The Collection of Larry Hagman at Julien's Auctions
June 1, 2011, Beverly Hills, CA
There was a large crowd in front of Julien's Auctions of Beverly Hills. News media were stationed at the corner of Wilshire Blvd. and Bedford Dr., cameras ready. A wall sized poster of Larry Hagman adorned the side of the building. This was The Collection of Larry Hagman Auction Preview Party, and the man himself was about to make a grand entrance - on horseback with his Dallas co-star Linda Gray!
Excitement swept through the crowd as Larry and Linda were spotted in the distance. Wilshire Blvd. was closed down, the Dallas stars accompanied by a police escort. Finally, they approached, Larry handsome in a white suit and hat, Linda lovely as always in a brown skirt and leather jacket. Reporters, fans and partygoers swarmed around the stars as they dismounted.
Larry and Linda slowly moved towards the entrance, being interviewed every step of the way. Other Dallas actors were in attendance, including Mary Crosby, who shot J.R., Sheree J. Wilson, and Charlene Tilton. Larry's friend Peter Fonda was also there, as were some of the stars of the new TNT Dallas series.
Julien's did a beautiful job displaying Larry's possessions. Furniture and silverware, guns and knives, hats, boots and clothing, paintings and memorabilia were available for auction. Some items were arranged as if in a home, others in display cases like a museum exhibit. Some of Larry's mother Mary Martin's clothing and memorabilia were also part of the auction, but the two items generating the most excitement were the iconic portrait of Jim Davis as Jock that appeared on Dallas, and the beautiful sterling silver saddle that Larry had just rode in on.
June 4, 2011, Beverly Hills, CA
On auction day, there was great interest in the fate of the Jock painting, as well as a Jeannie bottle owned by Larry Hagman and created by Mario Della Casa. Both had been receiving substantial online bids before the auction even began!
The Jock painting came up early, and bidding was fierce! The bids went up and up, reaching a final bid of $31,000, bringing in (after a buyer's premium) over $38,000! The bottle auction was exciting too, fetching over $10,000!
The silver saddle generated a great amount of interest, surely spurred on by Larry's spectacular entrance to the preview party on Wednesday. He even made the New York Times! The final take was $80,000.
Larry addressed the live and web audience at one point, building excitement among the bidders. Hats and boots were popular items, quickly fetching high prices. There were many lots of scripts, mostly Dallas, which generated tremendous interest. Larry had several awards up for auction, as well as event badges, framed paintings and posters, furniture, and a 1946 passport.
The Collection of Larry Hagman earned a total of $500,000.
My auction winnings can be seen in the memorabilia section.