Press Release Summary: Rosemary McKittrick celebrates the bits and pieces of history selling at auction in her weekly column.
Press Release Body: Santa Fe, Sept. 7, 2008 -- If Marilyn Monroe were alive today she would be 82-years-old. It’s hard to believe.
Monroe is as controversial in death as she was in life.
Who was Monroe really? Was she the innocent kid, glamour queen, sex pot, eternal icon, fading star, dumb blonde, frenzied manipulator or lost soul? All of these adjectives have been used to describe her at one time or another.
“There are always two sides to a story,” she said of herself. In her case there were more.
When celebrity photographer and author George Barris asked Monroe in 1962 what she wanted most out of life she said, “I feel I’m just getting started.”
She was in great spirits, full of life, he said.
The blonde bombshell was found dead shortly after in the bedroom of her Brentwood, Calif., home from an overdose of pills.
Her sudden death shocked Barris and everyone else.
Barris shot some of the last photographs ever taken of her. He had been assigned by Cosmopolitan Magazine to interview and photograph Monroe on the movie set of her final film “Something’s Got to Give.”
In terms of collecting celebrities, Monroe ranks right there at the top along with Elvis. Collectors born long after she died are as excited about Monroe and her “stuff” as those who collected the star during her lifetime.
Popularity for Monroe doesn’t seem to be waning either.
On June 16, Bonhams & Butterfields, Los Angeles, featured a number of Monroe items in its Entertainment Memorabilia auction.
A pearl-gray 1950s wool sweater with short sleeves, collar and three buttons at the neck estimated to bring $600-$800, sold for $6,000.
Read the entire article at www.LiveAuctionTalk.com
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