Photos

Polls

Merchandise

Links

Various

Sponsors

NEWS

New Marilyn Monroe photos go on sale

The pictures, shot by photographer Len Steckler at his apartment in December 1961, had spent 45 years in a private archive.

They show Monroe, aged 35 and only nine months from death, relaxing with Sandburg, a Pulitzer-prize wining poet.

The four single images and two triptychs -- a series of three pictures each -- are listed for sale at between 1,999 dollars and 3,999 dollars.

"On a wintry afternoon, Sandburg and Steckler patiently awaited Monroe, who arrived three hours later than planned, claiming she was at the hairdresser's trying to get her hair white to match Sandburg's," dealers Eagle National Mint said.

"The two spent the rest of the afternoon bonding over conversation and cocktails, fostering a new friendship while Steckler quietly observed, his Nikon loaded with black and white film, nothing more than natural Northern light pouring through the windows."

Each print is accompanied by a certificate of authenticity and is signed by Steckler.

The sale is online at www.thevisitseries.com and by phone.

Williams tipped for Monroe role

The Brokeback Mountain star has reportedly been offered the lead in upcoming film My Week With Marilyn, winning the title role ahead of other actresses including Scarlett Johansson and Amy Adams who are both said to have been considered for the part.

British newspaper the Daily Mail reports director Simon Curtis and producer David Parfitt picked Williams to play Monroe, but are still waiting for the Oscar-nominated star to agree.

The picture will document Monroe's time filming 1957 movie The Prince and The Showgirl with Laurence Olivier and is based on a diary kept by the film's assistant director Colin Clarke.

My Week With Marilyn is due to begin shooting in London in June.

Film clip shows Marilyn Monroe smoking marijuana

The reel-to-reel silent, color film taken at a private home in New Jersey was recently purchased by collector Keya Morgan for $275,000 from the person who took the film, who has asked to remain anonymous.

Morgan and the person who shot the film gave Reuters permission to use it in digital form. The copyright of the image will be put up for sale on eBay later this week, Morgan said.

Morgan, a collector of historical photos, manuscripts, autographs and documents, is also working on a documentary on the death of Monroe in August 1962.

He learned of the film during his research and tracked down the owner, who kept it as part of an archive that was moved between various homes over the years. The Monroe film had been stored in an attic for three years before Morgan tracked it down.

The actress appears happy and relaxed at a small gathering of friends that Morgan dates to 1958 or 1959, based on her appearance.

"This is the late '50s so she is already very famous, but this is a personal side of her we've never seen before. People have never seen her in such a relaxed pose," Morgan said.

?At one point she is passed a cigarette and takes a puff but does not appear to inhale deeply. Later she appears to take a sniff of her own armpit and laughs about it.

The person who made the film confirmed that the cigarette contained marijuana, saying: "I got it (the pot). It was mine. It was just passed around."

"It was not a party. It was just a get-together. You know, come over and hang out."

No eternity with Marilyn Monroe as crypt auction fails again

Widow Elsie Poncher is trying to sell her husband's crypt to pay off the mortgage on her Beverly Hills home. On selling the crypt, Poncher had planned to move her husband, who died in 1986, to an adjacent crypt intended for her.

But a $4.6 million bid submitted through online auctioneer eBay Inc in August fell through when the unidentified bidder pulled out.

A second auction on eBay with a reserve price of $500,000 also failed, with a notice on the online trading website saying it had closed with no bids on the marble mausoleum where Monroe was laid to rest in 1962.

The crypt is located at the Westwood Village Memorial Park cemetery, home to celebrities including Dean Martin, James Coburn, Roy Orbison, Truman Capote, Natalie Wood, Carl Wilson, Minnie Riperton and recent arrival Farrah Fawcett.

The space next to Monroe's vault was sold in 1992 to the publisher of Playboy magazine, Hugh Hefner, for $75,000.

Crypt above Marilyn Monroe back up for auction

Sale falls through on crypt above Marilyn Monroe

David Camel, an attorney for Elsie Poncher, who is selling her husband's crypt in a celebrity-heavy Los Angeles cemetery, said he is going through the bids to find one that qualifies.

Bidding closed on Monday, with the winning offer coming from Japan. The unidentified person then pulled out, Camel said.

To pay off the mortgage on her Beverly Hills home, Poncher is selling the crypt of her husband, who died in 1986, and will move him to an adjacent crypt intended for her.

The crypt is located at the Westwood Village Memorial Park cemetery, home to such celebrities as Dean Martin, James Coburn, Roy Orbison, Truman Capote, Natalie Wood, Carl Wilson, Minnie Riperton and recent arrival Farrah Fawcett.

Crypt above Marilyn Monroe sells for $4.6 million

That's how much the crypt directly above the actress went for in an online auction that ended Monday.

The eBay.com listing says the space at Westwood Village Memorial Park Cemetery above Monroe is being vacated, making room for someone else. The listing also offers the detail that the current occupant is "looking face down on" Monroe, who was laid to rest at the cemetery in 1962.

Bidding for the auction started at $500,000 on Aug 14. The final bid was $4,602,100.

The Los Angeles Times reported earlier this month that the seller was Elsie Poncher, who was putting her late husband's crypt up for auction to help pay off the $1.6 million mortgage on her Beverly Hills home.

Poncher told the newspaper that her husband, Richard Poncher, bought the crypt from Monroe's former husband, Joe DiMaggio, during his 1954 divorce from Monroe. Her husband died 23 years ago at 81.

Jolene Mason, the cemetery's general manager, told the newspaper there is one empty crypt left in the mausoleum where Monroe is buried, available for $250,000 and located two spots above the actress and to the left.

A message left for Poncher was not returned Monday.

But she earlier said that, when she sells the crypt, she'll put her husband's remains in the one reserved for her, and when her time comes, she'll be cremated.

Widow selling husband's tomb above Marilyn Monroe

Elsie Poncher has put an advertisement on eBay to auction off the tomb in Westwood Village Memorial Park, Los Angeles.

"Here is a once in a lifetime and into eternity opportunity to spend your eternal days directly above Marilyn Monroe," says the advertisement.

"In fact the person occupying the address right now is looking face down on her."

The burial plot is currently occupied by the late Richard Poncher, described by his widow as an entrepreneur who bought two tombs from baseball player Joe DiMaggio, Monroe's ex-husband, as the pair were divorcing in 1954.

Monroe died at the age of 36 in 1962. Poncher died at the age of 81 in 1986.

Elsie Poncher said she would move her husband's remains over one spot into a crypt intended as her final resting place if the sale is successful, and she would be cremated instead when the time comes.

Bidding for the plot opened at $500,000 and had reached $2.5 million by Sunday. No one from eBay was immediately available to comment on the bidding process or to give more details.

Poncher told the Los Angeles Times that she hoped to raise enough money to pay off the $1.6 million mortgage on her Beverly Hills home.

"I can't be more honest than that," she told the newspaper. "I want to leave it free and clear for my kids."

The Westwood Village Memorial Park is home to many celebrities, including Dean Martin, James Coburn, Roy Orbison, Truman Capote, Natalie Wood, and the recently deceased Farrah Fawcett.

Playboy's Hugh Hefner bought the crypt beside Monroe in 1992.

Never-Before-Seen Marilyn Monroe Photos

Monroe, then 24, had already played the girlfriend of a crooked lawyer in The Asphalt Jungle and was soon to be seen as "a graduate of the Copacabana school of dramatic art" in the Oscar-winning All About Eve. Still ahead: the subway-swept skirt in 1955's The Seven-Year Itch and her definitive comic performance, in 1959's Some Like It Hot, to say nothing of the inspiration she continues to provide Madonna and Gwen Stefani.

Marilyn's clothes, Elvis' pill bottles for sale

Julien's Auctions will also sell clothing, autographed photos and other Monroe memorabilia, including items from her Brentwood, Calif., home, and jewelry, books and other items that Presley gave to his longtime personal physician, Dr. Nick.

The items will be on view at the Planet Hollywood Resort and Casino in Las Vegas before the auction begins June 26. Bids will be accepted in person, by phone and online at juliensauctions.com.

Rare Monroe photos on sale

Four ultra-rare pictures of the Some Like It Hot star at the Cal Neva resort in Nevada just five days before her death have been released by legendary pianist Buddy Greco.

They were part of a set of 36 photos taken of Monroe and Frank Sinatra during the summer of 1962 - but only six remain.

The other 30 were stored in a safe-deposit box at the World Trade Center and were destroyed in the 9/11 attacks.

Greco has put the prints - four of Monroe and two of Sinatra - up for auction, with a starting bid of $7,500.

Monroe died from an overdose of barbiturates on 05 August 1962.

Marilyn Monroe homage in Winnipeg

Not only a 1950s sex symbol, Hollywood actress and possible mistress to a couple of Kennedys, Monroe was a muse for everyone from Douglas Kirkland to Andy Warhol. Nearly 200 of the countless works inspired by the curvaceous blond bombshell are included in exhibition Marilyn Monroe: Life as a Legend, which parks at the Winnipeg Art Gallery for nearly six weeks beginning Saturday.

"First of all, she was a beautiful woman," says WAG director Stephen Borys of Monroe's artistic appeal. "Then the fact that she dies at 36, and there's even questions and controversy surrounding her life and death.

"Also, the range of people who she was associated with -- from celebrities to her hometown friends to people in the White House -- I think there's just kind of this mystique about her. Few other women have been so well documented in art in the 20th century. She was just a huge magnet."

Borys was thrilled when he managed to secure the last stop on Life as a Legend's North American tour in December, adding he "had to do some juggling" to fit it in to the WAG's calendar. Curated by private collectors in Hamburg, Germany, and toured by Washington, D.C.'s International Art & Artists, the exhibit boasts "the full gamut" of popular and lesser-known paintings, photographs, prints, sculptures and multimedia pieces devoted to Monroe -- from her days as young Norma Jean Mortensen to her three husbands (James Dougherty, Joe DiMaggio and Arthur Miller), rumoured affairs with John and Robert Kennedy and her still-mysterious death in 1962.

"The show is organized chronologically," Borys says. "It begins with a collection of early photographs and it moves as she goes into the mainstream. There are some artists, in their work, who have referenced her death."

Photographs taken by notable shooters like Richard Avedon, Henri Cartier-Bresson and Kirkland include glam shots of Monroe's Hollywood days of starring in films like Gentlemen Prefer Blondes and Some Like it Hot to her more seductive side -- as captured on (and inside) Playboy magazine's inaugural 1953 issue.

"Those original photographs are here," Borys says. "There is one section that is more X-rated, and because we get schools and families, it's sort of situated off the path. They're very tasteful and beautiful images; it is part of her life."

Along with Life as a Legend, gallery goers can get up close with Monroe by taking in a play or a panel discussion. Here's a rundown of upcoming WAG events that pay homage to the late It Girl:

Marilyn: Forever Blonde (March 27 - April 12): While a small-town Minnesota gal seems an unlikely impersonator for an L.A. sexpot, Borys says Moorehead native Sunny Thompson is the real deal in this glitzy stage show from Seattle. "I saw a clip of her singing Diamonds Are a Girl's Best Friend and I thought of (Gentlemen Prefer Blondes), and there are moments where you wouldn't even know which one is which." Two hours with a makeup artist and fabulous knockoffs of Monroe's famous white tutu and Barbie-pink gown complete Thompson's look for the musical romp, set during a photo shoot where, at 36, the starlet is contemplating her future. Tickets to the show -- playing at 8 p.m. Fri., Sat., April 2 - 4, 8, 9, 11 & 12 and 2 p.m. Sat., Sun., April 11 & 12 -- cost $32 - $38 and include admission to Life as a Legend.

Tours: Scholar Angela Failler talks pop culture politics and her Cultural Studies Tour (April 23 & May 7 at 7 p.m.), while Gallery guru Helen Delacretaz leads an in-depth Curator's Tour on April 26 at 2 p.m. and May 21 at 7 p.m. Drop-in exhibition tours will also be held on weekends at 2 p.m. and techno-savvy viewers can plug in for an iPod tour any time.

Films: Cinematic highlights from Monroe's career get screen time at Muriel Richardson Auditorium every Saturday in May at 2 p.m., starting on the 2nd, when her character's rocky marriage goes awry during a trip to Ontario in Niagara. Naughty Western River of No Return plays on May 9, followed by musicals There's No Business Like Show Business (May 16) and Gentlemen Prefer Blondes (May 23).

Sex, Politics, and Scandal, Oh My! (May 14, 7 p.m.): Public obsession with tragic female celebrities -- starting with Monroe -- is discussed in this panel chat.

On the Couch: Freud, Marilyn and the Psychology of Icons (May 28, 7 p.m.): University of Manitoba assistant psychology professor Maria Medved tries to make sense of why we idolize certain celebs.

Art After Dark (May 29, 8 p.m.): Marilyn knew how to put a sexy spin on birthday parties (right, Mr. President?), and the WAG hopes to do the same for her with this chic bash, complete with guided tours and DJs Co-op and Hunnicutt. Tickets cost $25 at the WAG or Ticketmaster.

Depp tops dinner date wish list

The Pirates Of The Caribbean actor was first choice in a poll to find the most popular celebrity dates, with women choosing him as their favourite fantasy companion - beating heart-throb George Clooney into second place.

Girls Aloud beauty Cheryl Cole was top amongst the males polled, with Jennifer Aniston and British model Kelly Brook also proving popular.

The survey, for environmental charity WWF, also found that Elvis Presley, Freddie Mercury and Marilyn Monroe were the three late celebrities that would be most welcome at the dinner table.

Accord in Marilyn Monroe `Last Sitting' photos

The pictures were among 2,500 erotic shots Bert Stern took of the movie star for Vogue magazine just before her drug-overdose death that year.

Two photographers approached Stern last year to make a deal involving seven film transparencies from the shoot. Stern sued because he believed the items had been stolen from him.

Photographers Donald Penny and Michael Weiss said another colleague found the transparencies in curbside garbage in Manhattan in the 1970s.

Their lawyer, Jamie Brickell, and Stern's lawyer, Stephen Weingrad, said Monday the dispute was settled "amicably."

They said nine sets of photos from the transparencies will be jointly produced and sold.

CALLING COPS ON MARILYN

News Archive