Monroe Marilyn

Fantastic Marilyn Monroe ALS, Likely by Arthur Miller, with his Signed Letter, Too - Sold by Charles Hamilton over 40 Years Ago!

Stunning archival group including an undated secretarial (in our opinion) ALS from Marilyn Monroe to Mr. Schlamowitz on light card stock stationary, 4" x 6", with her married name of "Mrs. Arthur Miller" to the front of the card. Signed in full signature possibly by Arthur Miller as "Marilyn Monroe Miller". Expected center fold, else fine.Accompanied by an ALS by Arthur Miller measuring 7.25" x 10.5", dated "March 3/75" and signed by him in full signature as "Arthur Miller". The letter has several folds, and a thin strip of tape along bottom edge, else fine. The letter includes its original postmarked envelope in near fine condition. The set also includes a large classic 8" x 10" black and white glossy photo of Marilyn sprawled on a bed in her iconic "come hither" pose. Ex Howard Goldman, collector.

A fantastic set for the collector of Marilyn Monroe autographs. The stunning card was neatly scripted by Marilyn to Louis Schlamowitz, a floral designer from Canarsie and a widower who never graduated from high school. Schlamowitz's obsession with autographs has yielded scores of loose-leaf binders crammed into the Bay View House apartment he shares with a squirmy Chihuahua named Marbles. His extensive collection consisted of over 5,000 notables, famous and infamous, who have sent their autographs to him over the years. Celebrity responses flowed into the apartment he once shared with his wife, Dora, including a 1978 photo from a little-known Arkansas attorney general named Bill Clinton, John F. Kennedy, David Ben-Gurion and Marilyn Monroe. Marilyn Monroe’s letter addressed to him is as shown below in full:

"Dear Mr. Schlamowitz

Thank you so much for your kind note. Yours and all the other good wishes were a great comfort to me.

Many Many thanks,

Marilyn Monroe Miller"

Although we hate to disagree with the "Dean of Autographs," Charles Hamilton, we feel that this is indeed a close approximation of Marilyn's hand, but not the real deal. This archive is accompanied by Hamilton's documentation of his opinion.

Marilyn's married name of Miller places this thank-you card between the dates of 1956 to 1961. She had just recently moved to New York from Hollywood, a city of which she said: “If I close my eyes and picture LA, all I see is one big varicose vein.” And it was during her stay in New York that she once again encountered Arthur Miller, whom she had met on a movie set five years before. Now that Monroe was in New York, they started dating.

The 1975 letter from Monroe’s ex-husband was sent thirteen years after Marilyn’s death and fourteen years after the couple’s divorce. Miller's letter was written on his personal stationary to the “Heller's" and offers his "congratulations and good wishes on your anniversary".

Arthur Miller and Marilyn Monroe’s marriage, considered odd by many, did not last. It is believed that Marilyn had misgivings about going through with the religious ceremony just after they had conducted their civil ceremony. Rumor has it that Marilyn happened to come across Miller’s notebook lying open on a table, and discovered that he was disappointed in her, feared that his own creativity would be threatened by this pitiable, dependent, unpredictable waif he had married, and was seriously regretting the union. Marilyn told friends that he also wrote, “The only one I will ever love is my daughter”, though Miller could not recall having written that. It was a blow from which the marriage would never recover. Things went steadily from bad to worse and although Miller wrote the script of The Misfits for Marilyn, the pair separated in 1960 and divorced the following year.

An extremely scarce and unique set.

Provenance:

This fantastic Monroe ALS is ex Howard Goldman, whose fabulous collection was auctioned by Sotheby’s over 20 years ago, though this favorite was retained and displayed by his wife. It was last sold in 1976 via the Charles Hamilton Auction House. Included with these four pieces will be the original Charles Hamilton Auction Catalogue from June 3, 1976 where these items appear as lot #4, with original invoice included.

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