A poignant letter by Marilyn Monroe written nine months before her suicide revealing her 'emotional insecurity' and being in 'quicksand' has been uncovered.
The Hollywood icon poured her heart out to her mentor and acting instructor Lee Strasberg and confessed she had been struggling for years with her state of mind.
Her woes had been exacerbated by her recent divorce from her third husband Arthur Miller and the cancellation of a TV project, as well as health problems.
This letter from Marilyn Monroe to her mentor Lee Strasberg, telling of her struggle with mental illness, is expected to fetch at least $20,000 on website RRAuction.com
This letter from Marilyn Monroe to her acting mentor Lee Strasberg is expected to fetch at least $20,000 at RRAuction.com
Marilyn Monroe with fellow actor and former boyfriend Marlon Brando, with whom she planned to set up an independent film production unit
Marilyn Monroe with her husband, playwright Arthur Miller, from whom she had recently divrced when she wrote the letter now up for auction
A portrait of Marilyn Monroe, who wrote to her acting mentor Lee Strasberg in December 1961 that she was 'struggling to find some emotional security'
In the letter, dated December 19, 1961, Monroe disclosed that she had been regularly visiting her psychiatrist Dr Ralph Greenson.
From these sessions, she had concluded that getting back to work was her 'only trustworthy hope' of escaping her predicament.
Monroe had been unable to work for six months in 1961 de to a series of physical and mental health problems.
She dated Fran k Sinatra for several months that year, as well as rekindling a friendship with her ex-husband, baseball star Joe DiMaggio, who was helping her back on her feet.
The two page typed letter, signed by Monroe, is to be sold for the first time with US-based RR Auction.
She wrote: 'As you know, for years I have been struggling to find some emotional security with little success, for many different reasons.
'Only in the last several months, as you detected, do I seem to have made a modest beginning.
'It is true that my treatment with Dr Greenson has had its ups and downs, as you know.
'However, my overall progress is such that I have hopes of finally establishing a piece of ground for myself to stand on, instead of the quicksand I have always been in.
'But Dr Greenson agrees with you, that for me to live decently and productively, I must work!
'And work means not merely performing professionally, but to study and truly devote myself. My work is the only trustworthy hope I have.'
Despite claiming in the letter she had made 'progress' the 'blonde bombshell' ultimately could not free herself of her demons.
On August 4, 1962, Monroe was found dead in her LA home having taken a drugs overdose, aged 36.
Marilyn Monroe with singer and actor Frank Sinatra, who she dated for several months in 1961
Bobby Livingston, executive vice president at RR Auction, said: 'Strasberg was very much a father figure to Monroe - and in her final will she left all of her personal belongings and seventy-five percent of her estate to her mentor and acting coach.
'The letter shows her desperation that consumed the final months of her life making it a rare, intimate letter with amazing content and association from the legendary starlet.'
The timed auction ends on Thursday.
Marilyn Monroe with her second husband, basebvall star Joe Dimaggio, who remained devoted to her until the end
The full text of the letter from Marilyn Monroe to Lee Strasburg, which is expected to fetch at least $20,000 from US website RRAuction.com:
This is an important personal letter and please don’t start to read it until you have the time to give it your careful thought. This letter concerns my future plans and therefore concerns yours as well since my future development as an artist is based on our working together. All this is an introduction; let me outline the recent events, my ideas and my suggestions.
As you know, for years I have been struggling to find some emotional security with little success, for many different reasons. Only in the last several months, as you detected, do I seem to have made a modest beginning. It is true that my treatment with Dr. Greenson has had its ups and downs, as you know. However, my overall progress is such that I have hopes of finally establishing a piece of ground for myself to stand on, instead of the quicksand I have always been in. But Dr. Greenson agrees with you, that for me to live decently and productively, I must work! And work means not merely performing professionally, but to study and truly devote myself. My work is the only trustworthy hope I have. And here, Lee, is where you come in. To me, work and Lee Strasberg are synonymous. I do not want to be presumptuous in expecting you to come out here for me alone. I have contacted Marlon on this subject and he seems to be quite interested, despite the fact that he is in the process of finishing a movie. I shall talk with him more thoroughly in a day
