Judge Rules Marilyn Monroe Letter Belongs to Auction Buyer

A judge ruled today that a handwritten letter by Marilyn Monroe in which she talked about the difficulties of performing before the camera belongs to a buyer who purchased it at auction at $130,000 and not to the widow of the star’s acting coach.

Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Richard Fruin handed down his ruling in favor of Calabasas-based auction house Profiles in History and against 75- year-old Anna Strasberg. She is the widow of Lee Strasberg, who served for many years as Monroe’s mentor in her acting career.

“Plaintiff has not proved by the civil standard that the letter was in the possession or owned by Ms. Strasberg,” the judge said.

Strasberg once served as administrator of the Monroe estate and has a large collection of the actress’ memorabilia. She sued Profiles in May 2013, saying she learned the month before that the letter was missing from her collection after a New York Post article about it was published. She said she inherited the writing from her late husband and alleged it was stolen from her.

Profiles attorney Robert Enders maintained the letter was actually a draft version that was found by a housekeeper at the Hotel Bel-Air and that it was never sent to Lee Strasberg.

“I’m very pleased,” Enders said outside the courtroom. “The judge make the right ruling.”

Fruin made multiple findings against Strasberg, including that she did not provide any inventory of Monroe items that included the letter. He also said there was no envelope showing that the writing was sent to Strasberg’s husband.

Fruin also said that had the letter been stolen from Strasberg as she alleged, it seemed likely that other items would have been taken as well.

The judge also noted that although Strasberg claimed her husband showed her the letter in the late 1960s and that she saw it again in the period of 1988-92 when discussing it with her son, David Strasberg, her account was undercut by the fact her offspring testified he never saw the letter.

Profile’s owner, Joseph Maddalena, testified he is one of the world’s foremost experts in Monroe memorabilia. He said that the handwritten letter and a typed version found of the same writing were both probably drafts that the actress wrote while intending to pen a third letter that would be a final version to be sent to Lee Strasberg.

Maddalena said it was not unusual for Monroe or other people to handwrite a letter and then type a second version. He said that then-Gov. Ronald Reagan often handwrote letters and then had his secretary prepare a typed version.

Strasberg was married to Lee Strasberg from 1968 until his death in 1982. She said she found out about the Monroe writing -- dubbed a “letter of despair” in a New York Post article -- belongs to her.

In the undated letter penned on Hotel Bel-Air stationery, Monroe says she is “lost” and that she cannot “get myself together” because of problems with maintaining the concentration necessary to be a successful actress.

“My will is weak but I can’t stand anything. I sound crazy but I think I’m going crazy ... It’s just that I get before a camera and my concentration and everything I’m trying to learn leaves me,” Monroe wrote. “Then I feel like I’m not existing in the human race at all.”

Trial testimony showed that after the letter was found by the housekeeper, a series of transactions occurred in which it ended up being bought by a private party in 1996. That same person then used the services of Profiles last year to auction the writing to the current owner, who lives in another state. He and the 1996 buyer were never identified during trial.

Monroe died in Brentwood in August 1962 at age 36 of acute barbiturate poisoning. The coroner’s office listed the death as a probable suicide.

—City News Service

Image: Wikipedia