The crypt above Marilyn Monroe ((June 1, 1926 – August 5, 1962), born Norma Jeane Mortenson, but baptized Norma Jeane Baker, was an American actress, singer and model) is going back on the auction block. Bidding for the marble mausoleum crypt will start at $500,000 beginning Oct. 19, according to organizer Eric Gazin of AuctionCause.com. A previous $4.6 million bid for the space fell through in August when Elsie Poncher first attempted to auction off her late husband's crypt.
On August 5, 1962, LAPD police sergeant Jack Clemmons received a call at 4:25 a.m. from Dr. Ralph Greenson, Monroe's psychiatrist, proclaiming that Monroe was found dead at her home in Brentwood, Los Angeles, California. She was 36 years old. At the subsequent autopsy, eight milligram percent of Chloral Hydrate and 4.5 milligram percent of Nembutal were found in her system, and Dr. Thomas Noguchi of the Los Angeles County Coroners office recorded cause of death as "acute barbiturate poisoning," resulting from a "probable suicide". Many theories, including murder, circulated about the circumstances of her death and the timeline after the body was found. Some conspiracy theories involved John and Robert Kennedy, while other theories suggested CIA or Mafia complicity.
On August 8, 1962, Monroe was interred in a crypt at Corridor of Memories #24, at the Westwood Village Memorial Park Cemetery in Westwood, Los Angeles. Lee Strasberg delivered the eulogy. The crypt space immediately to the left of Monroe's was bought and reserved by Hugh Hefner in 1992.
The new eBay.com auction will end Oct. 29 and require a 1 to 5 percent refundable deposit, based on the bid.
Gazin says he believes the crypt at the Westwood Village Memorial Park Cemetery will fetch "millions of dollars" at auction. Other celebrities including Farrah Fawcett, Natalie Wood, Rodney Dangerfield, Dean Martin, Jack Lemmon, Eva Gabor and Truman Capote have also been laid to rest at the cemetery.
