Ruby slippers worn by Judy Garland in The Wizard Of Oz sell for $28m at auction

9 December 2024, 09:44 | Updated: 9 December 2024, 11:05

A pair of ruby slippers worn by Judy Garland in The Wizard Of Oz have sold at auction for $28m (£21m).

The shoes are one of four surviving pairs made for the 1939 classic film, and became the most valuable movie memorabilia ever sold at auction, according to auction house Heritage Auctions.

The buyer will reportedly pay an additional $4.5m (£3.4m) to the Dallas-based auction house, bringing the final price to $32.5m (£25.4m), according to the Associated Press.

Heritage Auctions had estimated that the shoes would fetch $3m or more, but the fast-paced bidding outpaced that amount within seconds and tripled within minutes.

Interest in the item coincides with the popularity of the film adaptation of Wicked, a prequel of The Wizard Of Oz that reimagines the character of the Wicked Witch of the West.

The same pair of sparkly red heels made headlines in 2005 when they were stolen from the Judy Garland Museum in the actress's hometown of Grand Rapids, Minnesota, by Terry Jon Martin.

Their whereabouts remained a mystery until the FBI recovered them in 2018. Martin, now 77, wasn't publicly exposed as the thief until he was charged in May 2023.

It is believed he stole the shoes after being told they were made with real jewels, only to be told later the rubies were made of glass.

Martin pleaded guilty and was sentenced to time served because of his poor health.

After the slippers sold, the auctioneer told bidders and spectators that the previous record for a piece of entertainment memorabilia was $5.52m (£4.3m), for the white dress Marilyn Monroe wore in The Seven Year Itch that blew up when she stood over a subway grate.

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Another pair of ruby slippers sold in 2000 for $666,000 (£521,000), Heritage Auctions said. In 2012, Steven Spielberg and Leonardo DiCaprio paid $2m (£1.5m) for another pair and donated them to the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures in LA.

Other pieces of memorabilia from The Wizard Of Oz, including a hat worn by Margaret Hamilton, who played the original Wicked Witch of the West, were also sold on Saturday.

The hat fetched $2.4m (£1.8m), with the buyer paying a total of $2.93m.

(c) Sky News 2024: Ruby slippers worn by Judy Garland in The Wizard Of Oz sell for $28m at auction