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Lot # 202: Marilyn Monroe & James Dean High School Yearbooks

Category: Movies

Starting Bid: $500.00

Bids: 1 (Bid History)

Time Left: Auction closed

Lot / Auction Closed




This lot is closed. Bidding is not allowed.

Item was in Auction "June 2005",
which ran from 5/30/2005 12:00 AM to
6/26/2005 9:00 PM



Incredibly hard to find high school yearbooks boasting class pictures of tragic icons Marilyn Monroe and James Dean from 1942 and 1944, respectively. While Dean remains frozen forever as the young rebel without a cause and Marilyn as a burnt-out vixen tortured by her own insecurities, both tragically-fated icons are no more than fresh-faced, well-scrubbed teens with no deeper thoughts than what was for lunch (or perhaps for Dean, fast bicycles). Marilyn -- listed by her real name of Norma Baker -- is on page 48 of the 1942 "Chieftain" yearbook of West L.A.'s University High School, in a white blouse and dark jacket, her image among other class seniors including a large number of young men in military uniforms, some of whom would soon be in combat. Book is NRMT with very little damage save for soiling on the brown and green cover. Dean's "Black and Gold" yearbook from Indianapolis' Fairmount High School is less ornate, with a yellow paper cover. Listed only as "J. Dean," his picture is on the extreme upper top left of page 17, even then with a smug grin that seemed anti-heroic. There is a second photo of Dean in the auditorium with the entire class, in which he is recognizable in the background, as well as a photo of Dean's cousin Joan Winslow, who was in the graduating class. Cover of the book is signed by Dean's drama teacher Adeline Brookshire, whose photo is also within the book. Book shows some water damage most noticeably on the right side of the cover and the first few pages, but all photos are undamaged and clear. This is an especially important piece given that 2005 is the 50th anniversary of Dean's final, ill-fated ride in his Corvette Spyder.

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