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Lot #685
Marilyn Monroe Handwritten Notes on Acting

Feverish handwritten acting notes from Monroe—"What is the matter with my voice—Maybe just let the voice come out of my body however it does under certain circumstances"

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Estimate: $6500+
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Description

Feverish handwritten acting notes from Monroe—"What is the matter with my voice—Maybe just let the voice come out of my body however it does under certain circumstances"

Radio and Television Executives Society, Inc. mailing envelope addressed to "Miss Marilyn Monroe" at 2 Sutton Place South in New York City, 9.5 x 4, which contains an array of handwritten pencil notations by Monroe that start on the reverse and continue on the front. The notes cover the envelope, overlapping and intertwining, and were likely taken during an acting class with Lee Strasberg at the Actors Studio in New York City. In part: "I somehow am seeing with my body also and when I am truly listening…What is the matter with my voice-Maybe just let the voice come out of my body however it does under certain circumstances." Monroe adds an arrow to turn the envelope over. "and in-whatever the given situation." The remainder of the notes are more frenetic, reading, in part, "Strassberg [sic] says we remember with our senses-Not brain or mind (remember with the body) Tell Hohenberg about the period during when I stopped secreatly [sic] play acting so fully it was the time I got my first job acting at 20." In fine condition. These notes demonstrate the unbridled energy Monroe felt toward her study of acting, if not also her lack of preparation given the note-taking format.

Accompanied by a full letter of authenticity from Beckett Authentication Services.

Provenance: Julien's Auctions, Property from the Life and Career of Marilyn Monroe, November 2016.

Auction Info

  • Auction Title: Fine Autograph and Artifacts
  • Dates: #639 - Ended July 13, 2022