Description:

Monroe Marilyn 1926 - 1962

Marilyn Monroe signed typed letter. Among the first documents signed by her officially as "Marilyn Monroe".

Single page typed letter signed, 8.5' x 11". Stamped as "Received Feb 6 1947 / Twentieth Century / Fox Film Corp / Legal Dept'. Signed by Marilyn Monroe in full signature as "Marilyn Monroe". Graphite and ink notes to outer margins, not affecting the text. Expected folds. Toned with two neatly torn binding holes along top edge, else near fine.

This formal letter to 20th Century Fox is the defining moment when Monroe opted to officially change agencies, and more importantly to change her stage name, leaving Norma Jeane behind. In the process she placed 20th Century Fox on notice of this transition. Only several weeks prior to this letter, Marilyn discharged National Concert & Artists Corporation (her agent) and opted instead to became represented by Elsie Cukor Lipton Agency. An example of her slightly earlier letter to National Concert & Artists is shown below and contains both her signed names of "Norma Jeane Dougherty", and "Marilyn Monroe". The landmark letter offered here, written only two weeks later, shows Monroe has officially dropped the name "Norma Jeane" and for the first time completed her full transformation to "Marilyn Monroe". This moment captures an identity in flux that never found certainty afterward, and the beginning of the bumpy but meteoric rise as a superstar.

National Concert & Artists Corporation (NCAC) grew out of NBC Artist Services Department, the National Broadcasting Company's personal management branch that was split off as an independent entity in the early 1940s due to gross conflict of interest issues, NBC being both seller and buyer of talent services.

By midsummer, her relationship with this new agency would also end coinciding with the expiration of her contract with 20th Century Fox (after the completion of Monroe's tiny part in "Dangerous Years", Fox made the infamous blunder to drop Monroe's option altogether and let her go). Though the reasons behind Fox's decision to drop Marilyn are not known, Fox exhibited little interest in developing her acting career at this juncture. They had seemed content simply to feature her in dozens of cheesecake publicity photos or to shuttle her around to publicity events, such as the Fox Studio Club golf tournament.

Within one year, Norma Jeane, now Marilyn Monroe, changed agencies, changed stage names and changed film studios. Her path was set and there was no turning back. This scarce early letter was her first step into becoming Marilyn Monroe.

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