News | May 5, 2026

Marilyn Monroe's Letters, Acting Notes, and Phone Book to Auction

Heritage Auctions

Marilyn Monroe letter about a recent pregnancy

Timed to mark the 100th anniversary of Marilyn Monroe’s birth on June 1, Heritage Auctions' sale The Marilyn Monroe Collection from the Estate of Norman and Hedda Rosten will offer part of her personal archive unseen for more than six decades.

The items span the period 1955–1962 and include handwritten letters, private acting notes ("To do scene like - opening a bottle - try different ways if it doesn't seem to open - try another bottle, perhaps even many other bottles? Who knows - Trust"), poetry, watercolors, documents and personal effects, many previously unknown and never before offered at auction.

Her writings reflect on love and loss, including her devotion to Arthur Miller and heartbreak following her marriage to Joe DiMaggio, with subjects ranging from a lost pregnancy (she writes about the possibility that she may have lost a pregnancy due to her use of prescription barbiturates) to emotional fragility and mortality.

The collection also includes correspondence from Arthur Miller ("I need you healthy, Marilyn, and I need the feeling of your belief in me and in my life. Without the last I am a goner... I believe in us, despite all this...", he writes) and a previously unseen letter from Monroe’s psychiatrist Dr. Ralph Greenson detailing the day leading up to her death and its immediate aftermath.

Heritage Auctions

Handwritten letter from Arthur Miller to Marilyn Monroe

Heritage Auctions

Marilyn Monroe's personal phone book

Heritage Auctions

Letters from Marilyn Monroe's pyschiatrist Dr Ralph Greenson

“While her image and story have been revisited time and again, opportunities to encounter her in such a direct and unfiltered way are exceedingly rare," said Joe Maddalena, Executive Vice President of Heritage Auctions. "The extraordinary letters and notes preserved through her intimate and trusting relationship with Norman and Hedda Rosten reveal a side of Monroe that has remained largely unseen. This is a remarkable archive of primary material that offers fresh insight into her inner world."

Monroe met Norman and Hedda Rosten in 1955 through photographer Sam Shaw, forming a close friendship. The Rostens became part of her inner circle, spending time together in New York, Connecticut and London, and were among the last to speak with her in her final days.

Monroe shared a particular bond with Norman Rosten through their mutual love of poetry. Hedda later served as Monroe’s assistant, accompanying her to film sets, including The Prince and the Showgirl in London.

A circa 1961 phonebook offers a glimpse into her inner circle, listing contacts such as DiMaggio, Miller, Frank Sinatra, Montgomery Clift, Gene Kelly, John Huston, Jack Lemmon, Carl Sandburg, Sam Shaw and Lee and Paula Strasberg.