Marilyn makes a splash in the latest issue of UK nostalgia mag Yours Retro (#39, with Deborah Kerr on the cover), in two articles which show her financial value, then and now. ‘Nice Work If You Can Get It’ looks at classic Hollywood stars who bucked the studio system, including Jane Russell who earned considerably more on loan-out to Fox for Gentlemen Prefer Blondes (1953) than Marilyn’s $500 per week salary as a contract player – which was, of course, still a very high wage compared to the American average at that time.
Fortunately, Marilyn’s salary was raised in 1954, and then after a long battle with Fox, in 1956 she succeeded in renegotiating her old contract. “I really got to this kind of level and I said, ‘Look, after all, I am the blonde, and it is Gentlemen Prefer Blondes!'” Marilyn recalled. “Because still they always kept saying, ‘Remember, you’re not a star.’ I said, ‘Well, whatever I am, I am the blonde!'”
The second Yours Retro article, ‘Bidding for Personal Treasures,’ looks at the recent Legends & Luminaries event at Julien’s Auctions, which included 80 Marilyn-related items (more info here.) And finally, a preview of next month’s issue reveals that it will feature an article about Marilyn’s complex relationship with her mother Gladys.
Thanks to A Passion for Marilyn
The Marilyn Report 