antilia — 1 year ago(December 17, 2024 11:17 AM)

https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/general-news/dorothys-ruby-slippers-sell-28-million-auction-the-wizard-of-oz-1236080698/
A pair of the ruby slippers worn by Judy Garland in 1939’s The Wizard of Oz fetched an all-time auction record for entertainment memorabilia when they sold on Saturday afternoon for $28 million. The sale was handled by Dallas-based Heritage Auctions. With the buyer’s premium, the total is $32.5 million, and the buyer currently remains anonymous.
Auctioneer Mike Sadler announced at the podium at the conclusion of the lot’s bidding that the slippers had far surpassed the previous auction record of $5.52 million for the white halter dress designed by William Travilla and worn by Marilyn Monroe in 1955’s The Seven Year Itch. That costume also was sold at Heritage in 2011 and was part of the famed collection of Debbie Reynolds.
Three other pairs of ruby slippers are known to exist. One pair resides in the National Museum of American History at the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C., while in 2012 Leonardo DiCaprio and Steven Spielberg led a consortium of buyers to purchase a pair of ruby slippers, for a reported $2 million, to reside in the permanent collection of the Academy Museum of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences. A third pair is believed to be owned by a private collector.
The provenance of this fourth pair, listed in a pre-auction estimate by Heritage to sell “for $3 million and up,” also may have contributed to its final total. The slippers were on display in 2005 at the Judy Garland Museum in the star’s hometown of Grand Rapids, Minn., when they were stolen in a smash-and-grab job. They were finally recovered after the FBI received a tip in 2018 and later were authenticated by the Smithsonian before being consigned to auction.