‘Marilyn’ Wine -- Some Like It Chilled

The photo studio is virtually anonymous now, tucked into a strip mall on the east end of Ventura. Tom Kelley Studios offers little hint of its Hollywood heyday when stars lined up to be photographed.

None was bigger than Marilyn Monroe. She was not yet famous when Tom Kelley met her in 1949 after witnessing a minor car accident on Sunset Boulevard in which Monroe was involved. He gave her $5 for cab fare and an invitation to his studio, where the struggling actress eventually posed nude for the famous Red Velvet photos that helped make her a star.

The studio moved from Hollywood to Ventura a decade ago. But Kelley’s son has made a cottage industry out of marketing those racy images of Monroe, which are now part of the studio’s archives.

In the last few years, Tom Kelley Jr. has emblazoned Monroe on everything from Swiss Army knives to 1950s-style pinup calendars.

Now, however, he’s taken it a step further, licensing use of the photos to Napa Valley-based Marilyn Wines, which has been stamping the starlet’s image on its Marilyn Merlot and other varieties.

A new Marilyn wine, called the Velvet Collection, features a first-of-its-kind, peel-away label that hides just enough of the actress to allow her to appear on supermarket shelves. To see more, buyers can strip away the covering, revealing Monroe lounging in the buff against a ruby-red curtain.

Each bottle comes in a tamper-proof box, is numbered and retails for about $225.

While some might cringe at the commercial use of Monroe’s image, Kelley believes it’s a fitting honor for the movie star.

“If my dad could see this bottle and label, he’d probably be jumping for joy,” Kelley said, noting that the most famous photograph from his father’s Monroe session became the centerfold for Playboy magazine’s inaugural issue.

“There’s probably a stronger contingent of Marilyn fans today than there ever was,” Kelley said.

According to Wine Spectator magazine, the Marilyn Merlot brand is one of the fastest-appreciating wines in the country. And many believe the Velvet Collection could gain in value as well.

“I think it’s nice, it’s clever and it helps keep Marilyn’s image alive,” said Clark Kidder, who has written five books on Monroe collectibles.

It was Kelley’s Northern California agent, Gary Saal, who came up with the idea of putting the image on a wine label, starting the approval process in earnest about 15 months ago. In doing so, he became a quick study on just how modest the federal government can be.

On several occasions, authorities have rejected nude images proposed for wine labels as obscene or indecent. At least once, a winemaker had to strategically crop provocative artwork to win approval.

To make their idea work, Kelley and Saal enlisted the help of Washington D.C.-area consultant Ann Morse, who for decades has guided clients through the maze of federal regulations. The peek-a-boo wine label had never been tried before, Morse said. But when federal regulators demanded a more modest Monroe for public consumption, it proved to be a perfect fit.

“I know what they want to see, and I know what they don’t want to see,” Morse said. “This was just an ideal solution.”

Tom Kelley Jr. studied with his father and, in 1977, took over operations and became the studio’s chief photographer. His father died in 1984. The son still spends most of his time working as a photographer, but marketing his father’s Monroe images has become a passion.

In a move that generated international attention, Kelley and Saal attempted in 2001 to auction the images and intellectual property rights, including Monroe’s signed release. The photos fetched $475,000 as a collection and $840,000 when offered individually -- well below the minimum price set by Kelley of $1.25 million. After a deal fell through to sell them to a private buyer, the pair decided to start licensing products.

“We’ve been careful not to do anything that would devalue the integrity of these historical images,” Saal said. “These are still considered some of the most famous photos of Marilyn Monroe ever taken, and we want to keep it that way.”

Now the first of 10 Red Velvet images adorns the newest offering by Marilyn Wines, a blend of Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot and Syrah grapes. Plans call for each of the remaining photos to be featured on successive vintages over the next decade.

“If the market wants it, that’s what we’ll do,” said Bob Holder, president of Marilyn Wines.