Items owned by Marilyn Monroe and Hugh Hefner to go to auction

Items owned and worn by Hollywood movie star Marilyn Monroe and Playboy magazine founder Hugh Hefner are to be auctioned as part of a collection that spans both of their lives and careers.

The collection, which will go to auction in March, comprises items owned by Monroe and artefacts from the Playboy archives and Hugh M Hefner Foundation, including Andy Warhol’s original Playboy Bunny silkscreen.

Outfits worn by Monroe to be auctioned include a black and cellophane effect evening gown, which she wore during filming for the 1955 movie The Seven Year Itch.

It comes with a black and white feather boa, which is not the film’s original, and the outfit is expected to fetch between 100,000-200,000 dollars (£79,000-160,000).

Another costume in the collection was worn by Monroe for a pictorial feature in the December 22, 1958 issue of Life magazine, photographed by Richard Avedon.

The star wore a lavender satin, boned leotard to channel actress and singer Lillian Russell, and the outfit, also featuring a neckline trimmed with bouquets of fabric flowers and pink, lavender and cream draped chiffon sashes could fetch between 20,000-40,000 dollars (£16,000-32,000).

Another highlight is an original programme and ticket stub that Monroe had been given when she attended the birthday gala of former president John F Kennedy in 1962, which is expected to fetch between 4,000-6,000 dollars (£3,200-4,700).

The event was widely talked about as the Hollywood star serenaded the president with a sultry rendition of Happy Birthday while wearing a sheer, skin-tight Jean Louis gown that she had been sewn into just before the event.

Other items include photos of Monroe kicking a football and on the sets for films River Of No Return and Gentlemen Prefer Blondes.

There is also her custom shade of Elizabeth Arden lipstick, in a gold tone case.

Highlights from Hefner’s part of the collection include a LeRoy Neiman 1959 original oil on canvas painting titled Romanoffs, which is expected to sell at auction for between 60,000-80,000 dollars (£47,000-63,000).

Elsewhere, an Alberto Vargas original water colour drawing of a pin-up girl from the March 1967 issue of Playboy Magazine is expected to fetch between 30,000-40,000 dollars (£24,000-32,000).

Alongside pieces of art are clothes worn by Hefner, a smoking jacket, silk pyjamas, slippers and tobacco pipe.

Hefner and Monroe were both born in 1926 and the two Hollywood celebrities lie in crypts inside Pierce Brothers Westwood Village Memorial Park And Mortuary in Los Angeles.

The first edition of Playboy, released in 1953, featured a centrefold photo of Monroe, originally shot in 1949 – an image which came to symbolise the early days of the magazine.

The Hollywood film star died aged 36 in 1962, while Hefner died in 2017 aged 91.

The auction for Property From The Playboy Archives And Hugh M Hefner Foundation And Property From The Life And Career Of Marilyn Monroe, which includes more than 1,000 artefacts, will take place between March 28-30 at Julien’s Auctions in Los Angeles, California.

The auction house has also announced that highlights from the collection will be shown at two exclusive exhibitions in Hong Kong and Shanghai.

The first museum-like exhibition will be held at the Fringe Club in Hong Kong from January 27 to February 1.

The collection will then travel to the Huangpu District in Shanghai for an exhibition between March 6-17 before it heads back to Los Angeles for the auction.