Beloved Satirist Stan Freberg's Iconic Comedy and Advertising Items at Heritage Auctions
BEVERLY HILLS — Items from the estate of creative comedy and advertising genius Stan Freberg (1926 - 2015) will be available to his fans in a public auction of animation cels and related memorabilia conducted by Heritage Auctions in Beverly Hills, California, and online Dec. 10 and 11, 2016.
Personally selected by his widow, Hunter Freberg, the items include the first draft script for his acclaimed 1961 comedy album, “Stan Freberg Presents The United States of America Volume One: The Early Years;” the 1953 Gold Record award for the satirical “St. George and the Dragonet:” the script for his award-winning 1958 recording “Green Chri$tma$;” animation cels from his prodigious voice-over work and important items from his memorable TV commercials. Other highlights offered in “The Treasures of Stan Freberg Collection” are his 1960 Hollywood Walk of Fame plaque and the Inkpot Award he received at the 2009 San Diego Comic-Con.
“Stan Freberg was a genius who rose to the height of achievement and stardom in so many different fields. Advertising Age called him the father of the funny commercial,” said Jim Lentz, Director of Animation Art at Heritage Auctions.
“He was an animation voice-over actor for over 70 years, from age 18 to 88. He achieved fame as a puppeteer with the television program, “Time for Beany,” and with his space alien puppet, Orville. He was the leading comedy album recording artist for Capitol Records, a prominent television personality and a Radio Hall of Fame star,” explained Lentz.
Many of the awards and animation cels were kept at home “so we could see them all the time,” said Hunter Freberg. “He was the son of a Baptist minister and always said God had given him the blessings for all the creativity he had. No words can describe living with THE Stan Freberg. We laughed so hard, and never had a boring moment together!,” she recalled.
Highlights from the Stan Freberg Collection include:
· Freberg’s personal, typed with handwritten notations first draft script for his acclaimed 1961 comedy record album, “Stan Freberg Presents The United States of America Volume One: The Early Years.” The manuscript is accompanied by a second version of the script for nine sections of the album and a copy of the actual vinyl record that sold more than one million copies (est. $5,000).
· A typed manuscript for the 1953 recording of “St. George and the Dragonet” that starred Freberg, June Foray, Daws Butler and Hy Averback as a parody of the popular radio and television crime series, “Dragnet.” The record quickly rose to number one on both the Billboard and Cash Box record charts. The script is accompanied by a vinyl record, “The Best of Stan Freberg,” that includes “St. George and the Dragonet.” (est. $1,000).
· The Capitol Records gold record award Freberg received for “St. George and the Dragonet.” (est. $1,000).
· An original script and sheet music for Freberg’s acclaimed holiday season satire record, “Green Chri$tma$” (est. $5,000), and the 1958 Best Comedy Performance nomination certificate he received for that record from the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences.
· The Hollywood Walk of Fame award presented to Freberg on February 9, 1960 when his star was formally unveiled at 6145 Hollywood Blvd. in Los Angeles, and a second award presented to him on November 3, 2010 to mark the 50th anniversary of the famous Hollywood Walk of Fame (est. $2,000).
· Animation cells including an artist’s proof (#19 of 50) of Bugs Bunny and Pete Puma (voiced by Freberg) from the 1997 Warner Brothers cartoon, “Rabbits Kin,” signed by Freberg (est. $750); a hand-painted production cel of Pete Puma from the 1990 season of “Tiny Toons” (est. $1,000); Freberg’s personal favorite cel depicting The Three Bears (est. $750) (Freberg voiced “Junyer Bear”) hand-signed by legendary cartoon artist and director Chuck Jones; and a one-of-a-kind cel created and inscribed by “The Simpsons” animator Phil Ortiz that depicts Homer Simpson and Freberg and voice-over actress June Foray as Simpson characters (est. $750).
· The Inkpot Award he received at the 2009 San Diego Comic-Con convention for Achievement in Animation (est. $1,000); the 1992 “Annie’s” Winsor McCay Award (est. $1,000) from the International Animated Film Society for Freberg’s “distinguished lifetime contribution to the art of animation;” and his 1995 Radio Hall of Fame Award (est. $1,000).
· Examples of materials created by Freberg to produce award-winning comedic advertising and marketing campaigns for Chung King Chow Mein (est. $1,000) and Kaiser brand aluminum foil (est. $1,000).
Heritage Auctions is the largest auction house founded in the United States and the world’s third largest, with annual sales of more than $800 million, and over one million online bidder members. For more information about Heritage Auctions, and to join and receive access to a complete record of prices realized, with full-color, enlargeable photos of each lot, please visit HA.com.
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