Please Mister Postman the Marvelettes, Beatles, Mel Blanc, George and Gracie

Please Mister Postman
the Marvelettes, the Beatles,
Mel Blanc, George and Gracie

There must be some word today
From my boyfriend so far away
Please Mister Postman, look and see
If there's a letter, a letter for me ....

The song came out long before email and internet, conference video calling such

Mel Blanc 1976

as Skype. Then the only ones who did that kind of thing were pretty much The Jetsons.

May 30, 1908 is the anniversary of Mel Blanc's birth. He's a famous voice actor and comedian who worked at Warner Brothers. He provided many character voices, including those for Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck, Porky Pig, Tweety Bird, Sylvester the Cat, Yosemite Sam and Foghorn Leghorn.

He had his own show and was a cast member on some early radio shows including the George Burns and Gracie Allen Show in the 1940s where he played the Happy Postman. Early in the episode, Gracie would answer the door. "Hello, Mr. Postman!" I often think of the song when I hear her greet him.




Blanc was a popular guest on other TV and radio shows. He is great on the Jack Benny Christmas special episodes.

What is the background of Please Mr. Postman? Who are some of the artists who've sung it? August 21, 1961, The Marvelettes released a single of Please Mr. Postman. Their album of the same name came out on November 20, 1961.




I've been standin' here waitin' Mister Postman
So patiently
For just a card, or just a letter
Sayin' he's returnin' home to me...

December 6, 1961 they released Twistin' Postman to follow up the success the group had with Please Mr. Postman and to take advantage of Chubby Checker's The Twist dance craze.

November 30, 1963, The Beatles released their LP, With the Beatles. This included their version of Please Mister Postman. 



Another Beatles hit that was along letter writing lines was P.S. I Love You, written by Paul McCartney. An early single, its B side was Love Me Do. It was included on their 1963 LP Please Please Me.

The album also included Till There Was You by Meredith Willson, a song some might recognize from the musical The Music Man.

Meredith Willson was bandleader and a regular character actor on Burns and Allen radio show during World War II. He wrote the song for his 1957 musical play The Music Man. It also appeared in the 1962 movie version with Shirley Jones, Robert Preston and a young Ron Howard.

A few of us had an event where we were using sealing wax on cards and letters. The latest I can recall hearing, from artsy friends and those sending out wedding invitations using sealing wax is that there have been some problems. I'd be interested to hear your experiences.

What people do now is hand deliver the cards to one another. You can also use it to adorn a piece of art or create a certificate, an award. Sending it through the mail may risk ruining your masterpiece or jamming a machine.




On one show, because of the postwar housing shortage, Gracie decides to take in a veteran and his family. Meredith Willson wants to start a vaudeville act with George. 
 
So many days you passed me by
See the tears standin' in my eyes
You didn't stop to make me feel better
By leavin' me a card or a letter ....

November 8, 1974 The Carpenters released their single, Please Mr. Postman. The flip side was This Masquerade.  

This Masquerade was written by Leon Russell. His version is part of the soundtrack for director William Friedkin's 2006 psychological thriller film Bug. It also appeared in the movie The Pursuit of Happyness.



Both songs were hits for The Carpenters but Please Mr. Postman was one of their biggest hits ever worldwide. Their official music video was shot at Disneyworld and includes appearances by Disney characters.

Later I'll talk more about it, but recently we watched a documentary, 20 Feet from Stardom. The documentary pays homage to the backup singers who do not get the recognition they deserve. I adore backup singers, they add so much to the sound and the entire show. 

The program includes "Darlene Love, the uncredited lead voice on some of Phil Spector's most memorable productions of the 1960s." Also you'll enjoy Lisa Fischer and Merry Clayton. Some amazing singing on this documentary. It's available to stream or get on DVD. 
 

Karen and Richard Carpenter in Studio

The show spoke primarily about female backup singers. Gladys Knight's famous Pips weren't included as I recall. Sting, Bette Midler and Mick Jagger are interviewed. The show sparked a lively discussion amongst friends as to whether Dawn (Telma Hopkins, Joyce Vincent) started out as backup singers for Tony Orlando. Telma Hopkins went on to a favorite 1980s show, Bosom Buddies.

In February 2013 it was announced that the USPS would stop mail deliveries on Saturdays beginning in August. On April 10, 2014 the United States Post Office backed off on stopping Saturday mail deliveries. Apparently Congress would not allow the change. There is still a possibility that we may lose our Saturday mail deliveries.
So Mister postman look and see
Is there a letter in your bag for me
I been waiting a long long time
Since I heard from that boyfriend of mine...

Related Pages of Interest:

She fell for The Leader of the Pack in 1964, Dramatic song performance The Shangri-Las' Number One hit

Paul Henreid Directs Bette Davis Ray Charles and Alfred Hitchcock?

Did Bette Davis teach Paul Henreid to light 2 cigarettes at once or did Gracie Allen




Mel Blanc photo flickr image used under Creative Commons from Mblumber
Excerpts from Please Mr. Postman throughout (Georgia Dobbins, William Garrett, Brian Holland and Robert Bateman are usually shown as the song's writers. As with many hit songs, the song gets reworked.)

Contemporary Pop Rock Country Memorial Songs

Pop, Rock & Country Memorial Songs
Many of the songs written within the past 50 years 

Judy Garland
Little Liza Minnelli
Mickey Rooney
Hollywood Movie Star photo

Songs for Memorials and Tributes, Make it personal for the individual. Maybe you just want to listen to some songs because it's someone's birthday or the anniversary of a day that you lost someone special. 

The older we've gotten the more often we've been involved in planning remembrances.

Sometimes we can't think of what to say, can't think of a song. Several of these songs memorialize and celebrate the people's lives.

Is this for a soldier, a family member, was it a sudden death, the death of a child, your partner?
Inspiration from: Paul McCartney, the members of Monty Python, the friends and colleagues of Jim Henson, more.

Will it be an indoor/outdoor service?

Songs written for...

• Losing a parent, grandparent, sibling, friend
• Loss of a child, miscarriage
• Saluting a hero, soldier
• Following sudden deaths, losing someone unexpectedly
• Paul McCartney sings for John Lennon
• Memorial services of prominent people such as Jim Henson and Graham Chapman of Monty Python
• Judy Garland sings Battle Hymn of the Republic honoring President Kennedy 1963
• There's a link to main page with ideas, examples and lists of songs

Seek help from films and movie soundtracks. Think of favorite movies that have the tone you’re looking for if you need help choosing a song. If you want something that will be meaningful to children, several Disney films incorporate separation, loss of a partner, family member, friend and/or a pet. Are there familiar songs in those movies?

Loss of a Parent, Grandparent:

Me and the Wildwood Rose, Carlene Carter 1990 (Written about the death of her grandmother, Maybelle Carter)
 
Tears in the Holston River, Johnny Cash (Written about the death of Mother Maybelle Carter)

Silent House, Dixie Chicks

Little Willow, Paul McCartney written upon the death of Ringo Starr's first wife, Maureen, who died of cancer. The song was to be a comfort to their children.

Dance With My Father, Luther Vandross 

Baby Girl Window, Robbie Williams (was inspired by Samantha Beckinsale and her late father, actor Richard Beckinsale):
excerpt:
I wish you would stay to see what she made of herself
People say you were gone too soon
I see your face when flowers bloom
Through her window
Your baby girl's window

Family Reserve, Lyle Lovett (mentions family and friends)

At the funeral of actress Jean Harlow in June 1937,
Jeanette MacDonald sang The Indian Love Call and
Nelson Eddy sang Ah Sweet Mystery of Life. An organ played Tchaikovsky's None but the Lonely Heart.
Jean Harlow 11x14" Photo Print

Losing Children, Miscarriage: 

Tears In Heaven, Eric Clapton: The song was written about the pain and loss felt following the death of his four-year-old son, Conor.

I Give You to His Heart, Alison Krauss

Spark, Tori Amos wrote this following a tragic miscarriage


Saluting a hero, a soldier:

Just A Dream, Carrie Underwood, A wife losing her soldier husband, lost chance to grow old together

If You’re Reading This, Tim McGraw, A letter from a soldier to his (pregnant) wife. She’s reading it after he’s died.

Your Own Photo Charm and/or Bracelet 
Create a charm or choose a charm bracelet,
Make your own necklace or ornament Browse more Photo Charms

International Firefighters Day is in May On days like these and every day honor all brave folks who risk their lives for others, including volunteers, retired men & women every day of the year.

* The Bravest, Tom Paxton, Fire Fighters 9/11 Heroes on many occasions

* Where Were You (When The World Stopped Turning) Alan Jackson, 9/11 Tribute

* Davey's Last Picture, Nanci Griffith 

* I Still Miss Someone, Johnny Cash (as with many of these, other artists have versions of this song)

Monty Python photos

The Loss of a Sibling or Friend:

* I Drive Your Truck, Lee Brice (the death of a brother)

* Who You'd Be Today Kenny Chesney

* Here Today, Paul McCartney written for John Lennon (see video below)

* Never Without You, Ringo Starr wrote for George Harrison 

* An Original Man (A Song for Keith) by The Yardbirds. Chris Dreja wrote this as a tribute for singer Keith Relf who was killed in an accident

* Fix You, Coldplay (featured at a funeral on the British Comedy Drama, William and Mary) 

A friend went to a memorial service not long ago and was faced with walking on grass in her high heeled shoes. I'd read about these high heel covers. People like them for weddings and picnics. How about other outdoor events. Many of them come with little pouches to carry them in your purse.

Heels Above High Heel Protector 4 Pack- Clear Heels Above is just one version of high heel protector that's on the market. There are others like Starlettos Crystal High Heel Protectors. 





Young@Heart "Wish You Were Here" Pink Floyd 

Songs following sudden deaths, losing someone unexpectedly:

* Wish You Were Here, Mark Wills Deals with the issue of Sudden Death
In this case tells the story of a plane crash, the husband who died is talking to and comforting his wife who survives him.

excerpt:
Wish you were here, wish you could see this place
Wish you were near, I wish I could touch your face
The weather's nice, it's paradise
It's summertime all year and there's some folks we know
They say, Hello. I miss you so, wish you were here.

Reba McEntire dedicated her album, For My Broken Heart, to her road band, most of whom had been killed in an airplane crash. 

Songs include If I Had Only Known, All Dressed Up (with Nowhere to Go) and The Greatest Man I Never Knew. Songs are about many life changes, losing parents, aging, family relationships in general. It is a thoughtful, heartbreaking collection of songs but you may have a good cry.


For much more:
There are more songs and ideas at the main page:
Tributes, Choosing Songs for Events, Remembering Loved Ones, Heroes; Memorials at Weddings, Family Gatherings

We've had the unfortunate experience of having to help plan memorial services suddenly and we've planned them under other circumstances. You want to do right by the individual and everyone is different. There is likely to be a variety of people at a memorial service.

The Beatles getting their hair done

Make it Personal: Big Bird sang at Jim Henson's Memorial Service. Are there favorite songs, songs associated with the person, songs sung by the person you can play on video or audio? Including something uplifting and light, reminiscent of the person's sense of humor may be appropriate. 

We have friends who have more than one memorial with different groups of family and friends. That way you can have a different kind of tribute at different times and different locations.

Here's a short selection of songs that have been sung live at services and/or used for video montages:

* In the Embers, Sleeping at Last
* Before You Go, OK Sweetheart
* Wait, M83
* I Will Remember You, Sarah McLachlan
* Press On, Robinella
* To Live Is To Fly, Townes Van Zandt
* All I Want by Kodaline
* Headlights, Sophie Hunger 
* The Dance, Garth Brooks
* The Cowboy Rides Away, George Strait
* Goodbye, Alabama 
* Slipping Away, Max Merritt 
* What I Already Know, Point of Grace
* Somewhere Over the Rainbow
* He Stopped Loving Her Today, Alan Jackson sang at memorial for George Jones 
 
We can be inspired by the ideas of artists, maybe choose something written by / for songwriters and singers we admire. The song(s) and tone should be appropriate to the person and your relationship. 

At Graham Chapman's Memorial Service in December 1989, fellow Monty Python cast-mates and other friends sang, Always Look on the Bright Side of Life. John Cleese delivered a eulogy. (see video below)


Paul McCartney and John Lennon met over 55 years ago. Are you a Beatles fan?...

Here Today
Lyrics excerpts below...



And if I say I really knew you well
what would your answer be
if you were here today

Ooh- Ooh- Ooh- here today
well knowing you,
you’d probably laugh and say that we were worlds apart
if you were here today
Ooh- Ooh- Ooh- here today

But as for me,
I still remember how it was before
and I am holding back the tears no more
Ooh- Ooh- Ooh- I love lou, Ooh ….

Didn’t understand a thing
but we could always sing …..
And if I say I really loved you
and was glad you came along

If you were here today
Ooh- Ooh- Ooh- for you were in my song
Ooh- Ooh- Ooh- Here Today

Coronation Street actress, Betty Driver had pre-planned much of her own service. It included playing a recording of her singing a song herself at a certain point. The song got a standing ovation.


The memorial for legendary puppeteer, film director, writer and producer Jim Henson is inspirational. Song choices were beautiful. May 21, 1990.



The Muppet films have a loyal following as do other Henson film projects such as The Dark Crystal and Labyrinth. What an amazingly talented man, family and organization. Jim Henson's Creature Shop is now on the SyFy channel.

* When The River Meets the Sea, John Denver
* Bring Him Home from Les Miserables Turn the World Around, Harry Belafonte * The Rainbow Connection; audio recording of Jim Henson's was played
* It's not easy bein' green (Kermit the Frog, The Muppets)

Just One Person (Sesame Street song)
excerpt:
If just one person believes in you,
Deep enough, and strong enough, believes in you...
Hard enough, and long enough,
It stands to reason, that someone else will think
"If he can do it, I can do it."






At Graham Chapman’s Memorial Service in December 1989, Monty Python cast-mates and other friends sang, Always Look on the Bright Side of Life. John Cleese, Michael Palin, Terry Jones, Eric Idle, Terry Gilliam.




John Cleese and Michael Palin spoke at the memorial for fellow Monty Python member Graham Chapman

2013 was the 50th anniversary of the assassination of President Kennedy

Judy Garland's television show ran 1963-1964 

She sang Battle Hymn of the Republic to commemorate the death of JFK at the close of the show no. 16 on December 13, 1963. Cheers echoed throughout Studio 43 and a standing ovation followed.
-- excerpt from video description 

When Judy Garland died in 1969, the mourners at her funeral joined in singing the Battle Hymn of the Republic at her funeral. 


Judy Garland sings Battle Hymn of the Republic, death of President Kennedy, Dec. 13, 1963

Related Pages of Interest:

Engravable Frames : Signature Frames Beautiful memory frame with permanent signatures from family and friends : The ultimate Guestbook Alternative

10 Songs for Second Weddings-Successful Second Marriages

The Death of Jean Harlow: Goodnight, my Dearest Darling

Final Films of Legendary Actors: Clark Gable, Marilyn Monroe, The Misfits; Tyrone Power Gable's son's baptism

Honoring a deceased parent, grandparent, friend in a wedding ceremony Choose design, Create Pendants, Lockets, necklaces, for your bouquet...

Create your own design it myself use my art photos, text necklaces

Hands in Film Fashion Surrealist Influences

Fashion and hands forever linked

The human body has always served as an artists staple subject matter. Styles

Bejeweled hand clasp
on a swimsuit cover up
Fashion show in The Women 1939

change and the depictions are different.

One of the most public and still most personal body part is the hand. We may be adorning our own with rings and bracelets or the very latest in nail art. Put a ring on it. Hand work in art and fashion is prized.

Religions join hands in ceremonies, hands are seen in iconography, we pray, shake hands, wave hello and goodbye. Palmistry is used to foretell your future, whether you're a believer or not. 

The Beatles will forever want to hold your hand. It makes them feel happy inside. Delightful as it would be to hold hands with any of The Beatles (is there a place where I can sign up?), holding hands with someone can be one of the sweetest, most loving, even most comforting things we do.

The hand and heart is popular in folk art even as a cookie cutter design. What the hand is doing, how it's positioned, as Fonzie knew - be it thumbs up or down, can be vitally important.

Rosalind Russell won't miss a thing in this dress

Fashion designers have incorporated the hand into their clothing and accessories for years. Influenced by Surrealism, Italian fashion designer Elsa Schiaparelli incorporated hands, among other things into her accessories in the 1930s. 

Her hand themed buttons and belts are museum pieces and collectors items now.

The Women
Gloves with golden extensions

We can't ignore Cedric Gibbons' contribution to The Women. As art director, his set designs added glamor, ambiance and just the right environment to each scene.

In The Women, major developments happen early on in a scene with a manicurist. 

The theme of fingers, claws and Jungle Red nail polish carries throughout, so it's fitting that Gibbons created an outstanding piece of glowing hand sculpture to catch our eyes. 




The spa and department store sets were said to take up several rooms alone. Why couldn't Mary's husband keep his hands off of Crystal??

Hands, and a nod to Schiaparelli's designs of the day, also served as inspiration for the costume designs in films such as The

My department store
doesn't have
a display like that

Women (1939) and 1942's The Man Who Came to Dinner. 

Adrian produced outfits for a Technicolor fashion show in the middle of black and white movie The Women, much to the chagrin of director George Cukor. 

Like The Wizard of Oz in the same year, The Women was a black and white film that had a color segment included. Though some find it jarring, most viewers adore the fashion sequence.

He was costume designer for the entire film.  Rosalind Russell wore an eye-popping three-eyed dress early in the film. This served to define the character but also gave a nod to the Surrealist fashion movement. 

Norma Shearer Photo

Schiaparelli designed a line of gloves with elaborate ruffles and even mock fingernails. Gloves with 3-D nails or claws can be found today, be they fancy dress costume-quality or high fashion designer quality with the price tags to match.

Some of the film's fashion show is online. The Women (the original from 1939 particularly) is a great film that's pretty regularly shown on television, be it PBS or channels such as Turner Classic Movies, TCM. 

Just some of the stars are Norma Shearer, Joan Crawford, Rosalind Russell, Paulette Goddard, Joan Fontaine, Lucile Watson, Butterfly McQueen and Mary Boland. 



One of Schiaparelli's famous accessories was a simple silk evening belt with a plastic hand clasp from the designers fall 1934 collection. "The wearer is literally embraced around the waist by the belt," they said.

Ann Sheridan
The Man Who Came to Dinner

Orry-Kelly was costume designer on The Man Who Came to Dinner. Ann Sheridan wears a blouse with hand-shaped buttons. 

She and her pretentious behavior frustrates the characters played by Bette Davis and Monty Woolley.

Some reviewers of the day referred to the garments as faux Schiaparelli gowns. Do you remember other movies with outfits like these?

Schiaparelli created a silk dress with a larger-than-life hand-painted lobster on the skirt for Wallis Simpson's trousseau when she was to marry King-Emperor Edward VIII. 



The lobster motif is reminiscent of a  brooch Joan Crawford wore in, I believe, Mildred Pierce. Fashion and accessories, especially for those who could afford the very best, was getting more surreal in the 30s and early 40s.

The Man Who Came to Dinner Movie Poster

The collections of designers Rei Kawakubo of Comme des Garçons in 2007 and Hussein Chalayan in 2010 have incorporated hands in unique ways. 

Kawakubo's hands are more decorative while in Chalayan's looks they may serve to be utilitarian as well. (This is based on seeing their partial collections.) Jewelry designer Margaux Lange is one who incorporates parts of the iconic Barbie doll into her jewelry.

How about the hand in architecture? The entrance to the car park of Estonian State Opera at the Estonia Theatre in Tallinn has barrier gates. When you've paid for admittance they raise and allow you inside. Some of the gates are fashioned in the shape of an oversized hand holding a conductor's baton.  

Barbra Streisand Fine Art Paper Print

from The Owl and the Pussycat, with George Segal 1973
Not quite the same thing, but a famous costume

Joan Crawford in Bathing Suit Wristlet Purse
Several sizes/styles. By Jakestuff

The book, Architecture and Film has a section on Cedric Gibbons. This is now available on Kindle. Film buffs will enjoy how many eras are discussed and historians, especially those who are makers and builders will really love it. Who built Mr. Blandings' Dream House?

George Cukor, Master of Elegance: Hollywood's Legendary Director and His Stars by Emanuel Levy is just one where you can the director's feelings about the technicolor fashion show sequence. Imposed by the producers, Cukor felt that "it made the black and white footage that followed look bad." Since color was a novelty in 1939 it was inserted at least partly to get added attention for the movie.

Shocking Life: The Autobiography of Elsa Schiaparelli Her autobiography is on Kindle. Are any of her pieces at your local museum?

Chromatic Cinema: A History of Screen Color is a good guide to early use of color in film.

 

 

Related Links of Interest:

Philadelphia Museum's Shocking! The Art and Fashion of Elsa Schiaparelli

Check out the Lobster Dress at The Philadelphia Museum

Remember Max Factor SophistiCat and Schiaparelli Perfumes? 

Comparing The Unknown & Edward Scissorhands; Lon Chaney and Johnny Depp

Six movies where characters have possessed hands 

It's spreading New Viral Art

Hand Shadows Lamps and Shades Customize or Create new A little bit of light or a lot
 
Palmistry Bagettes Bag Wristlet Purse by EndlessVintage
Browse Palmistry Bagettes Bags online at Zazzle.com

Winning Oscars buying selling auctioning Academy Awards

Auctioning Academy Awards, Buying and Selling

Those who collect them
Those who buy them just to return them to
The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences

In December 2002, Steven Spielberg paid $180,000, not including fees and

Steven Spielberg
Autographed Oscar
8x10 Color Photo

taxes, for Bette Davis' Best Actress Oscar for the 1935 movie Dangerous. It was auctioned by Sotheby's in New York. 

In 2001, Spielberg had paid $578,000 for the Oscar Davis won for the 1938 movie Jezebel. The director/producer is one of a handful of people who are buying up Oscars and giving them to the academy.

In 1996 Clark Gable's Best Actor Oscar for 1934's It Happened One Night sold for $607,500.

Clark Gable's son and only heir, John Clark Gable put the Oscar up for auction at Christie’s in Los Angeles. 

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences had sued to keep Gable's Oscar off the auction block. Both Christie's and Gable's son were defendants in the case.

Apparently the academy claimed that, two years before his death in 1960, Gable signed a standard contract giving it first right to buy the statuette if it was ever sold. Christie's claimed the signature on the agreement was a fake.

In 1955 a magazine claimed that Gable had given the Oscar to the son of director, Walter Lang. Lang was married to former actress, Madalynne Field. Also known as Fieldsie, she was private secretary and good friend to Carole Lombard. Lang and Field met when he directed Lombard in the 1936 film, Love Before Breakfast.

1955 Clipping claiming Clark Gable had given his Oscar
to the son of director Walter Lang

  Turns out that this was, to my knowledge at least, the first Oscar purchased by Mr. Spielberg and returned to the academy.

"I could think of no better sanctuary for Gable's only Oscar than the Motion Picture Academy," Spielberg said in a statement. "The Oscar statuette is the most personal recognition of good work our industry can ever bestow, and it strikes me as a sad sign of our times that this icon could be confused with a commercial treasure."





September 2001, George Stoll's Best Score Oscar (received for the 1945 film Anchors Aweigh) was offered in an estate sale at the Butterfields auction house. The award brought seven times more than expected at $156,875.  The actor Kevin Spacey was revealed as the anonymous buyer. He subsequently returned it to the Academy. 

In 1992 Harold Russell sold his Best Supporting Actor statuette from The Best Years of Our Lives (1946) for $50,000. Not a professional actor, he was able to portray a version of his own story in the film, a World War II veteran who comes home a double amputee. After making the film, he got a business degree from Boston University and became an ardent advocate for the disabled.

Mr. Russell said he needed the money to pay his wife's medical bills and other expenses. He's quoted as saying, "I don't know why anybody would be critical. My wife's health is much more important than sentimental reasons. The movie will be here, even if Oscar isn't." 

Russell received an honorary Oscar as well for being an inspiration for disabled war veterans throughout the U.S. "To Harold Russell for bringing hope and courage to his fellow veterans through his appearance in "he Best Years of Our Lives." This made him the first (and only) actor to receive two Oscars for the same role.

It's reported that agent Lew Wasserman bought Russell's statuette and donated it back to the academy.

Take the case of the Joseph Schildkraut Best Supporting Actor Academy Award for The Life of Emile Zola, 1937. His Oscar was in the early days when supporting actor awards were still plaques. In a 2007 auction it failed to reach its minimum bid and didn't sell. But in 2013 the Oscar sold for $92,866.

This is the only instance I found where a performer or craftsperson sold his or her own award. There are instances where people have donated or said to have gifted them.




In December 1993, the Oscar won by actress Vivien Leigh for her performance as Scarlett O'Hara in Gone with the Wind was sold at auction for $510,000. The award was sold by her family. Ms. Leigh also won a Best Actress Oscar at the 24th Annual Academy Awards in 1952 for her portrayal of Blanche DuBois in A Streetcar Named Desire.

In 1970 Let It Be won the Oscar for Best Original Score presented to The Beatles (John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr). It's from their documentary film of the same name. 

In 1976, John Lennon donated his Oscar statuette to the Southbury Training School in Southbuy, CT for "a celebrity auction for retarded people," and it brought $600. It was sold again at a 1992 auction bringing $110,000 from an anonymous Beatles fan.

The best actress Oscar won by Joan Crawford for her role in classic film Mildred Pierce sold at auction on two occasions. Ms. Crawford's daughter Cathy sold it in 1993 at a Christie's auction for $68,500 to an anonymous bidder. In September 2012 it was sold at auction again for $426,732.

8 Academy Award Winners Signed 8x10 Photo (PSA/DNA) LOA- Audrey Hepburn, Denzel Washington, James Stewart, Gene Kelly, Sally Field +

Magician David Copperfield spent close to a quarter of a million dollars for Michael Curtiz's Best Director Oscar for Casablanca (1943). Copperfield was unsuccessful in securing Welles' Oscar as co-writer for Citizen Kane.

Michael Jackson paid $1.54m at auction in 1999 for the Best Film (then called Outstanding Production) Oscar awarded to producer David O Selznick for Gone With The Wind.

In February 2012 a record 15 Oscars were auctioned off just days after the Academy Awards took place. The statuettes were all awarded prior to 1950.

"The academy, its members and the many film artists and craftspeople who've won Academy Awards believe strongly that Oscars should be won, not purchased," said academy spokeswoman Janet Hill in a statement. "Unfortunately, because our winners agreement wasn't instituted until 1950, we don't have any legal means of stopping the commoditization of these particular statuettes."





Of the 15 auctioned together, the Oscar bringing in the most money was $588,000 for Citizen Kane Best Original Screenplay Oscar received by Herman J. Mankiewicz which he shared with Orson Welles as co-writer.  

"Also up for grabs were How Green Was My Valley's best picture Oscar from 1941, which went for $274,520 and Cavalcade's 1933 gong for the same prize, which brought in $332,165. 

"The oldest of the Oscars on sale, Skippy's best picture statuette from 1931, fetched $301,973. 

"Two acting statuettes, Ronald Colman's 1947 best actor prize for A Double Life and Charles Coburn's historic supporting award for 1943's The More The Merrier – the first year that supporting actors were honored with their own prize – took $206,250 and $170,459 respectively."
-- The Guardian February 2012




Jaws was nominated for Best Picture. Watching the nomination, Spielberg is disappointed that he's not nominated for Best Directing. "The shark was an actress," he jokes, as if the shark might be eligible for that category. 

They note that Jaws is one of the few films to be nominated for Best Picture but not in other major categories of directing, acting, or writing. The 48th Academy Awards were presented March 29, 1976.

That year the winner was One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, Michael Douglas, Saul Zaentz. Other fantastic films in the category of Best Picture were Dog Day Afternoon, Jaws, Nashville and Barry Lyndon.

Some may remember the old Jack Benny radio show, It's still available in MP3 podcast form. Ronald Colman was one of Jack Benny's neighbors. A series of shows dealt with Benny's borrowing Colman's Oscar.

In 2002 Ronald Colman's Academy Award sold for $174,500. Also auctioned was a special brass Oscar box. It was inscribed, "To Ronald Colman/With The Affection and Esteem/Of His Fellow Actors/The Masquers/First Annual Dinner to the Winner/April 28, 1948," per Christie's Auction description of a Colman estate sale in 2002.

FYI: In the early years of the academy winners in the supporting acting categories were awarded plaques. After 1943, winners in the supporting acting categories were awarded Oscar statuettes similar to those awarded to winners in all other categories, including the leading acting categories. Have any of these fifteen Oscars been donated back to the academy? I haven't heard yet.

Mr. Copperfield is among a large group of fans who believe that the statuettes are to be respected as important pieces of movie memorabilia by collectors. This controversy is unlikely to end as the heirs of those who won the awards before 1950 are still legally allowed to do what they will with the statuettes. 

How do you feel about owning an Oscar or an Emmy Award as a piece of movie memorabilia like one of James Bond's cars or Dorothy's ruby slippers from The Wizard of Oz?

"Since the Academy Awards were first presented in 1929, there have been famous instances of lost or stolen Oscars. Margaret O'Brien's 1945 award for outstanding child acting disappeared from her home, only to be found 50 years later at a Pasadena flea market and returned to her."

The academy is in the process of building a museum. Some winners have their awards on display where fans can see them. I read that you can view movie memorabilia at the Francis Ford Coppola Winery Geyserville, CA, and that includes Mr. Coppola's Academy Awards. Similarly if you visit the Raymond Burr Vineyards in Healdsburg, CA you may be able to see his Emmy Awards.





In 1950, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences passed a rule prohibiting Academy Award winners or their heirs from selling a statue without first offering it back to the Academy for a price of $1.

"Award winners shall not sell or otherwise dispose of the Oscar statuette, nor permit it to be sold or disposed of by operation of law, without first offering to sell it to the Academy for the sum of $1.00. This provision shall apply also to the heirs and assigns of Academy Award winners who may acquire a statuette by gift or bequest."
-- excerpted from the Academy Rules and Regulations

Related Pages of Interest

The Travels of Orson Welles' Academy Award for Citizen Kane

Entertainment Memorabilia Auctioning, Collecting: Recent; Updates

Film characters with prosthetic hands: Character and Disability in film
Clark Gable marries Kay Williams July 1955

Carole Lombard and William Powell; mentions Lombard's secretary Fieldsie, Madalynne Field

Sources:

Los Angeles Times
New York Times
New York Daily News
The Victoria Advocate
NateSanders.com
Michael Jackson: The Magic, The Madness, The Whole Story, 1958-2009

All information is researched and deemed accurate. Please send corrections and updates if you have them with sources.