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The enduring fascination with Marilyn Monroe: The actress’s lipsticks, bras and frying pans fetch $2 million at auction

5 June 2026 at 10:09

It’s only an imaginary birthday, one that was never meant to happen, but the celebrations say a lot about Hollywood’s eternal myth‑making. This Monday, June 1, Marilyn Monroe would have turned 100. And although she died more than 60 years ago, the world remains utterly fascinated by that perfectly imperfect blonde screen icon.

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Several items belonging to Marilyn Monroe were on display at the Julien's Auctions sale held at the Peninsula Hotel in Beverly Hills on June 4, 2026. On the left, a gold handbag; on the right, from top to bottom, lipsticks, a round lipstick, mascara, and an eyeliner pencil.A bra belonging to Marilyn Monroe, on display at the Julien's Auctions sale at the Peninsula Hotel in Beverly Hills on June 4, 2026.Four items belonging to Marilyn Monroe sold at Julien's Auction on June 4, 2026, in Los Angeles. Top: lipstick and Screen Actors Guild card. Bottom: Pucci blouse and workout weights.

© Julien Sauctions

On the left, Marilyn Monroe applying her makeup. She used the partially used pink powder blush compact and its original applicator (right), which was sold at auction on June 4, 2026.

Ten Marilyn Monroe films to celebrate her centennial

On June 1, Norma Jeane Mortenson would have turned 100. She died at the age of 36, on August 4, 1962, but her artistic alter ego, Marilyn Monroe, became a film legend. The Bombshell Blonde façade concealed a very harsh childhood during which she lived in as many as 12 foster homes, a torturous romantic life, and a career marked by artistic self-doubt and very poor health (she never carried a pregnancy to term).

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© Baron (Getty Images)

Marilyn Monroe in 1954.
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