LOS ANGELES, Dec 16 (Reuters) – A two-day sale of clothing,
jewelry and other memorabilia belonging to reclusive movie star
Greta Garbo fetched $1.6 million, more than three times the
original estimate, according to Julien’s Auctions.
Garbo’s Louis Vuitton streamer trunk, which sold for
$37,500, was among the top sellers in the auction of 800 items
which began on Friday, along with three leather driving caps she
wore in a 1924 car advertisement that fetched $15,000.
A U.S. passport issued to her in 1964, which carried an
estimate of $3,000-$5,000, also sold for $15,000, and a 1930s
black velvet evening dress that had an estimated value of $1,200
went to the highest bidder for $13,750.
“Greta Garbo commanded Marilyn Monroe prices,” Martin Nolan,
the executive director of the Beverly Hills auction house, said
in a statement. “Her beauty, extraordinary screen presence and
fashion trending style were proven to be timeless.”
Garbo, one of Hollywood’s greatest stars and beauties, died
in New York in 1990 at the age of 84. She retired from film and
public life decades earlier in 1941.
All of the items in the sale, including a platform bed she
designed with antique Swedish carvings, photos, luggage and
documents, had been kept in storage before her family decided to
sell them in the auction that was announced in August.
Garbo started her Hollywood career in silent movies such as
1927’s “Flesh and the Devil” and was among the few actors to
successfully transition to talkies, becoming iconic not only for
her beauty, but for her brains and the streak of independence
she displayed on film and in her personal life.
The Swedish actress earned four Academy Award nominations,
her first for 1929’s “Anna Christie,” and was finally given an
honorary award for unforgettable performances by the Academy of
Motion Picture Arts and Sciences in 1954.
(Reporting by Patricia Reaney and Jill Serjeant; Editing by
Mohammad Zargham)
