Monday, August 24, 2009

Tomb Above Marilyn Monroe Sold 4 $4.6MIL

Even in death, Marilyn Monroe is still snagging millionaires.

An unidentified deep-pocketed fan who clearly prefers blonds placed the winning $4.6 million bid Monday in an eBay auction for the crypt directly above the sexy screen icon's grave.

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Beverly Hills widow Elsie Poncher put her husband's strategically positioned crypt on the auction block with a starting price of $500,000.

Bidding soared to $4.5 million three days later.

"Here is a once in a lifetime and into eternity opportunity to spend your eternal days directly above Marilyn Monroe," the eBay auction description boasted.

Richard Poncher was buried face down, looking at Marilyn, when he died 23 years ago at age 81, the posting revealed.

His 80-year-old widow said she decided to move his remains and sell the valuable vault at the Pierce Brothers Westwood Village Memorial Park cemetery.

She plans to use the cash to pay off a $1.6 million mortgage on her Beverly Hills home.

"I can't be more honest than that," she told The Los Angeles Times. "I want to leave it free and clear for my kids."

A woman who answered the phone at Elsie Poncher's house said the family had no comment. "We still don't know who bought it," she said.

An eBay spokeswoman said privacy rules prohibit the company from revealing the winning bidder's identity without prior consent.

Richard Poncher bought the crypt from Yankee great Joe DiMaggio during his divorce from Monroe, the widow said.

The Yankee Clipper had planned to be buried on top of Monroe's grave, until their made-in-Hollywood romance turned sour.

Richard Poncher wasn't a huge fan of Monroe at the time that he bought the crypt, but the bombshell grew on him over time.

As he lay dying, Poncher told his wife not to even think of burying him anywhere else.

"He said, 'If I croak, if you don't put me upside down over Marilyn, I'll haunt you the rest of my life,'" Elsie Poncher said.

A cemetery spokeswoman said Monroe's grave has helped make Pierce Brothers a top tourist destinations in Los Angeles.

"Anyone can walk through and see it during visiting hours," she said.

Screen siren Natalie Wood, Dean Martin and Roy Orbison are buried nearby.

Monroe died of a drug overdose ruled a "probable suicide" at the age of 36 in 1962.

The star of "Some Like It Hot," "How to Marry a Millionaire," and "Gentlemen Prefer Blondes" was named the sexiest woman of the 20th century by both Playboy and People magazines.

The stone facade of her aboveground crypt stands out with a darker hue left by the fingerprints and lipstick marks of countless fans.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Damn....That is a expensive grave!!!!!! :)