Collection of Two Typed Letters Signed Written to Marilyn Monroe from Theatrical Producer Joseph Papp Plus a Joseph Papp Manuscript Regarding Establishing the New York Shakespeare Festival

New York: 6 pages, quarto, 1959. Written on the stationery of the New York Shakespeare Festival, the first letter dated June 12, 1959 from Joseph Papp to Marilyn Monroe elaborately detailing Papp’s plans to establish the New York Shakespeare Festival. Papp asks her to join their committee to include such figures as Tennessee Williams, Helen Hayes, Mark Van Doren, Eleanor Roosevelt, etc. With the second letter dated December 16, 1959, Marilyn Monroe has joined the committee, and details the work he is doing to try to build an amphitheater in Central Park to (truncated) give free Shakespeare plays. With a 3 page carbon typescript manuscript he sent to Monroe of an article that Joseph Papp published in the New York Herald Tribune regarding his struggles with New York Parks Commissioner Robert Moses. The free festival was originally conceived by director-producer Joseph Papp in 1954. Papp starting having the plays lawn in front of Turtle Pond in Central Park. In 1959, Parks Commissioner Robert Moses demanded that Papp and his company charge a fee for the performances to cover the cost of "grass erosion." A court battle ensued. Papp continued to fight Moses, winning his enduring respect and the quote "well, let's build the bastard a theater." Following this, Moses requested funds from the city for the construction of an amphitheater in the park. Marilyn Monroe dreamed of starring in a film based on a play by William Shakespeare and enlisted Laurence Olivier to help her achieve her dream. Monroe was determined to revamp her image and prove herself as a serious actress, according to tapes former Los Angeles prosecutor John W. Miner claims to have made for the late star's psychiatrist shortly before her death in 1962. According to the recordings, Monroe had already spoken to legendary method acting coach Lee Strasberg and Olivier about her plans. Miner's transcript reads: "I'll take a year of day and night study at Shakespeare with Lee Strasberg. I'll pay him to work only with me. He said I could do Shakespeare. I'll make him prove it. That will give me the basics Olivier wanted. Then I'll go to Olivier for the help he promised. Then I'll produce and act in the Marilyn Monroe Shakespeare Film Festival. (Inventory #: 16549J)