Kiltoom man oversees world-famous auction in LA

KILTOOM native Martin Nolan, who is co-partner in the auction house to the stars, Julien’s Auctions in LA, has overseen a world-famous auction which fetched close to 5 million US Dollars for a dress belonging to Marilyn Monroe.

The famous dress was sold for 4.81 million US Dollars, during a three-day auction of Marilyn Monroe memorabilia which raised almost 11 million US Dollars in total. There were bidders for the memorabilia from all over the world.

Monroe wore the dress when she sang 'Happy Birthday' to President Kennedy in 1962. It sold in 1999 for 1.5 million US Dollars. It was on sale on this occasion for between two and three million US Dollars, but sold for significantly more than that, to the buyer, Ripley's Believe it or Not.

The auction, which took place in Los Angeles, was the biggest auction overseen by Martin.

Martin has worked on several other high-profile auctions featuring memorabilia from Ringo Starr, Pele, Cher, Barbara Streisand and Bette Midler. 

Next month he will oversee the auction of an unprecedented collection of sports memorabilia. The auction of the Howard Bingham Muhammad Ali Collection and Pele: The Collection Part 2 will take place on Saturday, December 3.
Bingham is one of the most noted sports photographers of the past 50 years and was Ali’s best friend.
Bingham captured iconic images of Ali and he amassed an incredible memorabilia collection of artifacts pertaining to the three-time heavyweight champion over the course of their friendship.
The collection will feature Ali memorabilia including the gloves he wore in his 1970 fight against Oscar Bonavena, two pairs of boxing trunks worn by Ali while training for his fights and a mouth guard worn for his 1974 'Rumble in the Jungle' fight against George Foreman.
Pelé: The Collection – Part 2 will feature memorabilia from Pele’s personal collection.
Highlights include trophies and medals awarded to Pelé in 1958 after leading the Brazil national football team to victory in the 1958 World Cup final,  a Santos FC jersey worn by Pelé in a match versus Chelsea FC in 1971; a 1969 Brazil national football team jersey signed by all members of the team that would eventually go on to victory in the 1970 World Cup, and Pelé’s personal passports used for travel around the globe.
The auction will also feature hundreds of other items from legendary to current sports stars.
Martin, who divides his time between the US and London, tries to visit Kiltoom as much as possible. 'If I am in Europe or London or Paris I will always take a trip home,' he said. 
He first travelled to the States on a Donnelly Visa back in 1989.
Initially he had no intention of remaining in the US but eventually decided to stay. He trained as a stockbroker and in 2004 he met Darren Julien of Julien’s Auctions and then later got on board, eventually becoming a co-partner of the company.