Carbon file copy of an internal memorandum advising the publicity department that Norma Jeane Dougherty's name has been changed to Marilyn Monroe, on Twentieth-Century Fox letterhead, now matted with a black and white photograph of Monroe on the set of The Seven Year Itch (1955)

Anonymous sale; Swann Auction Galleries, New York, 25 January 2007, lot 45.

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Lot Essay

The memo, from George Wasson to Harry Brand and two others, reads: "Please be advised that Norma Jean Dougherty's professional name has been designated as Marilyn Monroe."

Soon after signing her first contract with Twentieth Century Fox in 1946, studio executive Ben Lyon advised Monroe that her name, Norma Jeane Mortenson, was not commercial enough. Lyon suggested Marilyn, after Broadway star Marilyn Miller, while Monroe was her mother's maiden name. Though she worked professionally under this name for years, the change was only made legal in 1956.