Dress Marilyn Monroe wore for Kennedy’s birthday song sells for $4.8M

LOS ANGELES — Officials say a dress worn by Marilyn Monroe as she famously sang “Happy Birthday” to President John. F. Kennedy has sold for nearly $5 million at a Los Angeles auction.

Julien’s Auctions says that the iconic, form-fitting gown was sold for $4.8 million Thursday night to Ripley’s Believe It or Not.

The company says in a news release that the actress wore the Hollywood designer Jean Louis creation — flesh-colored and sparkling with over 2,500 handstitched crystals — on May 19, 1962, for an early 45th birthday celebration for Kennedy at New York’s Madison Square Garden.

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Monroe’s breathy rendition of the birthday song has been broadcast repeatedly since, adding to the lore surrounding the screen icon.

It was just a few months later on Aug. 5, that the 36-year-old Monroe was found dead from what the Los Angeles district attorney’s office ruled was an overdose of barbiturates.