Elvis Presley's handgun, prescription pills jar auctioned off
Last Updated: Sunday, June 17, 2007 | 10:32 AM ET
CBC Arts
Elvis Presley's gold-plated gun, Alfred Hitchcock's passport and an umbrella used in a Marilyn Monroe photo shoot were just some of the entertainment memorabilia attracting bidders at a weekend auction in California.
The red and white polka dot umbrella used in the 1949 seaside photo shoot by Monroe fetched $42,000 US at Julien's Summer Entertainment Sale in Beverly Hills on Saturday.
Elvis Presley's gold-plated handgun fetched $28,000 US during Julien's Summer Auction on Saturday.
(RCA Victor/Associated Press)
Along with the umbrella, an original watercolour handpainted by the iconic actress and a number of her personal documents were up for grabs.
Presley's Walther PPK .380 calibre semi-automatic pistol sold for $28,000 while a microphone, used by Presley at the Louisiana Hayride where he made his world radio debut on October 16, 1954, sold for $15,000.
Hitchcock's passport fetched $19,200 while Presley's prescription pill bottle fetched $2,640 during the eight-hour auction.
"We'd planned to sell the bottle with the pills, but the Los Angeles Police Department told us it would be a federal crime to do it, so sad to say we had to remove the pills," Darren Julien, the CEO of Julien's Auctions, said before the auction.
The prescription was for an antihistamine and decongestant drug Naldecon. The medication was prescribed by George Nichopoulos, who was Presley's personal physician from 1970 until his death.
Other historic items included original works by Andy Warhol, Arnold Schwarzenegger's laser crackle tube from the movie Batman, a vest worn by Clark Gable and a 2002 Bentley Arnage donated by Yoko Ono.
All of the proceeds from the sale of the vehicle were donated to the John Lennon Educational Tour Bus.
The tour bus provides free hands-on music programs to high schools, colleges and Boys and Girls Clubs.
"I would like to see more buses like this running in every country to spread the love of music," Ono said in a statement.
With files from the Associated Press
