John Wayne’s Personal Collection to be Auctioned

Here’s your chance to own an item from the personal collection of one of the biggest movie stars of all time, John Wayne.

Among the items in the collection are one of the iconic black eye-patches worn by John Wayne in his 1969 Oscar-winning role in “True Grit,” the cowboy hat he wore in the film’s 1975 sequel, “Rooster Cogburn,” and more than 700 other costumes, scripts, personal documents and awards that will be available to fans for the first time.

“My father’s fans were very important to him. He was open and accessible to them, and making these items accessible to the public is something that feels right,” said the actor’s son Ethan (named for one of his greatest roles, in “The Searchers”). “Museums have large collections of my father’s personal property, and our family has had a chance to select and keep items sentimental to us. There is no need to keep this memorabilia locked away when it can be enjoyed by his fans.”

Among the additional items in the auction are John Wayne’s Golden Globe award for Best Actor for his role in “True Grit,” costumes from such movies as “Sands of Iwo Jima” and “The Green Berets,” and more than 50 movie scripts from such celebrated John Wayne films as “True Grit,” “The Green Berets,” “Stagecoach,” “Rio Lobo,” “Hellfighters,” and “The Sons of Katie Elder.” Many of the scripts are annotated with John Wayne’s handwritten notes.

Personal items include John Wayne’s cowboy boots and cowboy hats; saddle and stand; personal correspondence with U.S. Presidents and Hollywood’s biggest stars of the era; correspondence and awards related to his affiliation with the University of Southern California; and John Wayne’s driver’s license, passport and American Express card.

Public exhibitions of the John Wayne collection will be held in Dallas, Sept. 16-18, 2011, in New York, Sept. 23-25, 2011, and Los Angeles Oct. 3-5. The auction will take place at the Hyatt Regency Century Plaza Hotel in Los Angeles and online, Oct. 6-7, 2011.  For more information, check out the John Wayne Auction page on Facebook.