Simply, Marilyn Monroe

Women who aspire to be equal to men are unambitious.

Marilyn Monroe

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A little known fact about Marilyn Monroe was her business nouse. In the mid 1950s she formed Marilyn Monroe Productions in an attempt to break free from the studios and the formulaic roles they had given her thus far. Unfortunately the company was short-lived.

In 2016 I was fortunate to be able to see up close and personal a selection of Monroe’s personal effects prior to going under an auctioneer’s hammer in New York. The exhibition had travelled to London’s beautiful Chelsea Design Centre in early November.

Part of the collection which provided fascination were Monroe’s financials. Monroe’s final cheque book from 1962, below, sold at auction for $US10,240.

The accompanying citation from the auction house for this item read,

Dated February 2, 1962, this vinyl covered, wire bound cheque book was for Marilyn Monroe’s personal account at Irving Trust Company in New York City, annotated “MM Personal” on the cover. The cheque book covers Marilyn’s New York expenses from February 2 through August 31, 1962, check numbers 2102 through 2251, and offers a fascinating look at Marilyn Monroe’s expenses during the final year of her life.

Recipients of payments from Marilyn’s personal account during her final six months include Saks Fifth Avenue in Beverly Hills, the Mexican Government Tourist Bureau, Flatiron Window Cleaning Company, Hedda Rosten, New York Telephone Company, J. Ricky (for “face treatments”), Lena Pepitone, Hattie Stephenson, Empire State Drycleaners and Hand Launderers, Century Furniture Repairs, Exec-U-Car Service, Globe-Star Travel Service, Pollock-Bailey Pharmacists, Marie Irvine (Make-up for special appearance at Madison Square Garden), Sutton Wines & Liquors, Madison Avenue Florist, New York State Income Tax Bureau, Department of Labour, and State Unemployment Insurance Fund, among others.

The final cheque from this cheque book written while Marilyn was alive was to Hattie Stephenson, Marilyn’s East coast housekeeper, on August 3, 1962. cheque book activity resumed on August 10, through August 31, 1962, with payments made to Stephenson and Hedda Rosten.

Several Marilyn Monroe signed cheques are included, some actually written in Monroe’s own hand, with her signature having been ripped from the cheques so they could not be cashed. However, in some cases the remnants of Monroe’s signature are still present, as the complete signature was not torn away from the cheque.

Another item was an unused cheque book. This item sold at the auction for $US3,840.

The accompanying citation from the auction house read,

A hardcover, wire bound cheque book for Monroe’s account at City National Bank in Beverly Hills, California. While there are no handwritten annotations in the cheque book, there are several cheques missing. One hundred and ninety-seven personalised cheques remain in the book, with ‘Marilyn Monroe’ printed twice on each cheque.

See the auction house website for more detail of the items in The Marilyn Monroe Property From The Estate of Lee Strasberg auction, and the final auction results.