Marilyn Monroe 1926-1962
With so many Marilyn-related auctions in the news recently, Cardboard Connection has compiled a list of the Top 10 Collectables – including costumes and jewellery, autographs and signatures, letters, movie posters, and Playboy‘s first issue.
British snooker star Dominic Dale is selling his collection of 32 stunning original prints of Marilyn, including works by Andre de Dienes, George Barris, and the 1952 Frank Powolny shot that inspired Andy Warhol, reports the Shropshire Star. As part of an auction organised by Mullock’s Auctioneers, the sale will take place at Ludlow Racecourse on November 26.
“The individual images could fetch up to £2,500 each when they are auctioned by Mullocks Auctioneers at Ludlow Racecourse, Shrops., in two weeks time.
Richard Westwood-Brookes, historical document expert at the auctioneers, said: ‘These are classic images of Marilyn and are works of high art in their own right.
‘What’s important about these photos is that they all have their photographer’s stamp on the back, so they have come straight from the negative of the image.
‘As a result we are pricing them at £500 estimate each.
‘But judging from the worldwide interest in original photographs such as these of Marilyn we expect that they will make far more.
The set also includes snaps by several other renowned photographers including Joseph Jasgur, Bruno Bernard, Philippe Halsman and Milton H Greene.
Mr Westwood-Brookes added: ‘In addition to the photographs, Dominic’s collection also has some very important books including an extremely rare edition of Marilyn – a Hollywood Farewell by Leigh Wiener with preface by Richard B Stolley.
This was produced in 1990 as a limited edition signed by Wiener and Stolley.
‘Unfortunately Wiener died before he could complete more than a few signings, and the copy we are offering is one of those very few which bear both signatures, together with an autograph dedication from Stolley to Dominic Dale.
‘The collection also contains the definitive books produced by the photographers, which include printed versions of the originals we are offering in the sale, and many other rare and desirable books about Marilyn.’
Snooker ace Dominic, 42, added: ‘It will be sad to see them go but my snooker commitments now call for me to be jetting around the world all the time.
‘I think the time has come for my collection to pass into the hands of other lovers of Marilyn who will cherish them as much as I have done.’
Dominic, whose nickname is ‘The Spaceman’, is one of the top 30 professional snooker champions in the world.”
Immortal Marilyn’s Marijane Gray rounds off a week of successful myth-busting with this superb Buzzfeed post about fake MM quotes.
Columnist Liz Smith gives the just-released second volume of Gary Vitacco-Robles’ epic biography, Icon, a rave review in her latest post for New York Social Diary.
“This massive book covers the years 1956 to ’62 and beyond — into Monroe’s mythology, deification and after-death debasement.
As with the first volume, this works reminds me so much of the sane and excellent 1968 Fred Lawrence Guiles bio, Norma Jean. This, along with Maurice Zolotow’s colorfully brilliant 1960 book, Marilyn Monroe, are starting points for all things MM.
Vitacco-Robles presents his many facts without sensation or much agenda. Nothing is hidden, but what is revealed is not made to seem extraordinarily lurid. Monroe had deep-seated emotional problems, issues with prescription drugs and she liked her champagne a bit too much. Get in line, Hollywood and much of the rest of the world!
The book covers so much of Monroe’s life and in such detail it would be pointless to zero in on any particular chapter/era. Suffice to say the author uses only the best, most reliable sources. I would note, however, that his chapters on the controversial filming of Some Like It Hot and the examination of her death are especially interesting.
The Icon volumes are invaluable for anybody who wants to know about Monroe in a real sense — what her name and fame was during her lifetime. Now, 52 years after her death, she is written up and idolized as if she was still with us. But the image has been turned into something quite different.
Younger fans confuse what they see celebrated by today’s self-exploitative stardom and tell-all mentality. They don’t realize it has nothing to do with the system within which Marilyn both cooperated and battled. Pat Newcomb, Marilyn’s last press rep, once said, ‘Marilyn never told everything to anybody.’ Although Marilyn would be delighted by her enduring fame, she would be appalled by the invasions of her privacy — because so many of those invasions are total fiction.”
In another great Buzzfeed article, Immortal Marilyn’s Marijane Gray examines some of the sketchier rumours about MM’s private life.
Julien’s Auctions have announced details of their next auction, ‘Icons and Idols: Property from the Life and Career of Marilyn Monroe‘, set for December 6. Already the subject of many news articles, the auction items can be viewed here.
It is quite simply a treasure trove for biographers. Some of the items are from the collection of Lois Banner, author of MM Personal. However many have never been seen before, and are listed simply as being from ‘the lost archive of Marilyn Monroe’.
“Monroe…willed ‘The Lost Archives’ to her mentor, the legendary acting coach Lee Strasberg,” the Hollywood Reporter writes. “He gave it to a friend he trusted would take proper care. That friend’s family, which Julien said wants to remain anonymous, obviously met Strasberg’s expectations. Many of the letters look as pristine as the day their authors wrote them.”
Among the 300 items on offer are photos by Andre de Dienes, Joe Jasgur, Milton Greene, and Manfred Kreiner; photos taken during filming of Let’s Make Love and The Misfits; a home movie from the set of The Misfits; photos taken during Marilyn’s trip to Japan and Korea in 1954, and at the American Friends of Hebrew University dinner in 1959; love letters from Joe DiMaggio and Arthur Miller; correspondence from Sam Shaw, Pat Newcomb, May Reis, actors Tom Neal and Delos Smith Jr., Cary Grant, Jane Russell, Sid Ross (the journalist brother of photographer Ben Ross), Lotte Goslar, Henry Rosenfeld, Cheryl Crawford, Amy Greene, James Haspiel, Dr. Margaret Hohenberg, Garson Kanin, Peter Leonardi, Norman Rosten, Jerry Wald, and many others; the black velvet dress she wore to a press conference at New York’s Plaza Hotel in 1956; a favourite overcoat; a photo of Ginger Rogers, signed ‘to Norma Jeane Baker’; and assorted homeware.
Warner Archive have released one of Marilyn’s best early movies, Clash by Night (1952), as a made-to-order DVD for American audiences. If you’re outside the US, you can order it from Movies Unlimited.
Based on a play by Clifford Odets, and directed by the great Fritz Lang, Clash by Night is a melodrama with more than a hint of Film Noir. Barbara Stanwyck, Robert Ryan and Paul Douglas give it their all, while Marilyn’s performance as cannery worker Peggy showed what a fine actress she could be when offered strong material. Bonus features include a commentary by filmmaker Peter Bogdanovich as well as an audio interview with Lang. Traditionally hard to find, the movie is a must for true fans.
Earlier releases can be purchased via Amazon (but be careful not to confuse it with the 1963 British movie of the same name.)
This 1992 photo of supermodel Eva Herzigova is often mistaken for Marilyn. In another great Buzzfeed post, Immortal Marilyn’s Marijane Gray sets the record straight about some of the most commonly misidentified images.
Writing for the Glendale News-Press, Katherine Yamada looks at the stories of three famous women who stayed at Rockhaven Sanatarium, where Marilyn’s mother Gladys lived for fifteen years. Other patients include actresses Billie Burke, Frances Farmer, and Josephine Dillon – best-known as the first wife of Clark Gable. Yamada promises a future article about Gladys, and also mentions Aimee Semple McPherson, the woman rumoured to have baptised Norma Jeane.
British actress Emily Watson will play Grace Goddard (nee McKee) – who became Marilyn’s legal guardian after her mother’s breakdown – in Lifetime’s upcoming miniseries, The Secret Life of Marilyn Monroe, based on J. Randy Taraborrelli’s 2009 biography, reports Deadline.
Watson, who is 47, began her career on the London stage. She shot to fame in Lars Von Trier’s Breaking the Waves (1996), and went on to star in Hilary and Jackie (1998), Angela’s Ashes (1999), Gosford Park (2001), Miss Potter (2006), War Horse (2011), The Book Thief and Belle (2013.)
This latest news of A-list casting will boost the hopes of fans hoping for a high-quality biopic. Although Taraborrelli’s biography has been disputed by some, his focus on the women who raised Marilyn seems to be highlighted in this production. And Watson actually bears a striking resemblance to Grace.
With Kelli Garner confirmed as Marilyn, and Susan Sarandon as Gladys, one question remains – who will play Marilyn’s beloved ‘aunt’, Ana Lower?