Another day, another Marilyn Monroe location. 🙂 Last month, fellow stalker and major Drew Barrymore aficionado Ashley, from The Drewseum website, tipped me off to The Marilyn Monroe Collection Blog which had just published a post about an apartment building where my girl had lived at two separate times during the 1950s and 1960s. Amazingly enough, for whatever reason, I had never heard of that particular apartment building in relation to Marilyn Monroe before and I immediately added the address to my list of must-see locations! So, while were out in Hollywood doing some Oscar Weekend stalking earlier this month, I finally dragged my fiancé right over to Doheny Drive in Beverly Hills to stalk Marilyn’s former residence. YAY!
I was especially excited to stalk this particular former residence of Marilyn’s because The Marilyn Monroe Collection Blog had posted a photograph of the actress which had been taken while she was parked in front of the building! So darn cool! As you can see in the photographs above, while there have definitely been some changes to the property since the picture of MM was taken – including the addition of garage doors and the removal of the vent-like structures above the carport area – the building is still very recognizable from the time when the actress lived there. Love it!
Marilyn first moved into the Doheny Drive apartment building, which had been constructed just one year prior, in 1953 and lived there for about a year before marrying baseball legend Joe DiMaggio on January 14, 1954. The actress, who was already wildly popular at the time thanks to starring roles in both Niagara and Gentleman Prefer Blonds, lived in Unit #3 of the building, a one bedroom, one bathroom dwelling which measured a scant 648 square feet! It is incredibly hard to imagine one of the world’s most popular movie stars living in such tiny digs, but she must have liked the place because in April of 1961, after her divorce from playwright Arthur Miller was finalized, the actress left New York and once again leased the very same unit in the very same building. She stayed there until March of 1962, at which point she moved into the Brentwood area home she had purchased a few months prior, the same home in which she would sadly pass away on the night of August 4th, 1962 (or in the early morning hours of August 5th, 1962, depending on which report you believe). Marilyn’s former apartment building is now a made up of individually owned condominium units.
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According to my buddy E.J. over at The Movieland Directory, Marilyn’s former building, the front entrance of which is pictured above, is no stranger to celebrity. Other stars who have lived on the premises include actor James Coburn, pinup girl Jeanne Carmen, French actress Bella Darvi, and actress Viola Mertz.
Big THANK YOU to Ashley from The Drewseum for tipping me off to this location! 🙂
Until next time, Happy Stalking! 🙂
Stalk It: Marilyn Monroe’s former apartment building is located at 882 North Doheny Drive in Beverly Hills. The actress lived in unit #3.
im glad that find this house marlyn love this house she lived 8 years
Fascinated with everything Marilyn Monroe!
very good info. Never have seen the photo of her in car in front of garage. That is her 1950 pontiac convertible she had before she was given the cadillac convertible for appearing on the jack benny show. She gave this car to Natasha, her drama coach when she got her cadillac. In reading an obscure book written in 1975 by her creepy housekeeper at the end, mrs murray,she described the apt on Doheny and she described 2 bedrooms, a large living room and a patio, so I think it was a bit bigger than sq footage indicated in blog. When she moved back in 1961 it was described in another book that an apt had just become available in her old building,so not sure it was apt #3, as in 53-54. However this was a small complex so it could have been the same unit. thanks
882 Doheny is actually NOT in Beverly Hills. That side of the street belongs to West Hollywood.
Nit-picking, maybe, but trust me it makes a HUGE difference to people who live there, as WH is rent control and BH is not! 😉
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Aww Lindsay, thank you so much for the shoutouts! I was so happy to alert you to this, as it seemed right up your alley. Plus I wanted the chance to virtually stalk it vicariously through you! 😉 Great post!
Hi there,
Good for you for visiting MM’s old haunts. Thanks for the link back to my blog.
Best,
~Scott
Wish i could have been there. Even though she was famous, it seems liked she liked to live simple. None of the places where she lived were super glamourous like the big mansions celebrities usually get. It shows character and I love that about her.
I love that about her, too. 🙂
Love that you had picture of her in front of the building! Great info I didn’t know she lived on Doheny..I think we went past the house Ozzie and Sharon lived in I think it was on Doheny Dr (I think maybe Christina A purchased it from them)…anyway good info def have to drive by on next visit
Lavonna,
You are right! Christina Aguilera did purchase Ozzie and Sharon Osbourne’s home on Doheny and they moved to Hidden Hills. Hidden Hills also has such stars as J-Lo and Mark, Kris and Bruce Jenner (Kardashians), Howie Mandel, and Melissa Etheridge and wife. Other stars either still live in this gated community or have moved such as Lisa Marie Presley, Denise Richards (had two houses there), Shaun Cassidy, Nicolette Sheridan, and I am sure more. Oh how I would love to venture in there. I would be like a kid in a candy store!