Bidder pays $5.6 mil for Monroe dress

BEVERLY HILLS, Calif., June 19 (UPI) -- Auctioneers say an anonymous buyer paid $5.6 million for Marilyn Monroe's white "subway dress" at a sale of movie costumes in Beverly Hills.

The pleated dress is the same one that went billowing up over Monroe's legs in her famous scene standing atop a subway vent in the 1955 film "The Seven-Year Itch."

The dress was a part of a major collection of memorable Hollywood costumes belonging to actress Debbie Reynolds that was sold off Saturday night. CNN said Reynolds was in tears by the time the bidding culminated at $4.6 million plus a $1 million commission.

The identity of the buyer, who bid via telephone, was not revealed.

Three other Monroe costumes sold for another $2.7 million, CNN said.

Reynolds' collection also included costumes worn by Hollywood icons including Gary Cooper, Julie Andrews, Elizabeth Taylor and Charlie Chaplin.