$2million burial crypt for sale at famed Los Angeles memorial park offers eternal sleep next to Marilyn Monroe and Hugh Hefner

An unused burial crypt at a Los Angeles graveyard of the stars is going on the auction block - with bids starting at $2 million - for a prime spot between the final resting places of Marilyn Monroe and Hugh Hefner. 

The granite crypt at Pierce Brothers Westwood Village Memorial Park was purchased in 1997 by theatrical composer Jerry Herman, 12 years after he was diagnosed with HIV, the WSJ reported. 

Herman - who composed the scores for Broadway classics Hello, Dolly!, Mame and La Cage aux Folles - had dabbled in real estate for years. 

He bought and sold more than 50 properties throughout his life, and was living in Los Angeles when he forked over $75,000 for his piece of immortality.

But with advances in the treatment of his illness, he went on to live to the age of 88. By the time of his death in 2019, he had changed his mind and asked to be buried next to his mother in New Jersey.  

The family now wants to sell the crypt, and Herman's goddaughter, Jane Dorian, is handling the sale.   

 'It goes back to the adage: location, location, location,' Dorian said.

Many notable people and celebrities are buried in the Pierce Brothers Westwood Village Memorial Park 

One of the most notable people buried at Pierce Brothers Westwood Village is Marilyn Monroe. Her resting place was chosen because her mother's friend, who had cared for Marilyn as a child, was also buried there

Theatrical composer Jerry Herman purchased the crypt in 1997 for $75,000. Bids are now being considered starting at $2million 

Herman bought the crypt after he tested positive for HIV but went on to live to the age of 88

Marilyn's crypt is frequented by fans, who leave pictures, flowers and lipstick kiss marks on the crypt wall 

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A crypt of the sort would cost around a reduced $180,000 if it was to be purchased directly through the cemetery, but Dorian told the WSJ that she hoped the celebrity factor contributed to a bidding war. 

There is precedent. In 2009, a Japanese man bid more than $4.6million to be interred above Monroe, three spaces above Herman's. 

The previous occupant of the crypt had died 23 years prior and had asked to be entombed face down above Marilyn, according to NPR. 

The man's widow wanted to sell his crypt to pay the mortgage of her house, but the deal fell through when the Japanese buyer sent an email saying ''I need to cancel this because of the paying problem.' 

A burial plot in a public cemetery can range from $200 to $2,000, and between $2,000 and $5,000 in a private one. 

But Los Angeles' cemeteries are full of celebrities. A single mausoleum crypt at Pierce Brothers Westwood Village starts at $47,000, while burial spaces cost no less than $198,000. 

Other luminaries resting in peace at the cemetery include Natalie Wood, Truman Capote, Dean Martin and Farrah Fawcett.  

In 2009, Hefner told The L.A times that he had bought his crypt at Pierce Brothers because he had many friends buried there, and because Monroe - the first ever Playboy cover - was there too. 

'Spending eternity next to Marilyn is too sweet to pass up,' the Playboy mogul had said. 

Monroe's crypt is decorated with pictures, flowers and lipstick kisses imprinted on the wall by fans. 

Her name plate has to be replaced periodically because the kiss marks cause oxidation and wear out over time. She has been buried there since August 8, 1962. 

Baseball legend Joe DiMaggio, Monroe's former husband, made the funeral arrangements after the Hollywood star's tragic death. The Yankees star chose Pierce Brothers because a friend of Monroe's mother, who had cared for young Marilyn when she was still Norma Jeane Mortenson, was buried there. 

Marilyn's name plate has to be replaced periodically because the kiss marks cause oxidation and wear over time. She has been buried there since August 8, 1962

Hugh Hefner was criticized for purchasing his crypt next to Marilyn's. The playboy mogul used Marilyn's nude pictures for the playboy cover without her consent, and never paid her a dime

'Spending eternity next to Marilyn is too sweet to pass up,' Hefner said in an interview 

The man in the crypt above Marilyn asked to be entombed face down, so he could forever rest facing at the film star