Beverly Hills (CENSORED!) Club Celebrity Roast Archive To Be Auctioned by Heritage In its upcoming Music and Entertainment Signature auction, to be held in Dallas on April 5, 2008, Heritage will offer an archive of historic memorabilia from the "private Beverly Hills club"
News-Antique.com - Mar 11,2008 - DALLAS, TEXAS: In its upcoming Music and Entertainment Signature auction, to be held in Dallas on April 5, 2008, Heritage Auction Galleries (www.HA.com ) will proudly - and cautiously! - offer an archive of historic memorabilia from the "private Beverly Hills club famous for their legendary celebrity roasts."
This famous club - whose full name must be omitted from this release for legal reasons - was the Los Angeles branch of the New York-based original chapter. The L.A. branch, spearheaded by Milton Berle in 1947, boasted such superstar members as Bob Hope, Bing Crosby, Jimmy Durante, George Jessel and Al Jolson. The location since 1961 was 9900 Little Santa Monica Boulevard in Beverly Hills, and the chapter's fame has always been rooted in its lewd, licentious, and legendary roasts.
"In this club, the roasts sizzled, the jokes sparked, and no subject was taboo " from Johnny Carson's multitude of wives to Howard Cossel's toupee," said Doug Norwine, Director of Music and Entertainment Auctions at Heritage. "The club performed extensive charity work and was famous for never turning down a worthy cause, but it's the nights of the roasts that have truly entered show biz legend and lore."
Heritage Auction Galleries will offer a wide variety of treasures from this rich-in-tradition club, including the pool table that the Rat Pack played upon, Nicholas Volpe's stunning painting of Frank Sinatra, inspired by the poster art from Ol' Blue Eyes popular film, Pal Joey, the baby grand piano that was presented to the club on the occasion of Milton Berle's 75th birthday and which was played by a number of visiting celebrities, the original brass emblems that adorned the club's exterior walls, a huge document archive, original photos, and an autograph archive from each Celebrity Roast.
"This is a rare, intimate, behind-the-scenes archive from a landmark hangout of the stars, and a legendary bastion of American show business humor," Norwine said. "The essence of the one-liners and affectionate insults touches each of these artifacts, and Heritage is proud to present this amazing once-in-a-lifetime collection, even if we can't use its name!"
Heritage Auction Galleries will offer the archive in its upcoming Music and Entertainment Signature auction, to be held on April 5, 2008, at Heritage's Dallas, TX headquarters.
Highlights of the collection include:
Frank Sinatra "Pal Joey" Portrait from Beverly Hills CENSORED Club:
www.ha.com/688-111011&type=prte030508b
ESTIMATE: $15,000 & up
Beverly Hills CENSORED Club Pool Table:
www.ha.com/688-111001&type=prte030508b
ESTIMATE: $5,000 & up
Beverly Hills CENSORED Club Baby Grand Piano:
www.ha.com/688-111010&type=prte030508b
ESTIMATE: $3,000 & up
Ronald Reagan CENSORED Club Portrait:
www.ha.com/688-111050&type=prte030508b
ESTIMATE: $700 & up
Beverly Hills CENSORED Club Bronze Logos:
www.ha.com/688-111077&type=prte030508b
ESTIMATE: $750 & up
Beverly Hills CENSORED Club Roast Files for Red Buttons and Milton Berle:
www.ha.com/688-111082&type=prte030508b
ESTIMATE: $400 & up
For more information about Heritage's auctions, and a complete record of prices realized, along with full-color, enlargeable photos of each lot, please visit www.HA.com.
Prospective consignors and sellers of Entertainment, Celebrity or Hollywood memorabilia are invited to www.HA.com and click on the "Sell Now"
