Betty White’s belongings will be auctioned, and here are some items you could own
A whole lot of Betty White is going on sale this weekend.
More than 1,500 lots of the late actor’s’ property — representing her life and her prolific career — will be auctioned off over three days, starting Friday.
White’s Screen Actors Guild Lifetime Achievement Award is among the highlights, along with scripts from notable TV episodes including Part 1 of “The Golden Girls†finale. That one is signed by White and her co-stars Bea Arthur, Rue McClanahan and Estelle Getty.
There’s also a handwritten note from Mary Tyler Moore and NBC executive Grant Tinker, a framed cast photo from “The Mary Tyler Moore Show†with “Betty†engraved on it, White’s 2015 People‘s Choice Award for favorite icon, her original director’s chair from the set of “The Golden Girls†and a number of gowns she wore on award-show red carpets.
Buyers can also pick up art, furniture, fine jewelry and more from her homes in Brentwood and Carmel.
Dorothys and Roses, ‘gays, grays and suburban moms’ all joined in on last weekend’s celebration of the beloved sitcom at Chicago’s Navy Pier.
There will also be another offering that might grab the hearts of romantics everywhere: White’s diamond-set wedding band and the wedding band worn by her third and final husband, Allen Ludden, whom White called “one of the nicest, dearest people.â€
Ludden bought the ring for White after she initially turned down his proposals of marriage, according to E! News, then he wore it on a chain around his neck for three months so she couldn’t miss it.
“It got full of soap and suntan oil,†she said in “Betty White in Person,†her 1987 memoir, “but he vowed he would only take it off for one reason.†The two finally married in 1963 and stayed together until Ludden’s death in 1981. The inscription inside the ring reads “6-14-63 I really do,†marking their wedding date.
The auction will be conducted Friday, Saturday and Sunday, in person and online, by Julien’s Auctions in Beverly Hills.
Television was White’s medium, and her understanding of what it means to live on camera — her ease, her intimacy — was matched by few before or since.
Alas, some of White’s most iconic items won’t be available for purchase, as they were recently donated to the National Comedy Center and have been installed at its museum in Jamestown, N.Y.
Among the museum’s goodies?
There are five Emmy statuettes marking White’s wins for “Life With Elizabeth†in 1952, “The Mary Tyler Moore Show†in 1975 and 1976, “The Golden Girls†in 1986 and guest host of “Saturday Night Live†in 2010. The blue-and-white sweater White wore in her 2010 Snickers Super Bowl ad is there as well, along with a tracksuit from “Hot in Cleveland†and sweater from “The Golden Girls.â€
White died in December 2021 at age 99.
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