Sought-after Bank of America Laurel-Sunset Branch check, 5.75 x 2.5, filled out and signed by Monroe, "Marilyn Monroe," payable to Barney’s Beanery for $2, November 20, 1950. Monroe adds her phone number and address below, “1309 N. Harper Ave. LA 46.” In fine condition. Encapsulated in a PSA/DNA authentication holder.
Though Monroe had garnered a contract at Columbia Pictures in 1948, it was not renewed, and she had fallen back on bit parts and modeling gigs. In 1950, her luck turned and Monroe landed small roles in the films Love Happy, A Ticket to Tomahawk, Right Cross, and The Fireball. Co-stars of these productions included Mickey Rooney, the Marx Brothers, June Allyson, and Anne Baxter. Also in 1950, Monroe secured larger—though still small—roles in the critically acclaimed films The Asphalt Jungle and All About Eve.
Monroe's breakthrough was in part orchestrated by Johnny Hyde, the co-founder and vice president of the William Morris Agency. Hyde took an interest in the starlet and secured her a seven-year contract at 20th Century Fox in December 1950. Among Hyde's recommendations to Monroe were cosmetic surgery and superficial alterations to her appearance. These changes to Monroe's chin, nose, hairline, and hair created the flamboyant 'blonde bombshell' look that we know today.
For five months in 1950 and 1951, Monroe lived at the Romanesque Villa Apartments located on North Harper Avenue in West Hollywood. She shared a two-room apartment with drama coach Natasha Lytess, who started working with Monroe in 1948 and quit her job at Columbia in 1950 to coach her budding star pupil exclusively. Lytess supported the actress over her next 20 movies before the tandem parted ways in 1956. Monroe studied at the North Harper Ave. apartment while taking courses at UCLA, and it’s purported that the grief-stricken actress attempted to take her own life there after the death of Hyde on December 18, 1950.
The Marc and Mary Perkins Collection.
