Online Auction of Doris Day Estate Items Catapults to $3 Million, 10 Times Pre-Sale Low Estimate

  • April 06, 2020 13:27

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Doris Day in her swimsuit on a boat ride in Spain in the early 1950s.
Photo: Estate of Doris Day

An online auction of memorabilia and estate items from popular mid-20th century singer and actress Doris Day fetched nearly $3 million over the weekend, far above its $300,000 to $600,000 pre-sale estimate range, at Julien’s Auctions.

Top lots included a classic 1930 Ford convertible from the opening scene in Day’s 1980s talk show “Doris Day’s Best Friends,” selling for $96,000. Her 1962 Golden Globe award went for $25,600. A brass planter with elephant decoration, given to Day by actor Rock Hudson, sold for $15,625.

Doris Day with son Terry Melcher in 1953 on Warner Brothers backlot during filming of “Calamity Jane,” the 1953 musical, which featured Doris’ million-selling, Oscar-winning song “Secret Love.”
Photo: Estate of Doris Day

A trove of previously unseen photographs of the actress portrayed her at home, on set and on vacation.

All proceeds from the sale of more than 1,100 items will benefit the Doris Day Animal Foundation that she founded in 1978. 

Day was nominated for an Academy Award in 1960 for best actress in “Pillow Talk,” earned five Golden Globe Awards – including the prestigious Cecil B. DeMille Award in 1989 – and received a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award in 2009.

One of Hollywood's biggest stars in the 1950s and 60s, Day died in May 2019 at the age of 97 in her Carmel, California, home.

Read more at Variety, for photos of Doris Day


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