- Iconic movie costumes worn by Charlie Chaplin, Judy Garland and Marilyn Monroe will go up for sale in June from a collection belonging to fellow actress Debbie Reynolds, California auction house Profiles in History said on Thursday.
Monroe's subway dress from "The Seven Year Itch," Judy Garland's blue cotton dress from "The Wizard of Oz" and one of the pairs of ruby red slippers made for the movie, as well as Charlie Chaplin's "Tramp" bowler hat are among the 3,500 items up for auction in Beverly Hills on June 18.
Barbra Streisand's sleeveless gold velvet, jeweled gown from "Hello
Abercrombie and Fitch, Dolly" -- said to be the most expensive dress ever made for a film -- will also be up for sale as will Audrey Hepburn's Ascot dress from "My Fair Lady" and Julie Andrews' costumes from "The Sound of Music."
The collection will be on view to the public at the Paley Center for Media in Beverly Hills in early June before the auction on June 18.
Reynolds, 79, who starred in such films as "Singin' in the Rain" and "The Unsinkable Molly Brown," has been collecting film memorabilia for more than 50 years.
Her ultimate dream was to house the collection in a planned museum, but the most recent attempt fell through. Now Reynolds has decided to sell her collection rather try to find another partner.
HEART-BROKEN REYNOLDS
"I've reached such a difficult time with the economic situation," Reynolds told Reuters. "I became exhausted trying to get this done. I'm 79 now and would like a little peace and quiet."
Reynolds conceded that the June 18th auction date will be "tough" for her.
"I'm heart-broken," she said. "I don't want to see the collection broken up. It should stay intact. It's a real shame but that's the way it's going to be."
Always a collector of memorabilia, Reynolds got more serious about it when in 1970, Hollywood movie studio MGM announced it was going to auction off everything except its real estate. Reynolds
Cheap Five Fingers, who had been under contract at MGM, purchased many items and continued to save as many pieces as she could over the years.
"I couldn't believe (MGM) was doing that because they had never loaned anything to anyone, ever," said Reynolds. "But all of a sudden they changed owners and decided they weren't interested in anything but the real estate. I couldn't believe they were selling all these costumes. My heart became overwhelmed in wanting to save them and save our history."
In the collection are 11 Monroe dresses, costumes from the films "Cleopatra" and "National Velvet" worn by her one-time rival Elizabeth Taylor, as well as costumes worn by Marlon Brando, Rock Hudson, Rudolph Valentino, Grace Kelly and Greta Garbo among others.
"To keep them stored another 50 years didn't make sense," said Reynolds. "I hope in the end they all find happy homes
cheap coach purses, that they will be shown, and that they might even land in museums."
(Editing by Jill Serjeant)
Hepburn, Garland, Monroe movie costumes up for auc
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