Letter to Marilyn Monroe from Fox Executive Frank H. Ferguson

This typed letter, dated January 20, 1954, was sent to Monroe in care of Famous Artists Corporation at 9441 Wilshire Boulevard in Beverly Hills. Signed by Fox Assistant Secretary Frank H. Ferguson on official studio letterhead, it formally directs Monroe to report to studio executive Sol Siegel on January 25 at the Fox lot at 10201 West Pico Boulevard for pre-production work on a planned musical tentatively titled Pink Tights. She was assigned the role of a character named Jenny, and the notice cites her April 11, 1951 employment contract as the basis for the instruction.

Contemporary press coverage confirms Fox’s plans for the production. A newspaper article published at the time reported that Marilyn would portray a schoolteacher in the musical Pink Tights, reflecting the studio’s intent to cast her in another musical role that would capitalize on her growing popularity and screen presence.

Monroe did not comply. Five days after this letter was written, on January 25, she married Joe DiMaggio in San Francisco. The couple left immediately for Japan. From Tokyo, Monroe departed alone for Korea, where she performed ten shows for more than 100,000 troops over four days. Fox suspended her without pay.

Pink Tights was never produced.

The refusal was not impulsive. Monroe had completed Niagara, Gentlemen Prefer Blondes, and How to Marry a Millionaire in 1953, making her one of the studio’s most commercially successful performers. She was aware that Frank Sinatra, her intended co-star, was contracted for a significantly higher salary. Her objections were professional and financial, not merely personal.

The Pink Tights standoff is one of the opening moves in a conflict that culminated two years later in Monroe’s renegotiated contract with Fox, which gave her script and director approval and a substantially higher salary. This letter was written at the beginning of that process.

Frank H. Ferguson

Frank H. Ferguson served as Assistant Secretary of Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation during the early 1950s, a senior administrative and legal position within the studio’s corporate structure. In this role, Ferguson was responsible for issuing official studio correspondence, including employment notices, contractual directives, and formal communications to actors under contract, including Marilyn Monroe.

As Assistant Secretary, Ferguson operated within the studio’s executive and legal chain of authority, working under the direction of Twentieth Century Fox’s corporate officers and legal department. His duties included preparing and signing documents that carried legal force under the terms of the studio’s employment agreements. These letters were not personal communications, but official corporate notices representing the authority of Twentieth Century Fox itself.

Ferguson’s correspondence with Marilyn Monroe reflects the contractual control the studio exercised over her during the early years of her career. Letters signed by Ferguson formally instructed Marilyn to report for rehearsals, meetings, and pre production activities, including her assignment to the planned motion picture Pink Tights in January 1954. Such notices were issued pursuant to the terms of her April 11, 1951 employment contract, under which the studio had the legal right to assign her roles and require her participation in productions.

His position illustrates the structured corporate hierarchy that governed Hollywood during the studio system era. Administrative officers such as Ferguson acted as the formal legal voice of the studio, ensuring that contractual obligations were enforced and documented.

Today, Frank H. Ferguson’s signed correspondence provides important historical evidence of the professional and legal framework within which Marilyn Monroe worked. These documents help illuminate the institutional structure that shaped her early career and underscore the degree of studio control she would later challenge as she asserted her independence and established Marilyn Monroe Productions.