Objects From Actress Betty White's Estate to take Transatlantic Tour on Queen Mary 2 Cruise Ahead of Auction
- April 06, 2022 18:34
Worldwide Exhibition Preview of Collection to Set Sail on Exclusive Queen Mary 2 Transatlantic Voyage Presented by Julien’s Auctions and Cunard August 5th-12th
Julien’s Auctions, known as the auction house to the stars, will present Property from the Life and Career of Betty White, showcasing the legendary actress and cultural icon’s extraordinary life and eight decade spanning career taking place live in a three-day auction event, Sept. 23-25, 2022, at Julien’s Auctions in Beverly Hills and online on juliensauctions.com.
Over 1,500 lots include the Hollywood icon’s awards, scripts, wardrobe and memorabilia from her popular television shows and films, as well as furnishings, artwork, fine jewelry, household and personal items from her beloved homes in Brentwood and Carmel, California.
American actress, comedian, television pioneer, producer, animal advocate and author, Betty White was one of the most beloved entertainers of the 20th and 21st centuries. Born in Oak Park, Illinois on January 17, 1922, and moving with her parents to Los Angeles when she was a toddler, White’s career was launched not long after she graduated high school. In 1951, she was nominated for her first Emmy award as Best Actress, the first of her career total of 21 Emmy nominations.
In the 1960s, her comedic gifts and celebrity stardom would earn her the title “the first lady of game shows” and throughout the 70s and 80s, White would continue her reign on television, starring in her own series, The Betty White Show.
In 1985, White’s popularity and superstardom soared to even greater heights in the other iconic role of her career: the naive and sweet widow Rose Nylund in The Golden Girls, and won the Emmy award for outstanding leading actress in a comedy series in 1986.
Throughout the 90s, White appeared in many television series and in the following decade, White’s superstardom and career surged and gained even more momentum when she starred in the film The Proposal with Sandra Bullock and Ryan Reynolds and in the TV series Hot in Cleveland. At the age of 88, White’s ubiquitous celebrity presence and persona on social media, film and television made her an even bigger pop culture icon, as she became the subject of a viral fan-based Facebook campaign to host Saturday Night Live where her appearance on May 8, 2010 (as the oldest person to ever host SNL) garnered 12 million viewers and her fifth career Emmy award win that year.
A lifelong animal and environment advocate, White would often quip that she “had to do her show business to keep up with her animal business.” A true highlight of her life occurred in 2010 when she was named an honorary forest ranger by the National Forest Service. She said, “Wilderness is getting harder and harder to find these days… [we’re] almost to the point of no return. In my heart I’ve been a forest ranger all my life, but now I’m official.”
Highlights of Betty White’s collection pertaining to her legendary career in show business include numerous artifacts from The Golden Girls set, The Mary Tyler Moore Show, and more. In addition, cherished items from White’s marriage to her beloved third husband Allen Lunden will be featured along with a vintage Van Cleef & Arpels gold flower brooch with brilliant diamond and blue sapphire details, seen in photographs of White wearing on multiple occasions ($14,000 – $16,000).
White’s fine jewelry and showstopping gowns worn to her many awards shows and publicity appearances will be offered as well as the furnishings, home décor, artwork and items from her longtime Brentwood and Carmel homes. Highlights include an early 20th century Wm. Knabe mahogany baby grand piano and bench filled with sheet music ($3,000 - $5,000) (photo left); "Waiting For His Master,” a 19th century Sir Henry Edwin Landsmeer oil on panel, in a giltwood frame featuring a charming King Charles spaniel by a velvet covered ottoman ($10,000 - $20,000); the sunny yellow-painted front door from White's longtime Brentwood residence, complete with vintage brass cat door knocker ($2,000 - $3,000); a large and beautiful decorative needlepoint wall hanging of exotic birds and butterflies which includes a photograph of White sitting while working on this needlepoint ($4,000 - $6,000); and more.
“Betty White was a beloved national treasure and a cross generational icon who made us laugh for eighty years with her illustrious work on film, radio and television classics such as The Mary Tyler Moore Show and The Golden Girls,” said Darren Julien, President/CEO of Julien’s Auctions. “We are honored to work with her Estate in this exclusive presentation of these precious artifacts and personal mementos from her storied life and career which will be offered for the first time at auction to the public, museum curators and her legions of fans worldwide.”
In addition, Julien’s Auctions and luxury cruise line Cunard will bring Betty White’s historic collection to the high seas in an exclusive auction exhibition aboard flagship Queen Mary 2 on a Transatlantic voyage departing out of New York on August 5th and arriving into Southampton, UK on August 12th.
Special exhibitions in Europe, South America and the U.S. for the public to view highlighted items prior to the auction will be held at The Museo de la Moda in Santiago, Chile from May 12th-July 4th, The Museum of Style Icons in Newbridge, Ireland from August 1st-September 11th and Julien’s Auctions in Beverly Hills September 19th- September 22nd. A screening of the documentary Betty White: First Lady of Television will also be held on Tuesday, September 20th at 6pm Pacific Time at Julien’s Auctions followed by a Q & A.
