A British collectibles company is selling a cheque signed by Marilyn Monroe to a Hollywood jeweller.
Marilyn spent nearly $90 at Marvin Hime & Co on the day Gentlemen Prefer Blondes was released in 1953, but nobody knows what she bought.
The film, in which Monroe co-starred with Jane Russell as two showgirls on the hunt for husbands, was a breakthrough for the young actor.
Her performance as Lorelie Lee included the song Diamonds Are a Girl’s Best Friend, now one of the most famous musical sequences in film history.
Back in 1952 it catapulted Marilyn from a fledgling icon with one lead (in Niagara in 1952) to the real thing.
As the film prepped for release, she joined Jane Russell on June 26, 1953 at the Hollywood Walk of Fame. They left hand and footprints that are still there today.
And around a month later on July 23, she went shopping.
There are numerous reasons why autograph hunters love cheques, not least that they are carefully and prominently signed. Image courtesy of Paul Fraser Collectibles.
The cheque she signed on that day is being sold at Paul Fraser Collectibles.
Paul Fraser, the company’s chairman, said: “It’s an autograph from the most remarkable year of her life.
“A wonderful Marilyn Monroe personal bank cheque. Handwritten and signed by Monroe on July 23, 1953. The exact day that Gentlemen Prefer Blondes was released in theatres across America.
“You could say it was the day she became an icon.”
Monroe dipped into her Bank of America account – the $1,500-a-week she was paid for Gentlemen would be dwarfed by later fees – to shop at Hime’s.
Marvin Hime opened up a jewellery store after leaving the US Air Force with $2,000 in 1948.
He became a favourite of Hollywood stars and a renowned designer. He was known for his fair and honest pricing and pioneered loaning pieces to actors for Oscar nights and premiers.
We don’t know what Marilyn bought from his store in Beverly Hills.
Mr Fraser adds: “Monroe writes in blue ball-point pen, and signs with her large, expressive signature. It’s one of the most famous autographs of the 20th century.”
The cheque confirms Marilyn was living at 882 North Doheny Drive in Beverly Hills, which she would shortly leave, before returning after two failed marriages.
Hime’s pieces could be extremely glamorous, but he also sold more affordable work.
The $87.09 Marilyn spent is probably worth around $1,500 today.
Mr Fraser says autograph collectors love cheques: they are usually carefully and prominently signed, they carry official authentication, and they’re dated and come with a personal story.
“And the size of a bank cheque makes it the ideal piece for framing and display with a photo of the signer,” he said.
Marilyn Monroe is probably the most collectible of all film stars.
And there seems to be no end to the appetite for items related to her.
Two dresses – the “subway grate” dress from the Seven Year Itch and the “happy birthday Mr President dress” – have both sold for more than $4 million.
And the subject of the most famous and valuable work of 20th-century art? Monroe in “Shot Sage Blue Marilyn” by Andy Warhol, worth $195 million in 2022.
