Monroe goes under the hammer for Playboy birthday

Published on Sunday 14 December 2003 00:00

A TOPLESS photograph of Marilyn Monroe and a limousine once used by Playboy boss Hugh Hefner will go on sale this week at an auction to coincide with the 50th birthday of the men’s magazine.

The Monroe picture was the centrefold in the 1953 premier edition of Playboy after Hefner bought the previously unpublished shot from a calendar company.

The image - estimated to fetch 5,700 - came to symbolise the early days of the magazine, which is celebrating five decades in production this month.

Monroe was the "sweetheart of the month" in the magazine, described as a "handbook for the urban male". The edition was printed without a date so it could remain on news stands indefinitely and sold more than 50,000 copies. The picture is just one of 300 exhibits which will go under the hammer at Christie’s in New York on Wednesday. An exhibition of the lots was going on display at the auction house in Manhattan yesterday.

Among them is the 1988 Mercedes-Benz 560 SEL stretch limousine once used by Hefner. It boasts an audio and video system, leather interior, a drinks cabinet and illuminated ice box for Champagne. The car, now retired from service, has 61,000 miles on the clock although Christie’s said a few extra had been added because Hefner "took it for a spin" to say farewell recently.

It is expected to sell for up to 28,000 - less than it cost to customise the interior. The buyer will collect the car from the Playboy mansion and get a tour of the site where hundreds of infamous parties have been held. The buyer will also be invited to a party with Hefner on New Year’s Eve.

Playboy magazine marked something of a cultural revolution in America, making what was an under-the-counter trade more mainstream.

Among the celebrities who gave interviews were Jean-Paul Sartre, Muhammad Ali, The Beatles and Bob Dylan. Ian Fleming’s On Her Majesty’s Secret Service was first published in Playboy in May and June 1963.

Hefner’s Playboy Club key card, with printed title and trade mark rabbit head and embossed name Hugh M Hefner and VIP 1, is expected to fetch more than 1,700.

Photographs of models Cindy Crawford, from July 1988, and Elle Macpherson, from May 1994, have estimates of several thousand pounds. Images from Playboy magazine’s early years include Elizabeth Taylor as Cleopatra.

Also on sale are photographs and other Playboy memorabilia including bunny outfits and letters written to Hefner from, among others, Woody Allen, Joan Crawford, Frank Sinatra, Fred Astaire and Peter Sellers.

Aaron Baker, corporate curator of Playboy Enterprises said: "The old adage that people buy the magazine for the articles turns out to be true when you consider all the great writers and artists the magazine has featured."