Marilyn Monroe: Eternal Hollywood Icon (SLIDESHOW)
The Legend Lives on in new auctions and a new biopic
Many years after her shocking demise, quintessential Hollywood screen goddess Marilyn Monroe still makes major conversations, high profile auctions, and a brand new film made on her life.
Ranked as the sixth greatest female star of all time by the American Film Institute in 1999, Marilyn Monroe has made 33 films between 1947 and 1962, and was awarded with a Golden Globe (in 1960, for 'Some Like it Hot'), a David Di Donatello Award (in 1958, for 'The Prince and the Showgirl'), and other accolades. The life of Monroe was a colorful whirl of interesting beginnings and shocking twists and turns, just as cinematic as her highly popular films and very controversial publicities.
It was 49 years ago, in August 1962 when the 36-year old blond bombshell was discovered dead in the bedroom of her home in Brentwood, California. A wild media frenzy ensued as conspiracy theories thrived, involving a 'probable suicide', an 'accidental overdose', a 'homicide' attributed to ill associations with Communist elements, and a much-talked about affair with then U.S. president John F. Kennedy. To this decade, books and television documentaries on these hotly debatable issues still enjoy fair viewership as interest in the Hollywood icon is still very much alive.
Descendants of those who were related to or associated with Marilyn Monroe have put up hundreds of Marilyn's personal effects for sale or auction throughout the years after her death. A bulk of it was sold at a Christie's auction for a total amount of $13,405,785 in October of 1999. The Jean Louis dress that Marilyn wore at her last public appearance in May 1962, singing 'Happy Birthday, Mr. President' for John F. Kennedy at Madison Square Garden, was sold for $1.26 million. Los Angeles woman Elsie Poncher who owned the crypt space directly above where Marilyn's remains were interred at the Westwood Village Memorial Park, put up the space for a $4.6 million price tag in August 2009. The iconic white halter top dress with the billowing skirt that Mariyn wore for the hit film ' 7 Year Itch' was sold for a whopping $4.6 million in June 2011.