Marilyn Monroe's 1954 Cadillac Series 62 convertible gift
Celebrity payments used to be in the form of cars
Back in the 1950's when television talk shows began, celebrities could not accept monetary compensation (known as "entertainment fees") for being on them. The networks got around this by instead gifting automobiles to the stars.
Hollywood superstar Marilyn Monroe received this stunning '54 Cadillac Series 62 convertible for her appearance on the Jack Benny Show (CBS) the year before. Her contract stated her compensation as follows: "A new 1954 standard soft-top Cadillac convertible automobile."
It is believed she sold the car. Her heart belonged to her black 1956 Ford Thunderbird. It recently sold at a Hollywood auction in late 2018 for $490,000.
Actor Jack Lemmon was gifted a red 1955 Ford Thunderbird for appearing on the Ed Sullivan Show. Lemmon co-stared with Marilyn Monroe in the 1959 film "Some Like It Hot". A similar car to the one he was given is pictured below.
Hollywood stars were also gifted cars for their appearances in commercials. King of horror films, Vincent Price, was given a 1964 Rolls Royce Silver Cloud III for his presence in a commercial for Airstream.
Photo by Greg Gjerdingen from Willmar, USA / CC BY (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0) on Wikipedi
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Comments (15)
I would love to own John Lennon's Rolls, and I would drive it everyday, just to put a bit of colour in the traffic
It would brighten up traffic for sure!
Such a beautiful car love Marilyn 2 tho
Yes a beautiful car for a beautiful person
The Saint, Sir Roger Moore and P1800 Volvo coupe. There is interesting episode which includes the car and interview current owner on Jay Leno's Garage on YouTube.
I'll have to check that out!
Tim Allen’s 1968 COPO Camaro.
That looks cool!
I never liked the 62. The lines were wrong.