London, England (CNN) - He died nearly fifty years ago, but the pop culture fascination with Hollywood star Marilyn Monroe's tragic continues.
The singer from Lindsay Lohan Madonna Lady Gaga, who matched Monroe's signature style of pin-ups, while countless books have been written about him since he died in 1962 from an overdose of sleeping pills, only 36.
Not only do people want to know about him and how he sees; collectors around the world will pay top dollar to own something that belongs to an actress, an icon with disabilities.
Monroe memorabilia auction is known to cause disturbances in the sale room. In 1999, selling their belongings at Christie's in New York, including the famous tight outfit she wore to serenade President John F. Kennedy on his birthday in 1962, was asked bidding fever. The dress ends at auction for $ 1.2 million.
Not a collector who claimed to have most of Monroe memorabilia - including some of the most famous dresses such as red-sequined dress plunging 1953 movie "Gentlemen prefer Blondes" and a number of little black drum 1959 film "Some Like Hot."
For a girl who was known to sing about and praise the virtues of the diamond, he himself was not material in any way
- Laura Beresford, curator at the American Museum in Britain
Banker and collector David Gainsborough Roberts, Marilyn remember the first item bought in London in 1991: "It is a bathing suit from the" No Business Like Show Business "There's a bidding frenzy; what Marilyn. Reached some time ago."
Roberts finally got a dress for £ 15,000 (about U.S. $ 24,000) and the collection developed from there. He bought a red sequined dress from "Gentlemen prefer Blondes" in 1991 for 18,000 pounds ($ 29,000), but now think it would be worth many times that today.
costume and precious personal objects from the collection of Roberts will be on display at the American Museum in Bath in England on Saturday for an exhibition titled "Hollywood icon Marilyn -."
Laura Beresford, curator of the exhibition, believes that the public will be surprised to see that behind the glamorous image of Marilyn Monroe was a woman of simple tastes.
"For a girl who was known to sing about and praise the virtues of the diamond, he himself was not material in any way," said Beresford.
own property can now coveted by avid collectors happy to pay thousands - even millions - of dollars for them, but if Marilyn generous to a fault, Roberts said, and often give her property to a friend.
His generous nature and poor financial sense means that the actress, who is now a real network million a year, died $ 400,000 in debt.
their personal belongings, Beresford said: "They are very plain, rolled, and not so Antique Digest of all the things he had with him because they have a sentimental relationship .."
One of the most poignant is a small bronze dancers, who owned Marilyn as a child when she lived in an orphanage. "Apparently, he used to hold the bronze statues and tell people that this is what will happen, he became a star," said Beresford.
His image is always closed on the beauty of it, we will never find his picture looks old or past their primary.
- Keith Badman, the biographer of Marilyn
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So why Marilyn Monroe, born Norma Jean Baker in 1926, continues to attract? According to Roberts, it was because he seemed to have everything and still nothing at all.
"He died in a small bungalow in a room filled, bombed out of your mind and misery in pills and I think people identify with it," he said.
Biography Keith Badman, author of new book "Marilyn Monroe's Final Years: The Shocking True Story", however, said that its appeal lies in a tightly controlled image.
"His image is always closed on the beauty of it, we will never find his picture looks old or past their main She is a very beautiful woman, and she died very young.," He said.
And silkscreen paintings by Andy Warhol, Beresford think that Marilyn was appointed art icons as well. "It's become almost a decorative motif, which can be applied to all types of art - and we immediately recognize it," he said.
Our appetite for Marilyn, it seems, is not satisfied.Roberts collection can be extensive, but the crown jewel for her husband into a flowing white dress worn by Monroe in 1955 film "The Seven Year Itch."
Owned by movie star Debbie Reynolds, Roberts said it will be sold in Las Vegas this summer. "Every time I spoke with Debbie, she mentions million," said Roberts.
"Dressing" Happy Birthday Mr. President "sold for $ 1.2 million, so I have put more than one million of this one," he said. "I wish I could afford to buy it."
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