Marilyn Monroe love letter fetches fortune

DiMaggio wrote the letter to Monroe following her news conference announcing their divorce, which occurred nine months after their January 1954 wedding. Julien’s Auctions in Beverly Hills did not disclose the buyer.

DiMaggio, a Hall of Fame player for the New York Yankees, did not want to end the marriage and asked Monroe to reconsider, calling the letter “heartbreaking”.

Monroe was an actress and sex symbol with a sometimes-tumultuous personal life that included three marriages. She died in 1962 at age 36 in Los Angeles from a drug overdose, authorities said at the time.

“Marilyn is an icon who remains a bit mysterious and there has never, ever been anyone like her,” auction company president Darren Julien said on Sunday through a spokeswoman. “Items that were important to her career and life are getting harder and harder to find.”

The auction of more than 300 Monroe personal belongings on Saturday included a series of love letters written to Monroe by playwright Arthur Miller before he became her husband in 1956. A letter Monroe wrote in response to Miller brought $43,750, the auction house said. Miller and Monroe divorced less than five years after their marriage.

The top-selling item at the auction was a silk overcoat that Monroe often wore in photographs. It sold for $175,000. A Monroe black cocktail dress and opera coat sold for $93,750, the auction house said.