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Marilyn at Julien’s: A Life In Pictures

Property From The Life and Career of Marilyn Monroe, coming to Julien’s on November 1, features images from all stages of her life, starting with David Conover, the photographer who first discovered Norma Jeane Dougherty in 1945. (You can read all my posts on the sale here.)

Photo sets SOLD for $256 and $384, respectively

Norma Jeane poses here with another of her early photographers, Joseph Jasgur (includes his later inscription to a fan.)

SOLD for $1,024

“Original pages from Andre de Dienes’ manuscript that were used 17 years later to create Hollywood, the small soft cover book (with the black elastic band) included with the Taschen box set, Marilyn; approximately 180 pages, the document is typed with De Dienes’ black fountain pen, felt-tip, or ballpoint ink annotations throughout, exactly as they appeared in the miniaturized version that was released to the public; of particular interest are all the original print black and white photographs of Monroe that De Dienes glued to these pages as well as magazine cut-outs and other photographs he used to ‘decorate’ his manuscript; his black ink credit stamps can be seen on the versos of most of the photographs if the pages are held up to the light; frustratingly, the document starts with page 157 (just like the black booklet does) as this was all that was found after De Dienes’ death in 1985.”

SOLD for $3,200

“A standard design parasol made of crème-colored nylon with a wooden hook handle; used by the then-called Norma Jeane in 1949 when Andre De Dienes took photographs of her at Jones Beach and at Tobey Beach on Long Island in New York; saved by the photographer for the rest of his life.”

Parasol SOLD for $21,875; photo SOLD for $640

Selected photos by Andre De Dienes.

SOLD for $1,152 each

A candid snapshot of Marilyn holding a cocker spaniel on the Fox parking lot during her 1953 photo shoot with Alfred Eisenstadt for LIFE magazine.

Photo set SOLD for $896

“A collection of 6 color transparencies and 7 black and white negatives, all originals, all depicting Marilyn wearing her red bathing suit from the 1953 20th Century Fox film, How to Marry a Millionaire; shot at Harold Lloyd’s ‘Greenacres’ Beverly Hills home by the Air Force photographer Harold Davidson, who was likely working on the odd PSA commercial Marilyn filmed there where she purrs ‘I hate a careless man.'”

SOLD for $5,000

Framed print from Marilyn’s 1956 ‘Black Sitting‘ with photographer Milton Greene.

SOLD for $768

“An original Cecil Beaton print with a matte finish, depicting Marilyn in 1956 as she lays against a Japanese print holding a flower, mounted to a mat board which is signed by Beaton in red pencil in the lower right corner … according to MM lore, this was her favorite photograph …”

SOLD for $3,437.50

And finally, selected photos by Bert Stern and George Barris.

Stern photos SOLD for $7,500 and $1.920; Barris photos SOLD for $1,250, $768, and $896.

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Norma Jeane and the Drone Wars

Marilyn makes a surprise appearance in today’s edition of the left-wing newspaper, the Morning Star, as Miles Ellingham traces the history of drone warfare. It is illustrated with David Conover’s 1945 photo of the 19 year-old Norma Jeane at work in a munitions plant, which led her to pursue a modelling career as World War II came to an end. (Although Marilyn remained deeply patriotic and supported US troops during the Korean War, in later years she would join the National Committee for a Sane Nuclear Policy and told a journalist, ‘My nightmare is the H-Bomb. What’s yours?’)

“The idea of a drone, or telechiric machine, was initially floated as a way of exploring inhospitable zones, and it wasn’t until the second world war that a militarised drone was considered, with the aim of minimising human involvement in warfare.

First came ‘target drones,’ small remote-controlled planes for US artillery target practice. But it wasn’t long before the military-industrial complex thought to weaponise the concept and set thousands of factory workers to construct them. One of these workers was a girl by the name of Norma Jeane Dougherty, who had her first break in a photo for the Radioplane Company, launching an acting career as Marilyn Monroe.”

UPDATE: My response to the article is published in The Morning Star today.

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The Man Who Discovered Marilyn

David Conover visits Marilyn on the ‘Gentlemen Prefer Blondes’ set, 1953

Many people – mostly men – have credited themselves with ‘discovering’ Marilyn. Among them, photographer David Conover – who found the teenage Norma Jeane working at the Radioplane munitions plant in 1945, and guided her through the first steps of her modelling career – is one of a select few who can rightfully claim to have played an essential role in her path to fame, as Carl Rollyson (author of Marilyn Monroe: A Life of the Actress) commented yesterday.

Norma Jeane photographed by David Conover,, 1945

“I’ve always thought that Conover was the key figure in the transformation of Norma Jeane into Marilyn. I think he was the first professional photographer, professional anything, to tell her she had a future as a model and actress. I think he unlocked something in her that had been waiting to be released. I know from my own experience that it takes only one person to say with authority that you are something special. No matter what happens afterwards, no matter how hard it gets, that one person has liberated a spirit that cannot be suppressed.”

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Snapshot of War: Norma Jeane and the Drone

Over at Paleofuture, Matt Novak takes another look at David Conover’s 1944 photo of 18 year-old Norma Jeane Dougherty working at the Radioplane munitions plant – the picture that launched her modelling career – and asks, what was she making?

“Though her main job at the factory was spraying down the planes with fire retardant, here she’s seen assembling the OQ-2 radioplane, (sometimes called the RP-5A, TDD-l or the “Dennymite” for its designer Reginald Denny), which was the first mass produced unmanned aerial vehicle in the world. Drones have been in the news so much recently that we often think of them as a new concept in war.”

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Hollywood Legends at Julien’s

Marilyn graces another auction catalogue cover this week. Julien’s Hollywood Legends sale is set for April 5-6, and includes photographs, documents and a cocktail dress that belonged to MM.

Norma Jeane by David Conover, 1945

 

Marilyn in 1949

UPDATE: Norma Jeane’s 1941 class photo from Emerson Junior High was sold for $1,280

A black velvet belt, probably worn by Marilyn in As Young As You Feel, sold for $2,432

Marilyn-themed suitcase owned by Anna Nicole Smith, sold for $1,024

‘A New Wrinkle‘ 1953 calendar from Tom Kelley Studio, sold for $1.375

Marilyn’s 1954 script for the unmade film, Horns for the Devil, sold for $1,375

Hairdresser Peter Leonardi’s invitation to the premiere of The Seven Year Itch, sold for $1,408

Red cotton nightshirt owned by Marilyn, sold for $15,000

Nude foundation bra from Marilyn’s ‘I Wanna Be Loved By You‘ dress, sold for $28,800

Marilyn’s 1961 bank savings book, sold for $1,920

Amateur film shot during production of The Misfits, sold for $2,560

8mm film reel showing Marilyn working on a scene with Misfits co-star Thelma Ritter, sold for $3,840

Skull cap trimmed with cabbage rose, worn by Marilyn in There’s No Business Like Show Business, sold for $8,125

Light brown wool cocktail dress from Jax, sold for $25,000

 

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‘Ruthie the Welder’ and Norma Jeane

No discussion of American women’s role in World War II would be complete without mentioning the ‘discovery’ of 19 year-old Norma Jeane Dougherty in 1945, while working at the RadioPlane munitions plant, by army photographer David Conover.

Over at the Newport Independent, former welder Ruth White discusses being a working woman in wartime…

‘White notes that the pictures of the young women seen from those days were accurate as they were portrayed to the public.

“We wore our hair in bandanas, wore high top shoes with steel toes and coveralls.  Our leather coveralls and jacket, hood and gloves was in six lockers at the yard,” she said.

“You’ve seen pictures of women, some famous – some not, dressed in those coveralls and bandanas and that is how we went to work every day.”

Among those famous pictures which have been distributed for years was a young Norma Jeane Mortensen Baker, who parlayed her “15 minutes of fame” as a patriotic riveter into that of a Hollywood starlet.

“You probably know her as Marilyn Monroe,” White quipped, “those pictures helped  get her noticed.”‘

 

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Marilyn: The Norma Jeane Years

This DVD was released in 2010, but it is actually a reissue of a 1991 documentary, The Discovery of Marilyn Monroe. As the titles suggest, this 50-minute film focusses on Marilyn’s early career, including Norma Jeane’s ‘discovery’ by photographer David Conover while she was working at the Radio Plane munitions plant in Los Angeles in 1945, while her first husband, Jim Dougherty, was serving in the Navy during World War II.

This meeting, which inspired the 19 year-old Norma Jeane to pursue a modelling career, is reconstructed by actors. This early period is also touched upon in interviews with her foster sister, Eleanor ‘Bebe’ Goddard. Sketches that she and Norma Jeane made in their teens, including their own fashion designs, are shown here.

Dougherty, who became a policeman after divorcing Norma Jeane in 1946, is also interviewed. He is filmed arriving in Los Angeles, and driving a Ford Dodge car similar to the one he owned during their four-year marriage. He is reunited with two more famous names from his past, Jane Russell (whom he once dated while at high school, and later met at a dance with Norma Jeane) and Robert Mitchum (with whom Dougherty worked with at Lockheed, another munitions plant, soon after his wedding to Norma Jeane.)

Of these interviewees, it is Russell who seems the most realistic and empathetic with Monroe, with whom she would co-star in 1953’s Gentlemen Prefer Blondes. Of all the main interviewees, Russell is now the only one still living. Mitchum (who once visited the Dougherty home) was paired with Marilyn later the same year, in River of No Return.

Their memories of Norma Jeane/Marilyn suggest a sweet, shy young woman who was undone by her own vulnerability. It is interesting to observe the dynamic between the three old friends, as Dougherty had not seen either Mitchum or Russell for almost fifty years. Dougherty seemed upset that Mitchum had not replied to his letters.

Robert Slatzer, the Hollywood journalist who claimed to have secretly married Marilyn in 1952, also appears briefly. In recent years his claims have been much disputed by biographers like Donald Spoto. But Bebe Goddard calls him a friend in her footage, though they would not have known Marilyn at the same time. It’s more likely that Slatzer befriended Goddard after Monroe’s death.

Overall this is a slight but pleasant enough documentary, and the footage of Goddard and Russell is worth seeing. I was a little disappointed to realise that this is not a new documentary, and might not have bought it had I known. However this was not a film I have seen before so despite being rather misled, it was still quite an enjoyable experience.

You can also watch this documentary on Youtube

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Julien’s Auctions

Julien’s Auctions are offering property from the personal and professional life of Marilyn Monroe to be auctioned on June 26th and 27th at the Planet Hollywood Resort and Casino, Las Vegas.

A collection of items from the estate of Dr Ralph Greenson, Monroe’s psychiatrist in the last two years of her life, are featured, including a therapy couch from Greenson’s Beverly Hills office, and a chest X-Ray of his famous patient from the early 1950s.

(Some Monroe fans, myself included, may find this more than a little morbid…)

Also on offer are handwritten correspondence between Marilyn and Dr Greenson’s daughter, Joan, then a teenager; and a pink Pucci blouse given by Marilyn to Joan: additionally, there is a chair from Marilyn’s home, a Chanel No. 5 bottle owned by the star, an early portrait by David Conover, and snaps taken by servicemen during Monroe’s 1954 trip to Korea.

An interesting sidenote: items from the personal estate of Anna Nicole Smith are also up for auction. Smith, a glamour model and tabloid favourite until her tragic death in 2007, was an ardent Monroe fan and even lived in the star’s last home for a while.

For those unable to attend the auction in person, bids will also be taken online (in real time) and by telephone. Alternatively, interested parties can order a full ‘Hollywood Legends’ catalogue for the rather grand price of $100.

Press Release

Catalogue