Previews Begin in June

May 26, 2011
Actress and singer Debbie Reynolds is a caretaker of Hollywood history and a major preservationist. During the recession of the 1970s, many studios (particularly FOX and MGM) decided to tighten their belts and clean house. After all, they were in the business of making movies, not in spending money to preserve old costumes from a bygone era. On her blog, Debbie explained the mindsets of the studio execs back then:

"They’re not people who are interested in preserving. They’re interested in liquidation, and people that are interested in liquidation are interested in money, and not interested in museums or in saving costumes. To them it’s a lot of junk and a lot of nothing to bother with, so they didn’t bother with it, and many people that cared purchased it."

Catalogue Descriptions for Streisand Wardrobe (and Sales Results):
 

Lot 529 Barbra Streisand "Fanny Brice" Purple and green striped leotard with hat from Funny Girl. Purple and green striped velvet leotard with tulle skirt and green satin bloomers with grape accents and matching purple hat. Estimate: $8,000 - $12,000 ---------------------------------------------- SOLD: $65,000 plus $14,950 commission	Lot 531: Barbra Streisand "Fanny Brice" Black velvet dress designed by Irene Sharaff from "My Man" number in Funny Girl. Estimate: $8,000 - $12,000 ---------------------------------------------- SOLD: $16,000 plus $3,680 commission
Lot 537: Barbra Streisand "Dolly Levi" signature purple period dress with purse and bustle from "Hello, Dolly! Estimate: $20,000 - $30,000 ---------------------------------------------- SOLD: $55,000 plus $12,650 commission	Lot 538: Barbra Streisand "Dolly Levi" signature sleeveless gold velvet heavily jeweled gown with shoes and headpiece from Hello, Dolly! Estimate: $60,000 - $80,000 ---------------------------------------------- Sold: $100,000 plus $23,000 commission

History of the Debbie Reynolds Collection

The entire Debbie Reynolds Collection contains over 3,500 Hollywood costumes and thousands of props, posters, stills, lobby cards and other items. Its total worth is estimated at $50 million.

At her June auction, Debbie will be offering 587 different lots for bidders to chose from.

Throughout the years, the Debbie Reynolds collection has traveled around. In 1972, the early stage of her collection was first exhibited at the Hollywood Motion Picture Museum in Los Angeles which Debbie founded as a not-for-profit organization.

The collection eventually made its way to the Debbie Reynolds Hotel and Casino as a Las Vegas attraction between 1993 and 1997. When Debbie's Las Vegas hotel went out of business, she folded up her tent, mothballed her enormous inventory and began seeking another, more viable and permanent location to exhibit her collection.

In 2004, it was announced that Debbie's collection would be permanently housed at the new Hollywood Motion Picture Museum in Pigeon Forge, Tennessee, not far from Dolly Parton's famous "Dollywood" park.

Sadly, Debbie's vision for a permanent home for her collection went awry when the Pigeon Forge project filed for bankruptcy in 2009. Debbie was left with no other option but to sell off a significant portion of her collection to pay a multi-million dollar liability related to the venture.

In a press release earlier this year, Debbie said,

“I've concluded that my dream of having a museum cannot be fulfilled, so I have decided to share my fabulous collection with other collectors.”

Auctions of Debbie's costumes and memorabilia are scheduled to take place in multiple segments. Part One (the June auction) is expected to fetch between $1 and $2 million. If that goal is met, plan on attending Part Two this December.