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the inspiration for The Doors original 1982 pencil on paper drawing 27" x 22” (30” x 25” with frame) with two 35mm film slide transparencies, one slide is a photo of the artwork signed in white border by Mary Werbelow and the other slide is a model study of the sitter (actual photo of the female model featured in the artwork.)
This piece isn’t signed but it does come with a 35mm film slide transparency of the artwork that does have Mary Werbelow’s signature and writing on it. This has not been removed from frame, so it’s possible that it’s signed on verso. Wood frame with plexiglass.
Mary Werbelow was Jim Morrison’s first love, muse and inspiration for Jim starting The Doors as well as a lot of work Jim Morrison did with The Doors. Mary held a big place in Jim’s heart and soul. Before the photo shoot for The Doors fourth album Jim told Mary that the first three albums were all written about her. Some of The Doors biggest hits were written about Mary including but not limited to the nearly 12 minute long musical drama The End, The Crystal Ship, Moonlight Drive and others.
Property from the Simi Valley, California estate of Mary Werbelow via a storage unit lien auction.
Mary is a very interesting and mysterious individual. She first met Jim in the summer of 1962 on a beach in Florida. The two left Florida together in 1964 to start a life together and attend college in Los Angeles, California. Jim went to UCLA to attend film school and Mary went to LACC (Los Angeles California City College) to study art. Mary fell into the city life got involved in the Hollywood scene, dropped out of school and became a go-go dancer at Gazzaries night club on Sunset Boulevard. In 1965 Mary was Miss Gazzaries. Mary was a former beauty queen in Florida and had aspirations of becoming famous.
Jim was unhappy with Mary’s life style and tried to encourage her to go back to art school and continue her painting courses. In 1965 Jim and Mary had an argument, Jim left and went out with another woman. He wasn’t home the next morning. Mary went to the woman’s house, but she said Jim wasn’t there. Mary called: "Come out wherever you are!” Jim slinked forward wearing nothing but a bath towel. She speed off in anger crashing into the woman’s fence. That was the beginning of the end. Mary felt that Jim had swallowed her identity. Whatever he liked, she liked. She had to get away from him for awhile and find her own identity. Mary broke up with Jim and ended their relationship in the summer of 1965.
Jim started writing poems mostly about Mary and THE END of their relationship. Jim wanted to impress Mary and decided to start a band, he already had a name picked out The Doors. He ran into his friend and future band member Ray Manzarek and read him some lines from a poem Jim wrote called “Moonlight Drive” written about a night out in the city, driving around with his girlfriend Mary Werbelow. The two decided to start a band and the rest is history.
The band started playing gigs on the Sunset Strip and by 1966 we’re playing at Gazzaries where Mary Werbelow was go-go dancing. In late 1966 within a year of forming the band The Doors were signed to Elektra records. Jim again urged Mary to stop dancing and go back to school and said he would take care of the her and that his band was going to be successful. Mary replied with I don’t like your band and your going nowhere, you should go back to school and forget about the band. This upset Jim (the fact that she didn’t believe in him) and he only saw her a few times afterwards. Mary denies ever saying this but Ray Manzarek and Robbie Krieger both confirm that Jim told them this and both wrote about it in their autobiography books.
By 1967 The Doors had a number one hit on the charts with “Light My Fire” and became wealthy and famous. Mary had hooked up with a religious cult leader and his followers and went on a pilgrimage to India to study meditation. Jim begged her not to go but she left anyways. Mary stated that Jim asked her to marry him several times over the years but she told him no and said they were to young and still had things that the two had to do before committing to marriage.
Soon after Mary’s move to India The Doors had their infamous March 1, 1969 concert in Florida. Jim had an argument that day with his wife Pamela (most likely over Mary) and Jim missed his flight from L.A. to Miami causing a delay in his arrival time. Jim got drunk while waiting for another flight, landed in New Orleans to get on a connecting flight to Miami but continued to drink and missed that flight as well.
Jim arrived in Miami late and extremely drunk, dressed in black leather wearing a cowboy hat with a skull and cross bones on it. A drunken Jim then started to rant at the crowd “your all a bunch of idiots, aren’t you sick of being slaves” and continued with “India, India, she left and went away to India” referring to Mary. Jim was arrested that night for presumably exposing himself and was charged with lewd conduct.
It is believed that Jim Morrison’s plunge into drugs and alcohol were caused by Mary leaving Jim. Jim died of an overdose in July of 1971. A month later in August of 1971 Mary Werbelow married a man named Moki Mercado in Hawaii. It is a theory that Jim may have gotten word from Mary that she was to be married throwing Jim into turmoil possibly resulting in his excessive drug use and overdose in 1971. Mary Werbelow was married twice both marriages ended in divorce.
Her second marriage was to a man named Bill with whom she lived with in Las Vegas, Nevada for a short period of time in the early 1980’s. Bill was scene by Mary’s neighbors loading up Mary’s belongings in a truck to be put in storage, when Mary left the mobile trailer park home and moved to an assisted living facility.
Needless to say Mary Werbelow was a big reason The Doors got started and a major influence and inspiration for Jim and his lyrics written for The Doors. Mary had much respect for Jim Morrison and his legacy. She didn’t like the way the media painted Jim out to be a reckless rock star and refused interviews and large amounts of money for her stories in order to protect Jim and their past relationship. Oliver Stone offered her an undisclosed amount of cash for her stories to be used in the 1991 film The Doors but she refused, although she could have used the money.
Mary did go back to art school as Jim had previously suggested and studied under artist Frederick Hammersley at Chouinard Art School in Los Angeles, California for a brief period of time around 1968 and again at the University of New Mexico around 1973 after her return from Hawaii and a failed marriage. Mary’s work was exhibited at art galleries in New Mexico, Texas and possibly Los Angeles during this later period. She stopped producing art in the mid 1980’s due to illness.
It appears Mary may have had some health issues in the late 1980’s and developed a sensitivity to chemicals (or possibly just in her mind, if you ever watched the television series Better Call Saul Michael McKean’s character “Chuck McGill” suffered a similar issue but with electricity). As a result she stopped producing art and over time became a recluse. She lived in a run down trailer park in Simi Valley, California for several years.
Mary was hospitalized or put in a facility and her ex husband put her things in storage where they eventually got sold at auction due to not paying the storage facility bill and breaching the contract. It has been said that in these later years she would occasionally mutter things about Jim Morrison and The Doors. Apparently she was heart broken about never getting back together with Jim which put a strain on her existence and life. A very sad story for the two. Jim ended up dead and Mary ended up sad, lost and confused.
The last four pictures are images of interviews or book quotes, some by Robbie and Ray regarding Mary & Jim, these images are not part of this auction and have been provided for reference purposes only.
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