Cashing In On Marilyn Monroe: X-Ray and Other Unusual Items Up For Auction

By Steven Avalos Posted Apr 13th 2010 12:20PM

Looking to get a jump start on a gift for that Old Hollywood-loving loved-one this holiday season? When the ordinary commemorative mug or fridge magnet just won't do, how about an x-ray of Marilyn Monroe's chest? Or the star's personal bank statements and signed checks? MSNBC reports that for just the right price, these items (and more!) could be yours at the Hollywood Legends auction at Planet Hollywood Resort and Casino in Las Vegas June 26-27. Get a sneak peak before you buy after the jump.

Darren Julien and Martin Nolan from Julien's Auction House appeared on 'The Today Show' to discuss the upcoming sale, claiming that demand for Monroe memorabilia has been on the rise, especially overseas where the market is not as saturated. They value this batch of items up for auction anywhere from $800 (for a psychiatrist's bench she once laid on during the filming of 1961's 'The Misfits') to $1,200 for the aforementioned x-ray.

Interestingly enough, that psychiatrist bench may have also been used by Frank Sinatra and Vivian Leigh, both patients of Monroe's same doctor. And it appears interest in celebrity x-rays isn't as uncommon as you would think, a set of Elvis Presley's were sold last year for $5,000 each.

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The x-ray, obtained by a radiology resident at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles, joins other Monroe effects up for sale, including her Chanel No. 5, her lingerie nightshirt, a set of skis and numerous, previously unreleased, color photographs of Monroe posing on a beach with co-star Tony Curtis on the set of 1959's 'Some Like It Hot.'

Of course, it remains to be seen whether any of these items will top the 1999 auction value of the dress Monroe wore for her infamous tribute to President John F. Kennedy's 45th birthday in 1962. The price? A cool $1.26 million.

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Marilyn Monroe Auction Items

Julien's Auctions Hollywood Memorabilia is auctioning off Marilyn Monroe memorabilia, including personal photos, bank statements, scripts, signed checks, and the chair used in the star's final photo shoot, on June 26 - 27, 2010 at Planet Hollywood Casino in Las Vegas. See what else is for sale. >>

Marilyn Monroe Auction Items

** FILE ** In this Sept. 9, 1954 file photo, Marilyn Monroe poses over the updraft of a New York subway grating while in character for the filming of "The Seven Year Itch" in New York. Julien's Auctions Hollywood Memorabilia is auctioning off Marilyn Monroe memorabilia, including personal photos, bank statements, scripts, signed checks, and the chair used in the star's final photo shoot, on Saturday, June 26, 2010, and Sunday June 27 at Planet Hollywood Resort and Casino in Las Vegas.(AP Photo/Matty Zimmerman, file)

Marilyn Monroe Auction Items

This image released by Julien's Auctions shows a mid-century modern daybed from the office of Marilyn Monroe therapist, Dr. Ralph Greenson. This item is part of Julien's Auctions Hollywood Memorabilia being held on Saturday, June 26, 2010, and Sunday June 27 at Planet Hollywood Resort and Casino in Las Vegas. (AP Photo/Julien's Auctions)

Marilyn Monroe Auction Items

This undated image released by Julien's Auctions shows an X-ray of Marilyn Monroe's chest. This item is part of Julien's Auctions Hollywood Memorabilia being held on Saturday, June 26, 2010, and Sunday June 27 at Planet Hollywood Resort and Casino in Las Vegas. (AP Photo/Julien's Auctions)

Marilyn Monroe Auction Items

This undated image released by Julien's Auctions shows Marilyn Monroe's change of rate card from 20th Century Fox dated May 11, 1953. Monroe's weekly pay rate changed from $750.00 to 1,250. This item is part of Julien's Auctions Hollywood Memorabilia being held on Saturday, June 26, 2010, and Sunday June 27 at Planet Hollywood Resort and Casino in Las Vegas. (AP Photo/Julien's Auctions)

Marilyn Monroe Auction Items

This image, taken in 1954, released by Julien's Auctions, shows an original black and white vintage photograph of Marilyn Monroe in Korea . This item is part of Julien's Auctions Hollywood Memorabilia being held on Saturday, June 26, 2010, and Sunday June 27 at Planet Hollywood Resort and Casino in Las Vegas. (AP Photo/Julien's Auctions)

Marilyn Monroe Auction Items

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Comments

(18)

Tuesday 13 April

By Jeannie

Highest Rank Vote down Vote up Report this

OK - that's gross. I don't think MM would've liked it. But there's a market for anything, right?

By John John

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Agree...Pretty gross.

By BTDT

How long before some celebrity's colonoscopy film is auctioned off?

By Debbie

Do we know the X-Rays are real? I don't trust this at all and wouldn't shell out a dime even if it were.

By vini

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under marilyn's will everything sold ,the money will go to the actors studio and for mental health, has long has it helps what's the difference!

By HUH????

The difference is to not sell bogus stuff to the public.

By Jade

Way to weird!

By morple23

no way that is her real xray. the quality of that image was from technology that would've have been available in the 50's.

Wednesday 14 April

By jensorooni

History would disagree with you. Google the very first x-rays, of Professor Roentgen's wife's hands, from 1895, and you will see that even the very first x-rays were capable of high resolution and clarity.

By Lynda

I am a Tech. You can copy films over and over. Probably couldn't tell the original either. What a joke!!!

By Feefee

What can someone do with an x-ray picture though...hang it up on a frame in a room and just stare at a dead woman's rib cage? What's so great about that lol. It's kind of depressing.

By xxrosexofxsharyn

This is so stupid. Why should anyone's medical records, a famous person or not, be up for grabs to be bought in the first place? Is it even legal? And who the hell are these people that would buy them?! What exactly are you going to do with them? To me, someone that's sad enough to buy something like this is not a "fan", it's creepy to want anything like this of anyone's. Not quite as bad as the Michael Jackson siringe thing I read about a while back though. It's just sick.

By lita

You are so right. This is not unlike the creeps that persist on having the 9-1-1 tapes released. What good does that do? It only hurts the victims of the tragedy or the people trying to help them. This should remain private. Perhaps HIPAA and be amended to include these calls.

By Ellrod

Sick things for sick people.

By mitch

she sure had a nice rack

By shaikiss3

There's no proof that those are her xrays....I don't believe it.. Also someone who would buy something like that obviously has a twisted mind...because there's no way I would pay that kind of money for no xrays...unless their mine!

By photonme

You can tell if the image is a copy. There is a special kind of film
used only for copying x-rays. One side has the emultion and the other
side is very shiney. Around the edges of the copy film, Kodak film
you can see the evidence of a copy. We have no idea when the film
was taken, but before 1960, almost all films were processed by hand.
IN the darkroom, the film was places on a "hanger". Little punch
marks were evident on each corner. After going through the
developer, stop bath (fixer) and wash, the film had to be in a dryer.
Once the film was dry, the corners were cut. The copy film will,
once again, not have these corner cuts.

By Biii V.

X-Rays and bank checks -- they're scraping the bottom of the barrel to get MM items for this auction. All of the really good stuff has long since been sold.

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