Marilyn’s earliest signed contract with Twentieth Century-Fox is going under the hammer on Saturday, December 7, as part of a Hollywood/Entertainment Signature event at Heritage Auctions.
“Vintage original legal contract dated July 25 1946, 4-pages typed on unimprinted standard letter sheets 8.5″ x 11″, each tipped to card-stock backings for display. Signed in black ink denoting Artist, ‘Norma Jeane Dougherty’ near the middle of page 4, which was her married name at the time. Additionally signed by Twentieth Century Fox General Manager Lew Schreiber, as well as Monroe’s legal guardian Grace McKee Goddard and notary June Downey … Also includes a legal court document signed (by a secretary, for Atty. Robert H. Patton), August 24,1946, 2-pages typed carbon. A petition to the Superior Court for the State of California for the approval of her second contract with Twentieth Century-Fox following her screen test, because Marilyn was a minor at the time of signing … Accompanied by a signed LOA by preeminent handwriting & manuscript expert Charles Hamilton, dated August 20, 1994.”
UNSOLD
A number of individual photographs are also on offer, such as these promotional images for Frank and Joseph shampoo, shot at H. Maier Studios in 1945 – SOLD for $3,250 (above, at top); and $4,250 (at bottom.)
UPDATE…
This seductive photo by John Florea was the top-seller among the Marilyn-related items, fetching $6,875, while her first movie contract surprisingly went unsold, and is currently on offer at $25,000.
However, the weekend’s biggest story by far was the sale of Judy Garland’s red shoes from The Wizard of Oz for a staggering $28 million (plus $4.5 million in premiums), making this sparkly pair the highest selling movie costume piece of all time – a record previously set by Marilyn’s white halter-neck dress from The Seven Year Itch, which sold for $4.6 million (or $5,658 million with premiums) at Profiles in History back in 2011.
And now, let’s move on to what’s coming next to Heritage Auctions…
Marilyn brings a slice of cheesecake to this original poster for We’re Not Married (1952), coming up on Sunday, December 8. – SOLD for $30
And ‘Roses Are Red,’ an oil painting by Earl Moran, will be sold as part of an Illustration Art Showcase event on Monday, December 9.
“The present work is a preliminary for a Brown & Bigelow September 1950 calendar. Earl Moran met Marilyn Monroe in 1946, when she was working as a commercial model for the Blue Book Model Agency. Just 19, and still going by her married name Norma Jeane Dougherty, she instantly became his new favourite model posing frequently for a series of Brown & Bigelow calendars that were published in the late 1940s and early 1950s.”
SOLD for $4,750
Glimpses of the private Marilyn in these photos from her New York years, shot by Sam Shaw in 1954 and 1957, and up for grabs in the regular Depth of Field showcase on Wednesday, December 11. – SOLD for $169 (left) and $189 (right)
Alfred E. Neuman, the grinning mascot for MAD magazine, made his debut in a March 1955 issue alongside Marilyn (‘Blond Beauty’), comedy duo Jerry Lewis and Dean Martin, and two infamous dictators in a spoof advertisement for rubber masks – available now as part of a Comic Books auction, with bids closing on December 15. – SOLD for $169
Looking ahead to 2025, a rare wardrobe test shot and publicity still for the 1951 comedy, Let’s Make It Legal – each showing Marilyn in a bathing suit by Renié – will go under the hammer in a Photo Legends Type 1 Showcase on January 12. – SOLD for $412.50 (left) and $500 (right)
And finally, this glamorous portrait of Marilyn in All About Eve (1950) – part of a studio key book set sent to theatrical distributors – will also be sold on January 12. A similar image was used in this poster for O. Henry’s Full House (1952), on offer until December 15. – SOLD for $2,000 (left) and $30 (right)
The Marilyn Report 