Pictures of Marilyn

This morning, when I read that a vintage black and white photograph signed by Marilyn Monroe (to her longtime makeup artist, “Whitey” Snyder) sold for over $22,000 at Julien’s Auctions, I immediately thought of my friend, Jane. For those of you have been following this blog, Jane is the focus of my soon-to-be-released new book, Marilyn Monroe: My Little Secret, who headed the star’s first fan club at 20^th Century Fox. At one time, Jane had over 4,000 pictures of Marilyn in her possession, many of which bore Marilyn’s name. Of the signed pictures, Jane kept two. Both were from the same publicity sitting as the one that sold at Julien’s, only they were inscribed to Joe DiMaggio and Jane, respectively. Jane remembered the day Marilyn autographed Joe’s picture. It was in the early stages of their courtship when Joe had dropped by the Fox lot to pick Marilyn up for a date. (Jane later gained possession of the picture when Marilyn and Joe divorced.) The other one, addressed to Jane, read: “To Jane, My Friend – Love & Kisses – Marilyn Monroe.”

Initially, when I met Jane, it was to help her sell her ‘Marilyn collection’ on ebay. Jane was in ill health, and any monies at the time would help pay some of her medical bills. When I learned of Jane’s connection to Marilyn and her passion to write about their friendship one day, I offered to pay for her life rights and tell it for her. Jane wasn’t a writer, and was ecstatic as I was to get started. I had photographed, or photocopied, the majority of Jane’s treasured memories of Marilyn, including the signed photographs before turning them back over to Jane. A few years prior to us meeting, Jane got an appraisal from Christie’s Auction House of Marilyn’s signed photographs, which were estimated at $5,000-$6,000, each. Today, judging by the one that sold at Julien’s Auctions, they would’ve been worth… Well, you do the math.

To this day, I don’t know what became of Jane’s signed photographs of Marilyn, or the rest of Jane’s collection, for that matter. Sadly, I wasn’t told about Jane’s death until a few weeks after she had passed. And by the time I had hurried to her apartment complex to get more details on her death, Jane’s entire apartment had been gutted…

I’ll admit, when I first saw how much the signed photograph of Marilyn to her makeup artist “Whitey” sold for at Julien’s, my heart sank a little knowing the joy that amount of money would’ve brought Jane. I also know that Jane would’ve ‘shared the wealth,’ because that’s the sort of person she was. But I’m content in what I “do” have, Jane’s story with one of the most iconic movie stars of all time, which in itself is priceless.

To see photocopies of Jane’s signed pictures of Marilyn, please visit the Marilyn Monroe: My Little Secret Facebook page @ http://www.facebook.com/pages/Marilyn-Monroe-MY-LITTLE-SECRET/120852027954577