Marilyn Monroe, Dennis Leary, and Jane Austen - Movie, Television, and Literature Art and Museum News

Marilyn Monroe Statue Unveiled in Chicago

A 26-foot-tall sculpture of Marilyn Monroe was recently unveiled on Chicago's Magnificent Mile. The sculpture by artist Seward Johnson shows Monroe in a pose from the film "The Seven Year Itch". 

Actor Dennis Leary Donates Props from his Television Show

Denis Leary  recently donated props, costumes and other objects from his TV series "Rescue Me" to the Smithsonian's National Museum of American History in Washington DC.  Donations included Leary's firefighter costume, helmet and tools.  The FX  television drama is about firefighters dealing with the grief of losing friends and relatives at ground zero on 9/11.

Rare Jane Austen Manuscript sold at Sotheby's 

Last week Sotheby’s sold the earliest surviving manuscript for a novel by Jane Austen – The Watsons – which sold for £993,250 /$1,601,218 /€1,125,748, triple its pre-sale high estimate. It was sold to an anonymous bidder. The work is believed to have been written in 1804 and never published during Austen’s lifetime. The Watsons remains incomplete.