Burial spot near to Marilyn Monroe goes up for auction
DEDICATED fans of Marilyn Monroe have been offered the chance to bid to be buried near to her, as a space in the crypt near the actress’ final resting place is offered for sale at auction.
The mausoleum space, offered at a US auction with an estimate of $200,000 to $400,000, is described as “in close proximity” to Monroe as well as Playboy founder Hugh Hefner.
The burial space is one row above and four to the left of the Hollywood actress in Los Angeles. It is offered as part of a 145-lot auction of items once belonging to or relating to Monroe, in which photographs of the actress at the height of her fame are put up for public bidding alongside therapy notes revealing the darker side of her.
The sale of dresses, scripts, handwritten acting notes and photographs has a total estimated value of £600,000.
Her Mae West-inspired black evening gown from the 1955 movie The Seven Year Itch which has “M Monroe” written on the label is expected to fetch £160,000. A small six-ring binder containing her acting notes, including advice from her coach, Lee Strasberg, is valued at £25,000.
In it, she reminds herself that “there should be a certain pleasure in this” and “criticism can be taken”.
On another page, she writes: “The actor had to do what the character has to do – let the author worry about his words.”
One lot includes notes apparently taken as a result of therapy for repressed memories, including personal reflections on her childhood need to lie to her teacher, her physical insecurities, self-conscious thoughts of what others think of her drinking, and a suggestion of abuse.
A furniture receipt for $228, paid the day before she was found dead following a suspected drug overdose at age 36 in 1962, is estimated at £4,000. An annotated script for Monroe’s final, uncompleted film Something’s Got To Give is expected to fetch £25,000, while a 1954 black and white passport photo of her and her second husband, baseball player Joe Dimaggio, is set to make £16,000. A red and white polka dot umbrella she posed with in a 1949 photoshoot on Tobay Beach in New York with photographer Andre de Dienes is also estimated at £25,000.