Monroe painting sells for $150,000 at auction

Deseret News (Salt Lake City), Jun 6, 2005

A painting by Marilyn Monroe was auctioned off with her personal phone book with numbers for Frank Sinatra, Jack Benny and scores of other celebrities for more than $150,000.

The 1962 painting by the actress of a red rose was initially inscribed to President John F. Kennedy, but she never gave it to him, said Darren Julien, president and chief executive of Julien's Auctions, which organized Saturday's Los Angeles auction of Monroe memorabilia.

She later wrote a second inscription over the first: "Happy Birthday Marilyn Monroe."

The small, brown leather phone book contains hundreds of typed numbers and addresses.