Auction of Bill Collins memorabilia

Much-loved movie and TV memorabilia owned by the late Bill Collins will be auctioned next month.

The Sunday Telegraph reports his vast 10,000 piece collection will be auctioned online.

Amongst the items are:

• an autograph book gifted to Collins in 1976 by film lover Norma Copas of Panania, with the signatures of Buster Keaton, Eddie Cantor, Norma Shearer, Maurice Chevalier and Bing Crosby.
• Gone with The Wind memorabilia, including the cherished set of lobby cards Collins packed into his car in 2001 as bushfire threatened his Blue Mountains’ home
• a porcelain vintage Shirley Temple doll
• dozens of autographed Hollywood portraits from stars including Judy Garland, Mary Pickford, Olivia de Havilland and Tom Cruise
• an extensive laser disc movie collection.
• Bill Collins spectacles
• TV and pop culture memorabilia

“Once every few years we get to work on a collection that everyone seems to enjoy, this is one of those collections,” said auction house Theodore Bruce.

“Bill Collins built a vast collection of books, photographs, publicity material and movie ephemera that supported his long career in understanding the movies and the effort that goes into making them. What first stuck us was the volume of the collection, it is truly comprehensive and after working our way through the collection we have been deeply impressed by the lack of duplication and the great scope of classic movies that the collection represents.

“We will treasure the opportunity of working with the family and hearing all the stories that they cherish and we hope to be able to share some of that passion during the series of Auctions”.

Auctions will take place from Sunday, October 18 to Sunday, November 29.