Iconic Personal Possessions [Edit]

The fascination for Marilyn Monroe continues with Vanity Fair’s October 2008 issue where personal possessions are revealed. After the legendary actress died of a drug overdose, Joe DiMaggio asked her business manager, Inez Melson to take care of Monroe’s personal effects. Two of Marilyn Monroe’s personal filing cabinets eventually reappeared after 45 years.

The video is a short introduction to the Secret Marilyn Monroe Files by Sam Kashner and photographer Mark Anderson who took pictures of the articles. The items really reveal what the real Marilyn Monroe was like - not the sleeping pill addict, not the sex pot, not the actress but the real woman.

Her correspondence with various people including love letters and copies of her charmingly written thank you notes. There were also receipts showing her prolific spending, even bookstore receipts where she signed herself as Mrs Arthur Miller! Some fascinating items were her Chanel perfume bottles and her green lucky dice - all “the things she left behind”.