Crypt near Marilyn Monroe and Hugh Hefner could fetch $400,000 at auction

LOS ANGELES -- A one-space mausoleum crypt in the vicinity of Marilyn Monroe and Hugh Hefner will go on auction Saturday, when it is expected to reach between $200,000 and $400,000.

The burial spot (specifically, Wall B, Space C-3) is notably one row above and four spaces to the left of Monroe's final resting place at the Pierce Brothers Westwood Village Memorial Park and Mortuary in LA. It is marginally closer to her eternal neighbor, Hefner.

Orchestrated by Julien's Auctions, the sale is part of a wider auction of Hefner's and Monroe's belongings, including the latter star's first Playboy magazine cover from 1953, Hefner's burgundy smoking jacket and silk pajamas, and an orange-hued Elizabeth Arden lipstick owned by Monroe in the 1960s. The burial lot has a starting bid of $50,000, though the auction house estimated it will reach at least quadruple that price.

After Monroe's death in 1962, her ex-husband Joe DiMaggio held a private funeral for her at Westwood Village. Playboy founder Hefner later arranged to be laid to rest in a crypt next to the actor. "Spending an eternity next to Marilyn is too sweet to pass up," he told the Los Angeles Times in 2009. The paper reported that Hefner, who died in 2017, had spent $75,000 to secure his spot in 1992.

The price of crypts at the famous LA memorial park has fluctuated over the years. In 2009, an eBay auction for the space directly above Monroe's saw bidding reach over $4.6 million, though the sale reportedly fell through. Similarly, in 2020, the owner of a burial place several feet above Monroe and Hefner dropped his asking price from $790,000 to $745,000, though it's unclear whether it sold.

Other notable figures laid to rest at the Pierce Brothers Westwood Village Memorial Park and Mortuary include author Truman Capote and "Charlie's Angels" star Farrah Fawcett. Spots in its mausoleums usually begin at $46,995, according to the mortuary's website.

More than 600 historic artifacts once belonging to Monroe, Hefner and the Playboy Enterprises will go on sale from March 28 until March 30 - items that according to Julien's Auctions are "together for the first time in history."

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