Betty White brought in big bucks this weekend.
Julien’s Auctions offered more than 1,500 lots from the TV star’s life and career during a three-day event in Beverly Hills, California, and online beginning Sept. 23. The auction, which was estimated to bring in about $600,000, made more than $4 million.
Thousands of fans participated in the event and every single item was sold.
“You would be hard-pressed to find an individual as iconic and well-loved as Betty White, whose impact is absolutely multi-generational,” Martin Nolan, Executive Director of Julien’s Auctions, told FOX Business in a statement.
“This auction represented a collection unlike anything we have ever seen before which brought in record-breaking results and thousands of Betty’s most loyal fans from all over the world who participated,” he shared. “Julien’s Auctions is so honored to have shared this collection with the world, and to have paid tribute to this American pop culture legend during this three-day celebration.”
BETTY WHITE’S PERSONAL POSSESSIONS, INCLUDING HER WEDDING RING, TO BE SOLD AT AUCTION: ‘A LIFE WELL LIVED’
Numerous items drew in top bidders. A director’s chair used by White on the set of “The Golden Girls” sold for $76,800, which was 76 times its original estimate of $1,000. White’s silky lavender dress, which she wore as her character Rose Nylund in the sitcom, sold for $32,000 or 55 times its original estimate of $600. White’s teleplays for the pilot and final episodes of “The Golden Girls” sold for $57,600 and $51,200 per lot. An ivory knit sweater that read, “St. Olafants,” featuring elephants sold for $12,800, among others.
But it wasn’t just “Golden Girls” memorabilia that collectors were after. Items from White’s California homes, including furniture, artwork, clothing and more also sold quickly. The yellow-painted front door from White’s longtime Brentwood residence sold for $10,000. A 1950s oil painting of White wearing a red and white dress with opera gloves sold for $43,750. A large decorative needlepoint wall hanging of exotic birds and butterflies brought in $22,400. A sapphire and diamond pendant necklace worn on “The Mary Tyler Moore Show” sold for $35,200, or 35 times its original estimate.
Most notably, White’s wedding ring, which had an estimated starting bid of $600, sold for $25,600.
White, who was a TV mainstay for more than 60 years with “The Mary Tyler Moore Show,” “The Golden Girls” and “Hot in Cleveland,” passed away on New Year’s Eve 2021 at age 99. She would have turned 100 on Jan. 17.
“It was wonderful to work with Betty White’s estate,” Nolan previously told FOX Business. “Betty received our catalogs for years before she passed away. So the estate was already familiar with the process. But the most important message the estate wanted to emphasize is that it’s for her fans. … I had the opportunity to work in her home in Brentwood, California, for many weeks in February and March of this year bringing this auction together. Every item has a story. Every item has a memory.”
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