Telephone Book Carving
After realizing that paper is just soft wood, artist Alex Queral discovered he could carve life-like portraits into telephone books! Shown here is the Beatles' drummer, Ringo Starr. Believe It or Not!, his real name is actually Richard Starkey!
Elizabeth Taylor
Portrait Made of Stamps
Created by Peter Mason of the U.K., this lovely portrait of Hollywood legend, Elizabeth Taylor is made completely of postage stamps! The stamps date back to the 1950's and 1960's, Liz's heyday period, and include very rare orange fluorescent Machin stamps - Believe It or Not!
The Wizard of Oz
Script Painting
Created by Rick Almanzan, this picture is made up of the words from the first 11 chapters of L. Frank Baum's novel, The Wonderful Wizard of Oz. [https://www.amazon.com/dp/1950435431] The movie was filmed in just over six months and earned only $3 million on its initial release, but has been re-issued 14 times! Believe It or Not!