This lot is closed for bidding. Bidding ended on 2/10/2022
Very personal collection of eyeglasses and sunglasses owned and worn by over 75 world-famous entertainers, most of which are accompanied by letters signed by the individuals when they donated the glasses. Collection includes actors, sports figures, authors, artists and musicians, most collected in the 1960s and 70s when Dr. Melvin J. Bagley was establishing the ''The Famous People's Eyeglasses Museum''.
List of actors, directors and performers include Cary Grant, Helen Hayes, Bing Crosby, Barbara Stanwyck, Jayne Mansfield (who gifts a ''unique pair of green sunshades''), Greer Garson, Fred ''Mister'' Rogers, Eddie Albert, Phyllis Diller, Douglas Fairbanks, Bob Fosse, Whoopi Goldberg, Robert Goulet (two pairs), Ryan O'Neal, Peter O'Toole, Peter Sellers, Betty White, Jean Stapleton, Vanessa Redgrave, Julie Christie, Joan Bennett, Peter Bogdanovich, William Peter Blatty, Milos Foreman, Steve Allen, Sam Peckinpah, Ozzie Nelson, Wild Bill Elliot, and many more.
List of musicians and composers include Noel Coward, Benny Goodman, Peggy Lee, Cole Porter, Loretta Lynn, Don McLean, Charlie Daniels, Chet Atkins, Rudy Vallee (two pairs), Jimmy Durante, Sir Michael Tippett, Artie Shaw, Yehudi Menuhin, Lili Kraus, L. Wolfe Gilbert, George Crumb, Sammy Cahn, Paul Anka, Roy Acuff, Lee Krasner, and more.
List of sports figures include Brooks Robinson, Terry Bradshaw, Stanley Dancer, Kathy Kusner, and Kyle Rote. List of authors and artists include John Updike, Agatha Christie, Edward Gorey, Pearl Buck, Erica Jong, Grant Reynard, N. Scott Momaday, Erskine Caldwell, Jorge Amado, Fannie Hurst, and more.
In addition to the eyeglasses, collection includes dozens of letters, not only from the individuals gifting the glasses, but also from celebrities declining, many of whom write detailed and humorous reasons as to why. Additional letters include a postcard of ''The Great White Throne'' by Ansel Adams, signed by Adams, letters signed by Olivia de Havilland, Gene Kelly, Edward G. Robinson, Raymond Burr, Stephen Sondheim, Hedda Hopper, and others. Each pair of glasses is labeled in its own case, most in very good condition. Lot also includes a copy of Dr. Bagley's book, ''Celebrity Sighting''. A very personal collection from many of the greatest creative minds of the 20th century.
Additional glasses are shown here.