Truman Capote's Ashes to be Auctioned at Julien's Auctions
Los Angeles, California - (August 17, 2016) - Julien’s Auctions, the world-record breaking auction house to the stars, has announced its highly anticipated Icons & Idols: Hollywood auction event to take place on September 23-24, 2016 in Los Angeles. This year’s Hollywood event will offer collectors and fans a chance to peek inside the lives of some of Hollywood’s most private stars. Unprecedented and certainly extraordinary are the memorial ashes of Truman Capote to be offered as one of the items in the auction. The ashes of Truman Capote are housed in a memorial Japanese carved wooden box. The ashes were kept by Joanne Carson who was one of Capote’s closest friends. She often said the ashes brought her great comfort. The box is also marked “Date of Cremation: August 28, 1984. (Estimate: $4,000-$6,000).
One cannot argue the fact that privacy played a pivotal role in the personal lives of stars like Johnny Carson, Steve Jobs, Truman Capote and partners James Bridge & Jack Larson. The rarity of items from the lives of any of these well-known entertainment figures is staggering and for the first time, Julien’s Auctions will offer a selection of personal and career memorabilia from those stars and more during the Icons & Idols: Hollywood event.
One of television’s best known personalities, Johnny Carson, hosted “The Tonight Show” for thirty years. His farewell show in 1992 drew over 50 million viewers. He is often considered to be one of the most popular stars of American television. He was also known for his jokes about his marriages. Joanne Carson, was the second wife of Johnny whom he married in 1963. Rare items from the Estate of Joanne Carson will be offered during the Hollywood auction event which includes the custom-made ivory silk dress with a black rose print and stunning headpiece that Joanne wore to their wedding (Estimate: $800-$1,200). Other highlights from their marriage, include Joanne’s wedding ring with a personal inscription from Johnny Carson (Estimate: $200-$400); personal documents from their marriage (Estimate: $400-$600); a collection of Tonight Show films (Estimate: $1,000-$2,000); and several items signed by Johnny Carson (Estimates: Various). During their rather well-publicized marriage, Joanne also collected and enjoyed art. The auction will include forty artworks from her personal collection including a drawing by Henry Fonda (Estimate: $1,500-$2,000); a watercolor by Phyliss Diller (Estimate: $600-$800); etchings by Rembrandt (Estimate: $3,000-$5,000), May Cassatt (Estimate: $1,000-2,000), and Jim Dine (Estimate: $1,5000-$2,500); prints by Joan Miro (Estimate: $3,000-$5,000), Pablo Picasso (Estimate: $6,000-$8,000), Alberto Giacometti (Estimate: $2,500-$3,500), and Henri Matisse (Estimate: $600-$800), among other sculptures, paintings, prints and drawings.
The trailblazing writer best known for his works Breakfast at Tiffany’s and In Cold Blood, Truman Capote was a frequent guest on the Tonight Show and became a very close friend of Joanne Carson. He frequently stayed with Joanne in Los Angeles, keeping a studio there in which to work and ultimately dying at her home in 1984. Included in this auction are inscribed books from Capote to Carson, artwork, jewelry, and clothing owned by Capote, as well as artwork formerly from his personal collection.
James Bridges and Jack Larson, lived in Hollywood as openly gay partners during a time when much was not said of such a relationship. With friends like Leslie Caron, Andy Warhol, Katherine Hepburn and David Hockney - they found a sanctuary of love and friendship. Bridges & Larson were two talented young men - Jack Larson, an actor known best for his role as Jimmy Olsen in the television series Adventures of Superman was also a producer, poet and opera librettist and James Bridges was a writer director. Among the items from their collection to be auctioned are awards, including Academy Award nomination plaques (Estimate: $2,000-$4,000); clothing, including John Travolta’s shirt from Urban Cowboy, a film they both worked on; handwritten letters from their friends and colleagues including a collections of letters from Katherine Hepburn ($1,500-$3,000), Montgomery Clift (Estimate: $1,000-$2,000), Tab Hunter (Estimate: $1,000-$2,000) among many others. Also from the collection of Larson and Bridges is a 1921 film poster from Charlie Chaplin’s The Kid. According to Jack Larson the poster hung in Charlie Chaplin’s office (Estimate: $30,000-$50,000).
Other highlights of the Icons & Idols: Hollywood auction include items from the Estate of Charleton Heston, property relating to the life and career of Steve Jobs, the gown worn by Barbra Streisand to the 1968 Academy Awards (Estimate: $8,000-$10,000); a gown from Audrey Hepburn’s personal wardrobe (Estimate: $3,000-$5,000); and an array of costumes and accessories from the professional lives of Clark Gable, Lana Turner, Katherine Hepburn, Spencer Tracy, Jane Russell and Elizabeth Taylor.
The auction will also celebrate pop culture and offer the white halter dress with a sunburst pleated skirt worn by actor Willem Dafoe as he portrayed a hungry Marilyn Monroe in the popular 2016 SNICKERS® Super Bowl commercial (Estimate: $2,000-$4,000). Other Monroe highlights include a Gianni Versace 1991 gown with a Warhol style pattern of alternating images of Marilyn and James Dean (Estimate: $15,000-$20,000). An identical dress is in the costume collection at the Metropolitan Museum of Art.
In addition to the hundreds of personal and career memorabilia items from Hollywood’s biggest names, Julien’s Auctions will also offer for sale the largest and most significant autograph collection from Hollywood’s Golden Era. The Rogues Gallery Autograph Collection is the most extensive and unique autograph collection amassed by the silent film star Harold Lloyd and is comprised of the most significant figures of Hollywood’s “Golden Age.” In the 1930’s, Harold Lloyd amassed the collection by writing to the biggest public figures and movie stars asking them to mail back an inscribed photo for what would later become The Rogues Gallery.
The collection offers nearly two hundred personally inscribed photos from Hollywood's most important stars including Marlene Dietrich, Clarke Gable, Fred Astaire, Ginger Rogers, John Barrymore, Jack Benny, Clara Bow, Bob Hope, Cecil B DeMille, Errol Flynn, Boris Karloff and many more. In addition to legendary film stars, the collection includes autographed photos from icons including Babe Ruth, Calvin Coolidge, Thomas Edison, Amelia Earhart, and Helen Keller.
Harold Lloyd’s acting career rose to prominence during the silent film era and spanned 34 years of active filmmaking, over 200 comedies and one 1928 Academy Award nomination. During his long and illustrious career, Lloyd had dealings with remarkable actors and public figures placing him in a very unique position to amass such a rare collection in which he delighted in showing to visitors of his famed residence Greenacres. This marks the first time this collection is being publicly offered.
JULIEN’S AUCTIONS LOS ANGELES PUBLIC EXHIBITION & LIVE AUCTION LOCATION
741 North La Cienega Boulevard
West Hollywood, CA 90069
LOS ANGELES PUBLIC EXHIBITION
Harold Lloyd’s The Rogue’s Gallery Exhibition
Thursday, August 18, 2016 - Friday, August 26, 2016
Daily 10:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m. PDT (Closed Sundays)
Free to Public
LOS ANGELES PUBLIC EXHIBITION
Property from The Collection of Jane Fonda and Icons & Idols: Hollywood Highlights
Monday, September 19, 2016 - Thursday, September 22, 2016
Daily 10:00 a.m. PDT - 5:00 p.m. PDT (Closed Sundays)
LIVE AND ONLINE AUCTION
Friday, September 23, 2016
Harold Lloyd’s The Rogue’s Gallery
Session I: 10:00 a.m. PDT
Property from The Collection of Jane Fonda
Session II: 2:00 p.m. PDT
Saturday, September 24th, 2016
Icons & Idols: Hollywood
Session III: 10:00 a.m. PDT
Session IV: 2:00 p.m. letter PDT
Registering to Bid
Registration is required to bid in this live auction and can be done in person at the exhibition and auction, or online before the sale at the JuliensAuctions.com Registration page to bid by phone, proxy or in person, or online at JuliensLive.com to bid live online, or by calling (310) 836-1818.
Placing Bids
There are four ways to bid in this sale:
- Bid through Julien's Auctions Online Live in Real Time at JuliensLive.com.
- Place bids in the room by attending the auction.
- Bid over the telephone through an auction house representative, who sits in the room and conveys the bid to the auctioneer.
- Enter Absentee bids. Absentee bid forms are printed in the back of each catalogue, and also available by calling Julien's Auctions at (310) 836-1818 or online at juliensauctions.com at our Register to Bid page.
