In my second post on the Hollywood Legends event at Julien’s Auctions, I’m looking at some of the items going under the hammer on Wednesday, December 10, as part of a day-long Classic Hollywood showcase.
A black cardboard box file owned by one of Marilyn’s first (and best) professional photographers, Andre de Dienes, circa 1960s, with his name and a black-and-white photo of 19-year-old Norma Jeane from the so-called Meadow Sitting pasted onto the front. Another image from this series gave the young model her first US magazine cover, Family Circle, in 1945.
SOLD for $2,240
A page torn from a small book kept by autograph hunter Beverly Heon, with the inscription: ‘To Beverly / Marilyn Monroe.’ The verso features another autograph from Swedish-born actress Signe Hasso, dated 5/22/49,’ so it’s likely Marilyn’s signature also dates from 1949. (This is interesting as she had made only a few minor films at the time, and wasn’t yet well-known …)
SOLD for $2,560
At left, a framed 1970 print entitled ‘Lady of the Light,’ signed by artist Earl Moran. Marilyn posed semi-nude for reference photos which inspired Moran’s illustrations during the 1940s. And at right, an original copy of Playboy‘s first issue, published in December 1953 with Marilyn on the cover, from a private collection including nearly every issue of the men’s magazine.
Painting SOLD for $320; magazine bundle SOLD for $7,680
At left, two colour transparencies from 1952, processed at the Atkinson Laboratory on Santa Monica. The first, dated 8/2/52 and credited to photographer Phil Stern, shows Marilyn with actor Mickey Rooney (on drums) and bandleader Ray Anthony during a party celebrating Anthony’s single, ‘My Marilyn,’ held at his Sherman Oaks home.
The second, dated ‘Sep 15,’ shows Marilyn with actor Keenan Wynn at the ‘Out of This World Series,’ a charity baseball game held at Gilmore Field. In both images Marilyn wears dresses designed for Niagara, which she had just finished shooting.
SOLD for $448
And at right, another transparency dated ‘May 56,’ from a 1953 photo by Frank Powolny. The white outlines and crop marks indicate it was made for editorial use.
SOLD for $256
At left, a 1980s print from Marilyn’s 1952 Potato Sack shoot for photographer Gene Kornman (not Earl Theisen as stated in the listing.) And at right, an original print of Marilyn during her trip to Korea, with ‘Press Agency/London UK’ stamped on the verso, plus handwritten annotations indicating multiple usages during 1954, and again in 1961.
SOLD for $384 each
A sports jacket custom-made in 1953 for Darryl F. Zanuck, head of production at Twentieth Century-Fox, with whom Marilyn had a rather distant, and occasionally fractious working relationship.
SOLD for $320
A $500 cheque issued by a New York bank and signed by Marilyn on December 20, 1954, although the address her home bank in Los Angeles has been added by hand. A handwritten annotation on the verso indicates that the cheque was endorsed by Milton Greene. Marilyn was staying at the photographer’s home in Westport, Connecticut, and they were soon to co-found an independent company, Marilyn Monroe Productions.
SOLD for $3,840
And last for now, a Lee Storm Rider denim jacket worn by Don Murray, Marilyn’s leading man in Bus Stop (1956), her first film after returning to Hollywood following a year-long legal battle with Twentieth Century-Fox. The jacket comes from the estate of Ed Wynigear, who worked for many years in the studio’s wardrobe department.
SOLD for $1,600
The Marilyn Report 