Monroe’s ‘birthday’ gown fetches RM21m
LOS ANGELES: The figure-hugging gown Marilyn Monroe wore to serenade president John F. Kennedy for his 45th birthday smashed its guide price to sell for US$4.8 million (RM21 million) at an auction on Thursday.
The flesh-coloured dress, adorned with 2,500 hand-stitched crystals, had been expected to fetch between US$2 million and US$3 million, Julien’s Auctions in Beverly Hills said.
It went to Ripley’s Believe It or Not!, an American media empire specialising in bizarre and historically significant items which owns a chain of museums, including one in Hollywood.
The dress was so tight on Monroe that the legendary actress wore nothing underneath and had to be sewn into it at the last minute before stepping on stage at Madison Square Garden in 1962 to sing to Kennedy in her trademark sultry voice, according to the auction house.
First auctioned by Christie’s in 1999, the Jean Louis dress went to the late business mogul Martin Zweig for US$1.3 million.
“Marilyn Monroe singing ‘Happy Birthday Mr. President’ is certainly one of the most famous impromptu performances in American history,” said Darren Julien, president and chief executive officer of Julien’s Auctions.
Other highlights of the first day of the auction of Monroe’s personal effects included the Some Like it Hot cocktail dress, which sold for US$450,000, and a Rose Tattoo gown which went for US$125,000. AFP
when she sang for US president John F. Kennedy on display at Julien’s Auctions House in Los Angeles. AFP pic