Superb Marilyn Monroe SP, PSA/DNA Slabbed & Graded NM 7, Expected to Attain $12,000-$14,000

A publicity photo from 20th Century Fox's How to Marry a Millionaire depicting Hollywood actress Marilyn Monroe (1926-1962), inscribed and signed by her, will cross the auction block in our June 24th sale. The photo perfectly captures Marilyn’s beauty, sex appeal, and playfulness.

Dedicated to Monroe’s colleague Jerry Gotham, with whom she would work in the 1954 musical comedy There’s No Business Like Show Business, the photo is inscribed and signed by Monroe as "To Jerry, / It's a pleasure / to know you - / Marilyn Monroe" along the left side. The original glossy black and white print is PSA/DNA encapsulated, and Monroe's handwriting is graded NM 7.

This image of Monroe in a black lace negligee comes from her role as Pola in How to Marry a Millionaire (1953), in which Monroe plays an adorable, near-signed fortune hunter. (The highly successful vehicle co-starred Betty Grable and Lauren Bacall as more cynical gold-diggers.)

This photo was only one of a series in which Monroe wore the same provocative outfit but modified her facial expression and body posture. Pin-up style publicity did not damage Monroe's nascent acting career, but only enhanced it, as Hollywood studios like 20th Century Fox capitalized on her already established blonde bombshell image. Her mass audience appeal would only grow with films like 1955’s The Seven Year Itch.