By Dean Murray
A bizarre auction sees a crypt next to Marilyn Monroe and Hugh Hefner going under the hammer. The chance to spend eternity with the stars comes at a price, however, with Julien’s Auctions saying the has an estimate of £158k to £316k ($200k – $400k).
The one-space mausoleum crypt is located in the Corridor of Memories, at Pierce Brothers Westwood Village Memorial Park & Mortuary in Los Angeles.
It is situated one row above and four spaces to the left of Monroe’s lipstick-stained crypt, which continues to be visited by Monroe fans from all over the world who continue to make pilgrimages to the cemetery to pay respects to her.
Playboy founder Hugh Hefner purchased the crypt to the immediate left of hers in 1992 and was interred there shortly after his death in 2017.
In a 2009 interview with the Los Angeles Times, he stated, “Spending eternity next to Marilyn is an opportunity too sweet to pass up.” Among the other show business legends interred at the park are Natalie Wood, Farrah Fawcett, Ryan O’Neal, Truman Capote, Twentieth Century Fox president Darryl F. Zanuck, Monroe’s Some Like It Hot costar Jack Lemmon, and Billy Wilder, who directed Monroe in The Seven Year Itch and Some Like It Hot.
Monroe died at the age of 36 on August 4, 1962. Baseball legend and Monroe’s ex-husband, Joe DiMaggio, organized a private funeral for her that took place in the cemetery chapel on 8 August. DiMaggio is reported to have chosen this location because Grace Goddard and Ana Lower, who had both helped care for Monroe as a young girl, had been buried there.
Hefner purchased the crypt to the immediate left of Monroe’s in 1992 and was interred there shortly after his death in 2017.
In a 2009 interview with the Los Angeles Times, Hefner stated, “Spending eternity next to Marilyn is an opportunity too sweet to pass up.” Also to be auctioned are Marilyn’s gown from 1955’s The Seven Year Itch ($100k-$200k) and Hugh Hefner’s classic smoking jacket and silk pajamas set (estimate: $2,000 – $3,000)
The Property From The Life And Career Of Marilyn Monroe takes place 28-30 March in Los Angeles live and online.
Produced in association with SWNS Talker