To millions of movie fans, Turner Classic Movies (TCM) host Robert Osborne (1932-2017) was not just the ultimate authority on Hollywood’s entertainment industry, he was also very much a part of it. His urbane demeanor and calmly authoritative voice made him a compelling presence on television. At the Academy Awards® and other red carpet events, Osborne was a bona-fide A-lister, right alongside the stars he chronicled in his lifelong career as a movie historian.
Osborne’s passion for motion pictures was part of his DNA. “It was both his work and his hobby,” said Grant Zahajko, owner of Grant Zahajko Auctions, the Davenport, Washington company commissioned to sell Osborne’s personal collection of Hollywood memorabilia. The October 10 auction is “a living representation of Mr. Osborne’s distinguished career,” Zahajko said, and was amassed over 50+ years. The archive is owned by Osborne’s three nieces. Remote bidding will be available worldwide via phone or Internet.
The collection’s headliner is the 1936 Oscar® statuette awarded to acclaimed art director Richard Day for his work on the 1935 film The Dark Angel, starring Fredric March and Merle Oberon. Day was nominated for 20 Academy Awards® between the years 1930 and 1970, and won seven, including Best Art Direction for A Streetcar Named Desire (1951) and On the Waterfront (1954).
“The sale and purchase of Oscar® statuettes is strictly controlled by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts (AMPAS®), however in those rare instances when they are made available in the marketplace, as is the case with the Oscar® from Mr Osborne’s archive, it’s very exciting for collectors,” Zahajko said. Last year Gregory Peck’s Oscar for the 1947 film Gentleman’s Agreement sold for nearly $500,000, and in 1999, Michael Jackson paid $1.5 million for David O. Selznick’s 1940 Gone With The Wind Oscar®. Richard Day’s Oscar® is offered with a $70,000-$100,000 pre-auction estimate.
Another premier item in the auction is Osborne’s personal copy of the 1979 book he authored titled 50 Golden Years of Oscar®: The Official History of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. For decades, Osborne sought and secured the autographs of Oscar®-winning stars – Best Actor and Actress, and Best Supporting Actor and Actress – on pages pertaining to the films for which they had won their awards. Additional pages feature the signatures of other category winners and nominees. The book contains at least 383 signatures, including those of Katharine Hepburn, Ingrid Bergman, James Stewart, Elizabeth Taylor, Rock Hudson, Bette Davis, Lord Laurence Olivier, and many other screen legends. The 294-page book is expected to sell for $20,000-$30,000.
The Osborne collection is vast, with a timeline that documents the motion picture industry from the 1930s through present day. There are thousands of stars’ photographs and signed letters; publicity, still and wire-service photos; press kits, early movie magazines, lobby cards and more. An original three-sheet movie poster from the 1949 Gary Cooper film The Pride of the Yankees, in unused, like-new condition, is entered with a $4,000-$6,000 estimate. An autographed photo of Babe Ruth in Yankee pinstripes, swinging a bat, has a $7,000-$9,000 estimate.
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