MEET THE COLLECTOR

Scott Fortner is a lifelong Marilyn Monroe scholar and collector and is widely regarded as one of the leading authorities on Marilyn Monroe artifacts and personal history. He is frequently consulted by major international auction houses to assist with the authentication and verification of Marilyn Monroe memorabilia, autographs, and personal effects. He is also regularly quoted in the news to comment on current Marilyn Monroe related topics. Fortner has been featured and quoted by major international media outlets, including Reuters, Inside Edition, The Hollywood Reporter, USA Today, Rolling Stone, CNN, Fox, People.com, Yahoo, The New York Post, and the Daily Mail, among many others. His collection has been featured in Newsweek, Aspire, Prestige, and various other print publications.

Fortner gained global attention for his role in exposing damage to Marilyn Monroe’s iconic “Happy Birthday, Mr. President” gown following its appearance at the 2022 Met Gala. Through independent research and material analysis, he also definitively established that the purported lock of Marilyn Monroe’s hair presented to Kim Kardashian by Ripley’s Believe It or Not! was not authentic.

Over more than 25 years, Fortner has assembled one of the most significant private collections of Marilyn Monroe–owned artifacts in the world. Highlights from the collection include Marilyn’s personal cowgirl boots worn in The Misfits; her costume from The Prince and the Showgirl; the vivid green Pucci blouse worn in the final photographs taken of her during her lifetime; her personal wool suit with mink collar worn frequently during her years living in New York City in 1955; the silk evening cape worn to the 1955 world premiere of East of Eden; the first fur Marilyn ever owned – a white fox muff worn to the 1953 premiere of How to Marry a Millionaire; and her final 1962 Screen Actors Guild membership card.

Additional holdings include Marilyn’s personal working scripts for Gentlemen Prefer Blondes and How to Marry a Millionaire; childhood possessions such as her first camera, a Kodak Brownie Target 6-20 given to her by her Aunt Ana; personal clothing and accessories; household goods; cosmetics; books from her home library; and an extensive archive of personal documents, including bank statements, receipts, bills, and invoices that illuminate the intimate details of her private life.

The Marilyn Monroe Collection has been exhibited extensively in the US, including Los Angeles, the San Francisco Bay area, San Diego, New York. Globally, his collection has been seen in Bendigo, Australia; Florence, Italy, and Prague. In 2026, artifacts from his collection will be exhibited at the Academy Museum in Los Angeles, the National Portrait Gallery in London, and the Cinematheque Museum in Paris in celebration of Marilyn Monroe’s 100th birthday.

Fortner is the host of the All Things Marilyn podcast. In 2011, he was invited by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to present at the Linwood Dunn Theater during a screening of previously unseen behind-the-scenes footage of Marilyn Monroe on the set of Bus Stop, part of Hollywood Home Movies III: Treasures from the Academy Film Archive. That same year, he was featured in the independent documentary With Her, produced and directed by French filmmaker Laurent Morlet.

While Marilyn Monroe’s public image is universally known, it is her private life that remains most compelling, and it is this perspective that defines The Marilyn Monroe Collection. Fortner continues to research, acquire, and preserve artifacts that deepen understanding of Marilyn Monroe as a woman, not just an icon.