HOLLYWOOD—The legendary Debbie Reynolds turned Beverly Hills into a major traffic jam with the first of three auctions of her 3,500 costumes, 20,000 original photographs, thousands of movie posters, sketches and key props at The Paley Center for Media. Originally, Reynolds intended for her own memorabilia museum to be at the Kodak Center, where the Academy Awards are held, but the deal fell through.
This first auction featured Marilyn Monroe’s famous subway dress from “The Seven Year Itch,” which sold for $4.6 million. Monroe’s red sequined dress from “Gentleman Prefer Blondes” sold for $1.2 million. The red MG TD convertible she and Cary Grant drove around in “Monkey Business” started at $20,000 and went for $210,000. The prototype of Judy Garland’s dress and ruby slippers (which weren’t in “The Wizard of Oz”) sold for $910,000 and $510,000, respectively. Charlie Chaplin’s hat went for $110,000, and Elizabeth Taylor’s outfit from “National Velvet” sold for $60,000. Grace Kelly’s dress in “To Catch a Thief” fetched $400,000.
Bidders were thrilled to have Debbie give them a last-minute tour of the collection. The 79-year-old star, saddled with financial woes, has had to work all her life, but now, thanks to her collection, she’ll be able to have the life she wants! Her second auction will be in December.
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Due to the popularity of “Glee,” Columbia Records and NBC are joining forces to make “Smash” a mid-season replacement show. The series will be about the development of a Broadway musical based on the life of Marilyn Monroe. To ensure its musicality, it has fifth season “American Idol” runner-up Katharine McPhee, plus the star power of “Will & Grace’s” Debra Messing and Oscar winner Anjelica Huston.
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A reader in New York asks, “Whatever happened to the new ‘Footloose’ film due out last April?” No reason was given for the delay, but it’s now scheduled for an Oct. 14 release. Newcomer Kenny Wormald will take on the role of Ren MacCormack originally played by Kevin Bacon. In a switch, the producers chose to go with a professional dancer instead of a seasoned actor. Bacon didn’t do any of the dancing or stunts in the original.
Kenny won many dance titles, including Master Dance of New England at age 11, Junior Mr. Dance of New England at 13, Teen Dancer of Boston at 14 and Teen Mr. Dance of New England at 15. He appeared on the MTV show “Dance Life” in 2007 and in the film “Centerstage: Turn It Up” in 2008. “Footloose” also stars Julianne Hough and Dennis Quaid. Producers are gambling that Wormald’s acting is as good as his dancing, or else this may turn out to be “Footloose” … but not fancy free, and pretty costly!
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© 2011 King Features Synd., Inc.