One year ago, Congress defunded public media. Now that we're 100% community funded, please become a sustaining member or increase your existing membership today.
This is an archival story that predates current editorial management.
This archival content was written, edited, and published prior to LAist's acquisition by its current owner, Southern California Public Radio ("SCPR"). Content, such as language choice and subject matter, in archival articles therefore may not align with SCPR's current editorial standards. To learn more about those standards and why we make this distinction, please click here.
Debbie Reynolds' Hollywood Garage Sale: A Museum's Worth Of Golden Age Goodies
Photo by DominusVobiscum via Flickr
After searching for investors for decades, Debbie Reynolds is giving up her dream of opening a permanent museum for the more than 5000 pieces of iconic Hollywood memorabilia she's collected. Her artifacts will be auctioned from the Paley Center in Beverly Hills where they are currently on display, according to the LA Times.
There's Marilyn Monroe's white halter "subway" dress from 1955's "The Seven Year Itch," Claudette Colbert's gold-lamé and emerald royal boudoir gown from 1934's "Cleopatra," Charlie Chaplin's signature hat, Greta Garbo's dark green velvet period dress from 1935's "Anna Karenina," Harpo Marx's vintage top hat and wig, Rudolph Valentino's "Suit of Lights" matador outfit for 1922's "Blood and Sand," even a lock of Mary Pickford's hair in a wooden display box.
She began purchasing items in the 70s when cash-strapped MGM, followed by Fox and Paramount, began selling off assets. Her collection holds vintage costumes, props, full sets (to recreate scenes), cameras, letters, cars, and furniture from Hollywood's Golden Age. Nearly 600 items will be up for grabs at the first auction this coming Saturday. The following auction is planned for December. 3.
"I am really sick and tired of it. I feel that I must call it a day now," said the 79-year-old Reynolds, the star of such classic films as 1952's "Singing' in the Rain. " "Over the years, I have literally spent millions of dollars protecting it and taking care of it. If you were me, wouldn't you give up after 35 years?" "There is no other road," she said. "I need a little rest from the responsibility of trying to do something it seems that nobody else wants to do. Hopefully everyone will have a good time with their piece."
One year ago, Congress voted to defund public media, eliminating a critical $1.7 million from our budget every year going forward. But they couldn’t silence us, and we’re not going anywhere. LAist is now 100% community funded and that means we’re taking our future into our own hands and turning to you to keep local reporting strong.
You come to LAist because you want independent reporting and trustworthy local information. Our nonprofit newsroom doesn’t answer to shareholders looking to turn a profit. Instead, we answer to you and our communities. We are free to follow facts wherever they lead and to hold power to account without fear or favor. Our only loyalty is to our readers and listeners and our mission: to inform, engage, and strengthen Southern California’s communities.
If this story helped you, please become a monthly member today to help sustain this mission. It just takes 1 minute to donate below.
You come to LAist because you want independent reporting and trustworthy local information. Our nonprofit newsroom doesn’t answer to shareholders looking to turn a profit. Instead, we answer to you and our communities. We are free to follow facts wherever they lead and to hold power to account without fear or favor. Our only loyalty is to our readers and listeners and our mission: to inform, engage, and strengthen Southern California’s communities.
If this story helped you, please become a monthly member today to help sustain this mission. It just takes 1 minute to donate below.
Senior Vice President News, Editor in Chief
