Description:

Monroe Marilyn

Marilyn Monroe allows her assistant to shop 'til she drops and charge it all to her!

 

Single page typed letter signed by Marilyn Monroe, 8.25" x 10.75", on letterhead of "Marilyn Monroe Productions, 444 East 57th Street, New York". Dated "June 19, 1958", and written to Bloomindales, granting her assistant to shop on her behalf and have everything then charged to her account. Signed by Marilyn in the lower, right-side corner using her legal name (and the one probably on her charge account), as "Marilyn (Mrs. Arthur) Miller" Impressively matted and framed with a portrait of the glamorous movie star to an overall size of 14.5" x 27."

 

A wonderful letter from Monroe authorizing her secretary to shop on her behalf, in full:

"The bearer, my secretary May Reis is hereby authroized to shop in my behalf. Please extend the courtesy of my charge account to her."

 

Bloomingdale's was reportedly Monroe's favorite place to shop. Located in midtown Manhattan, their flagship store was a quasi-amusement park that offered the height of the 1950's retail experience. Monroe, or someone shopping on her behalf, would have found the most fashionable outfits and hottest products at the iconic outlet. It came out only after her death that Monroe was spending outrageously,  borrowing all over the place, and always on the edge of financial chaos.

 

This letter also boasts a scarce variation of Monroe's signature, using her name from her marriage to playwright Arthur Miller. Tired of bubbly, dumb blonde roles, Monroe moved to New York City to study acting with Lee Strasberg at the Actors' Studio. In the early months of 1956 Marilyn Monroe was preparing to star in Bus Stop, discussing with Laurence Olivier a role in The Prince and the Showgirl and romancing Arthur Miller, who was divorcing his wife, Mary. She was also formally changing her name from Norma Jeanne Mortenson to Marilyn Monroe and being attacked by red-baiters for associating with the playwright, an alleged Communist sympathizer. The two married in 1956 and lived in the New York metro area, and later divorced in 1961.

 

Marylin personified the image of sex symbol by the very early 1950's, having appeared in more than 6 films in 1950 alone. By 1954 Monroe sealed her reputation as a bombshell in the Seven Year Itch, which both catapulted her career while simultaneously ending her marriage to DiMaggio when she posed standing on a subway grate with the air blowing up the skirt of her white dress. However by the mid 1950's, Monroe had already gained a reputation for being difficult on film sets; she was often late, disheveled, or did not show up at all, did not remember her lines, and would demand several re-takes before she was satisfied with her performance. Monroe's dependence on her acting coaches—first Natasha Lytess and later Paula Strasberg—also irritated directors. Monroe's problems have been attributed to a combination of perfectionism, low self-esteem, and stage fright. To alleviate her anxiety and chronic insomnia, she began to use barbiturates, amphetamines and alcohol. On August 5, 1962, at only 36 years old, Marilyn Monroe died at her Los Angeles home. An empty bottle of sleeping pills was found by her bed. There has been some speculation over the years that she may have been murdered, but the cause of her death was officially ruled as a drug overdose.

 

A fantastic piece with a stunning presentation, and a large 3.75" full signature by Marilyn Monroe using her formal legal name!



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