Marilyn Monroe Photos Sell For More Than $300K At Auction

The Associated Press

BEVERLY HILLS, Calif. — Copyrights and images from Marilyn Monroe's first photo shoot sold for $352,000 at an auction that included items from Lady Gaga and John Lennon.

Julien's Auctions spokeswoman Caroline Galloway tells The Associated Press on Sunday that the Monroe photos – taken in 1946 when she was still Norma Jeane Dougherty – were the highlight of the Beverly Hills auction known as "Icons & Idols."

The photos come with negatives and the rare right to sell and distribute them. A judge in September ruled they must be auctioned to settle debts of photographer Joseph Jasgur.

A Lady Gaga dress sold for $31,250, and the prop gun used in her video for "Born This Way" went for $7,680.

A 1969 caricature John Lennon drew of himself and Yoko Ono went for $90,000.

Comments

[moyramartin]

08:36 PM on 12/07/2011

She looked average and there are far more gorgeous women today that have her beat by uncountable miles.

[danusgram]

09:55 PM on 12/05/2011

whoa guess she was not the natural beauty...makeup does do wonders!..she looks like a real bow wow in that photol

[leskataus]

01:36 AM on 12/06/2011

To be fair, the lighting is pretty harsh and unflattering.

[MikeDu]

07:15 PM on 12/05/2011

The rich are different than you and me. That's more than my entire life savings by a wide margin.

[Tom Servo]

07:04 PM on 12/05/2011

I had my eye on that Lennon note but, once it went over $250 I was out.......too rich for my blood.

[karen lyons kalmenson]

06:34 PM on 12/05/2011

a lost little girl
named norma jean
found forever,
by the fame machine

[BryantG]

05:57 PM on 12/05/2011

Stories like this make me think a little redistribution of wealth wouldn't be a bad idea at all.

[GoodBoySunshine]

05:52 PM on 12/05/2011

Goodbye Norma Jean
Though I never knew you at all
You had the grace to hold yourself
While those around you crawled
They crawled out of the woodwork
And they whispered into your brain
They set you on the treadmill
And they made you change your name

And it seems to me you lived your life
Like a candle in the wind
Never knowing who to cling to
When the rain set in
And I would have liked to have known you
But I was just a kid
Your candle burned out long before
Your legend ever did

Loneliness was tough
The toughest role you ever played
Hollywood created a superstar
And pain was the price you paid
Even when you_died
Oh the press still hounded you
All the papers had to say
Was that Marilyn was found in the_nude

Goodbye Norma Jean
From the young man in the twenty second row
Who sees you as something as more than_sexual
More than just our MarilynMonroe


Timeless

[UnitedStatesOfTara]

05:36 PM on 12/05/2011

I realize that this may be hair-splitting, but wouldn't this be considered a "Norma Jean" photo, since it was before she got her nose job and started crafting her stage persona?

[naschkatze]

05:34 PM on 12/05/2011

She looks awfully thin there.

[Greg Bell]

05:56 PM on 12/05/2011

Not to worry...she filled out nicely!

[Cassandra Velasco]

05:13 PM on 12/05/2011

With the rise of electronic instant media, talent has taken a back seat to promotional trickery. So many people buy what now passes for "entertainment" without ever guessing what has been lost. We are all dimwitted lemmings, taken in by the pied piper who leads us to the withdrawal window, to fork over our wages for whoever or whatever claims to be the latest, most sensationally promoted craze.

[grapost]

08:06 AM on 12/05/2011

Why would anybody buy anything associated with that awful Lady Ga Ga.? It's like throwing money down the drain. 10 years from now you wont't be able to give her stuff away.

[ctcadguy]

01:47 PM on 12/05/2011

Best Female Vocalist of her Era - Let me Guess your over 50 right?

[frant52]

04:59 PM on 12/05/2011

Wait! I'm way over 50 and am very much a fan of Lady Ga Ga! I would guess that grapost has not actually heard any of her music, and is judging based on tabloid articles. I challenge anyone to really listen to her music prior to passing opinions.

[seehowtheyrun]

05:01 PM on 12/05/2011

I'm over 50. I think she's terrific.

[GraniteSkyline]

07:09 PM on 12/05/2011

Her music isn't up my alley but she is very talented. She started selling her songs to major recording artists before she was famous and still in high school. Beats working after school at McDonald's, doesn't it?!