More than 1,200 items including the dress Marilyn Monroe wore in the movie Some Like It Hot, purses, makeup, childhood photos, jewellery and handwritten notes were shown to Chinese art collectors today in preparation for an auction in Los Angeles later this year.
These mementos are a reflection of a life lived in full glare of the public and yet still unknown by the adoring populace.
Very few pop icons compare to Marilyn Monroe. At the time of her death in 1962, she was only 36 years old and was the most popular woman of her era. Even in death, few stars are as important to pop culture and history as she is.
Born Norma Jeane Mortenson in 1926, her personal life often overshadowed her film career and embraced the sex symbol status the audience bestowed on her- much like Kim Kardashian does today. Unlike the Kardashian sister, she did not rise to fame via a sex-tape.
However, Marilyn Monroe’s claim to fame was her ‘dumb blonde’ persona which was very sexually attractive in the 1950’s. The persona that was projected by her films earned the film studios over $200 million in the course of her short-lived career.
Some of the letters up for auction included several to her therapist in which she revealed spells of depression and being haunted from a stint at a mental hospital. Away from the spotlight however, she struggled with drug addiction and horrors of a childhood spent in the orphanage.
This provides a contrast with the glamorous lady that was rumoured to have had an affair Senator Bobby Kennedy. One of the letters available for auction is one from Jean Kennedy Smith: ‘I understand that you and Bobby are the new item!’
She died from an overdose of barbituates. Till date there are still theories of her death; some fans believe the overdose wasn’t suicidal as it was ruled.
Most of the items to be auctioned come from the estate of Lee Strasberg, the American acting coach to whom Marilyn Monroe looked up to as a father figure while the others are from the collection of David Gainsborough-Roberts, Monroe costumes collector.
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