Marilyn Monroe’s Baby Grand Piano Went to This 1 Iconic Pop Star for More Than $600,000
Marilyn Monroe died almost 60 years ago, but her estate lives on — the Hollywood celebrity is making more money now than when she was alive. Her will stated that she wanted her personal items to go to friends and colleagues, but a current pop icon ended up with her baby grand piano.
Who did Marilyn Monroe’s estate go to?
Monroe died at the young age of 36, after her third divorce. She never had children with any of her spouses — James Dougherty, Joe DiMaggio, or Arthur Miller. However, Metro reports that the model had two or three miscarriages in her lifetime. Fans believe that she wanted children.
The actor had no relationship with her father, and her mother spent most of her life in a mental health facility. In her will, she set up a trust to care for her mother. She also left money to her half-sister, who she didn’t meet until she was 12.
Monroe wrote a few others into her will, but the majority of her estate went to her acting coach, Lee Strasberg. According to Anthony Summers, who wrote a best-selling Monroe biography, the people entrusted in her will cared for her deeply and became her family.
“They took Marilyn under their wings,” he wrote. “They gave her uncomplicated privacy and companionship.”
Monroe wanted her items to go to friends and colleagues
In her will, the Marilyn Monroe wrote that she wanted her personal items and clothing to go to friends and colleagues. Strasberg and his wife, Paula, were like surrogate parents to Monroe.
However, when her acting coach died, his second wife, Anna Strasberg, inherited the Monroe estate. Instead of passing the items along to those Monroe was close with, in 1999, she auctioned off many of her things through CMG Worldwide.
Monroe’s estate began making large sums of money when the auctioning began. The gown she wore to President John F. Kennedy’s birthday party sold for more than $1 million.
Mariah Carey purchased the sex symbol’s baby grand piano for over $600,000
Monroe cherished her grand piano because it originally belonged to her mother. Pop icon Mariah Carey is obsessed with Monroe. In her memoir, The Meaning of Mariah Carey, she admits that her only friend was the poster of Monroe hanging on her bedroom wall in place of her abusive family. She explained to The Guardian that her admiration stems from the impact Monroe made on women in Hollywood.
“Marilyn Monroe Productions was the first female-owned production company in Hollywood,” Mimi told the outlet. “She paved the way for women in Hollywood, and every single woman owes something to her for that, whether they agree with her image or not.”
Carey even named her daughter after the sex symbol — Monroe Cannon was born in 2011.
