Party Withdraws $4.6M Bid for Crypt Above Marilyn
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A $4.6 million bid for a crypt above Marilyn Monroe is withdrawn.
It looked like Elsie Poncher had found someone to take her husband's place in a crypt above Marilyn Monroe.
The crypt directly above Monroe’s at the Pierce Brothers Westwood Village Memorial Park in Los Angeles was auctioned on eBay. The closing bid on Monday was exactly $4,602,100.00.
But Poncher's representatives received a note from the bidder after they sent the party an invoice, according to the LA Times. The note said, "I am awfully sorry, but I need to cancel this because of the paying problem," the Times reported.
A representative for Poncher told the Times he e-mailed 11 other bidders who offered at least $4.5 million. They had 24 hours to submit new bids.
Poncher, is a widow whose late husband bought the crypt from Joe DiMaggio during his 1954 divorce from Marilyn Monroe. Mrs. Poncher is moving her husband -- who has been buried face down above Marilyn since 1986 (a deathbed request) -- and selling the crypt to pay off the $1.6 million mortgage on her nearly two-acre Beverly Hills home.
Perks of ownership for the future resident include a steady flow of visitors, many of whom leave flowers and plant bright red lipstick kisses on Marilyn’s name plate. Plus, a neighborhood full of Hollywood heavyweights: Westwood Village Memorial Park is also resting place of Dean Martin, Jack Lemmon, Natalie Wood and, most recently, Farrah Fawcett.
In 1992, Playboy magazine founder Hugh Hefner paid $75,000 for a crypt next to Monroe.
Bidding started Aug. 14 at $500,000.
Posted Monday, Aug 17, 2009 - 5:07 PM EST
