Print
Jun 5, 2005 9:18 am US/Central
Monroe Phone Book Nets $90K
Painting Sold For $78,000
LOS ANGELES (AP) ―
A painting by Marilyn Monroe was auctioned off with her personal phone book with numbers for Frank Sinatra, Jack Benny and scores of other celebrities for more than $150,000.
The 1962 painting by the actress of a red rose was initially inscribed to President Kennedy, but she never gave it to him, said Darren Julien, president and chief executive of Julien's Auctions, which organized Saturday's auction of Monroe memorabilia.
She later wrote a second inscription over the first: "Happy Birthday Marilyn Monroe."
The small, brown leather phone book contains hundreds of typed numbers and addresses for everyone from her dry cleaner and doctor to famous friends such as Peter Lawford, Henry Fonda, Desi Arnaz and Jean Kennedy Smith, as well as ex-husbands Joe Dimaggio and Arthur Miller. Five phone numbers are listed for Sinatra.
Her estate sold the phone book for $90,000 to GoldenPalace.com, Julien said. The painting went for $78,000 to collector David Davis, who runs an art gallery in Rhode Island.
(© 2005 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)
