More of Debbie Reynolds’s Hollywood Memorabilia to be Sold at Auction

In this May 2013 photo, Debbie Reynolds poses for a portrait with her dog, Dwight, in Beverly Hills, Calif.

Chris Pizzello/Invision/Associated Press

The last batch of Debbie Reynolds’s Hollywood memorabilia hits the auction block this weekend.

This Saturday and Sunday, Ms. Reynolds will bid adieu to such items as Harpo Marx’s top hat and costumes worn by Vivien Leigh, which will be gaveled off at her North Hollywood dance studio.

The “Singin’ in the Rain” actress had hoped to build a museum to permanently house the vast collection of Hollywood memorabilia that she collected over several decades. But her dream was thwarted by litigation and the economic downturn and ultimately culminated in bankruptcy. As a result, she has spent the past several years selling off items including Marilyn Monroe’s white subway dress from “The Seven Year Itch” (which sold for $4.6 million in 2011).

The latest sale, touted as “the auction finale” by auction house Profiles in History, features dozens of film posters and photographs of stars, many signed, as well as a plethora of costumes. Some of the bigger attractions include:

A Harpo Marx top hat and wig

Profiles in History

• Five hats created for Vivien Leigh as Scarlett O’Hara in “Gone with the Wind”


• One of Charlie Chaplin’s signature black bowler hats


• A Harpo Marx top hat, with blond wig attached


• The mink coat Orson Welles wore in “Citizen Kane”


• The camera used, in the 1930s and 1940s, to shoot such films as “All Quiet on the Western Front,” “Dracula,” and “Frankenstein,” as well as Disney’s “Pinocchio,” “Fantasia” and “Bambi.” In the 1960s, it was used to shoot effects for “West Side Story” and other movies


• A 1950s-era camera used on “To Catch a Thief,” “Funny Face,” “Mary Poppins,” and later the “Star Wars” movies


• The “master camera” for “The Exorcist” that was also used on “The French Connection”

Also up for grabs are more costumes worn by silver screen legends like Ingrid Bergman, Bette Davis, Cary Grant and Laurence Olivier. There are Star Wars posters signed by Ms. Reynolds’s daughter, Carrie Fisher, movie props and equipment as well as clothes from the personal collections of Ms. Reynolds, Shirley MacLaine and others. And several items from Elvis Presley’s Los Angeles mansion will also be available, including a grand piano.

Some more modern memorabilia include Jim Carrey’s “Grinch” Santa Claus outfit from “How the Grinch Stole Christmas” and Tom Hanks shrimp-boat outfit from “Forrest Gump.” There are also a few decidedly low-brow items, like apparel worn in “American Pie 2” and in the movie remakes of “Charlie’s Angels.”

Ms. Reynolds, in the auction catalog, calls on the buyers to realize her dream, “to build the museums, preserve the collections, and put on the exhibitions. And I believe in my heart that they will.”

Write to Jacqueline Palank at jacqueline.palank@wsj.com. Follow her on Twitter at @PalankJ.

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