The Debbie Reynolds Hollywood Memorabilia Auction & Preview Exhibit

On view at The Paley Center for Media
June 4 to 5   12:00 to 5:00 pm
June 8 to 12   12:00 to 5:00 pm
June 15 to 17   12:00 to 5:00 pm
The Paley Center is closed on Mondays and Tuesdays

Auction Event June 18, 12:00 to 7:00 pm.
Closed to public. Auction bidders only.
You must register to attend. For details regarding registering for the auction and bidding for items click here

"My lifetime dream has been to assemble and preserve the history of the Hollywood film industry. Hollywood has been an enormous part of my life as I know it has been for countless fans all over the world. This collection represents a lifetime of collecting Hollywood artifacts and this is a rare opportunity to own a piece of Hollywood History for those who love the movies as much as I do. For the first time in nearly five decades, these iconic pieces will be made available to the public through a series of auctions presented by Profiles in History beginning in June 2011."
—Debbie Reynolds

The Paley Center for Media Los Angeles is proud to be the exclusive home for the Debbie Reynolds Hollywood Memorabilia Collection Auction & Auction Preview presented by Profiles in History.

Since making her film debut in 1950, legendary entertainer Debbie Reynolds has conquered all facets of media. From her iconic performances in film classics including Singin’ In the Rain and The Unsinkable Molly Brown (for which she received an Academy Award nomination as Best Actress), to her acclaimed television specials and international stage and concert performances, she remains one of the most enduring and admired performers of all time and one of the entertainment industry’s most avid preservationists. 

For over fifty years she has been collecting and preserving Hollywood costumes and props from Academy Award–winning films, including Gone With the Wind, Ben-Hur, My Fair Lady, The Sound of Music, and Casablanca. This colossal collection includes garments worn by an array of film icons, including Marilyn Monroe, Judy Garland, Charlton Heston, Greta Garbo, Elizabeth Taylor, Bette Davis, Gene Kelly, Richard Burton, and more, many of which will be on view at the Paley Center.

The Debbie Reynolds Collection is deemed to be the world’s most significant collection of Hollywood memorabilia. The entire collection contains over 3,500 costumes, 20,000 original photographs, several thousand original movie posters, original costume sketches, and hundreds of key props from film history.

Profiles in History—the nation's leading dealer in guaranteed-authentic original historical autographs, letters, documents, vintage signed photographs, and manuscripts—will auction part one of the collection at the Paley Center in Los Angeles on June 18.

Part one of this auction will feature approximately seven-hundred of Debbie’s very best and most historic costumes and props, including the most famous costume in screen history, with an estimated value of one to two million dollars, Marilyn Monroe's "subway" dress from The Seven Year Itch.

Big Screen Weekend
Debbie Reynolds Screenings
June 4, 2011

These screenings are FREE. RSVP below. 

1:00 pm
A Date with Debbie
Debbie stars in her first television special. First broadcast on October 27, 1960, the sparkling hour features the musical comedy star in song, dance, and comedy moments with guest stars Carl Reiner (also a writer on the show), her former MGM costar Carleton Carpenter, in a reprise of their movie hit Aba Daba Honeymoon, and film greats Walter Brennan and Charlie Ruggles, both of whom have the distinction of having played Debbie’s grandfather in Tammy and the Bachelor and The Pleasure of His Company respectively. As a special treat, Debbie joins the Cannonball Adderley Quintet for some spirited jazz vocalizing.

2:00 pm
And Debbie Makes Six
For her 1968 TV outing Debbie is joined by five male guest stars: Bob Hope, Donald O’Connor, Bobby Darin, Frank Gorshin, and Jim Nabors, each offering sterling support to the versatile entertainer. Debbie’s formidable talents as an impressionist are on full view as she offers takes on Cher (with Darin as Sonny), Barbra Streisand, Mae West, and Bette Davis, among others. A song and dance salute to top movie songs with Donald O’Connor is a special treat in an hour that the Milwaukee Journal dubbed a “positively classic showcase for the complete entertainer.”

3:00 pm
Debbie Reynolds and the Sound of Children
Debbie’s unique 1969 musical romp features the star as a combination pied piper, field marshal, and singing dancing troop leader to a talented array of children. The special, written by singer, actress, and author Portia Nelson (fondly remembered as Sister Berthe in the film version of The Sound of Music) contains original music based on the rhyme “Monday’s Child is Fair of Face” with Debbie performing special material for each day of the week.