Julien's Auctions
Encyclopedia
Julien's Auctions is an auction house in Los Angeles, California
. The auction house deals with the sale of personal possessions owned by celebrities, including Marilyn Monroe
, Elvis Presley
and Michael Jackson
. Julien's often sell obscure items, such as William Shatner
's kidney stone
, for thousands of dollars. The auctions attract hundreds of visitors, and many of their proceeds are donated to charity. The company's President and CEO is Darren Julien, a graduate of Reppert School of Auctioneering
.
held an auction in October 2006. The auction was administered by Julien's and featured the singer's costumes, jewelry, art, furniture, cars and personal memorabilia. Cher's Bentley
sold for $204,000, with the total sales of the auction reaching $3.5 million. The auction had 3,500 approved bidders, with customers buying on the phone, online and in person. Auctioneer Darren Julien said of the singer, "Basically Cher gave us the contents of her home. For someone to do something like this, still be alive and not need the money is pretty remarkable. Cher is a trendsetter". Prior to the auction Cher said, "I am beginning a new chapter in my career and have decided to rewrite my personal environment, my home. I'm thrilled that the sale of many of these beloved objects will benefit such worthwhile organisations and charities". The four-day pre-sale exhibition at the Beverly Hilton attracted hundreds of collectors and fans wearing Cher concert T-shirts. Many celebrities viewed the auction, including Jacqueline Bisset
, Charlene Tilton
and shoe designer Manolo Blahnik
. Blahnik had created some of Cher's boots and heels that were among the items being auctioned. A portion of the proceeds went to the Cher Charitable Foundation.
, a charity which aims to replace musical equipment lost or destroyed by Hurricane Katrina
. The auction featured 196 rock
-related items, including a saxophone
signed by Bill Clinton
, a guitar that belonged to Jimi Hendrix
and an Elvis Presley
recording contract. U2
's The Edge
, co-founder of the charity, donated his guitar
to the cause. The Edge stated, "I wanted to give something really significant that would really mean a lot for me to give. It deserved something that I would miss". The guitar was expected to fetch between $60,000 and $80,000. The guitarist's bandmates also donated items to the auction. Adam Clayton
provided a bass guitar
, Larry Mullen gave a pair of tom-tom drums and Bono
donated a pair of Emporio Armani sunglasses.
In April 2008, The Edge announced another benefit auction, Icons of Music II, for May of the same year. The proceeds went to Music Rising, who aided the victims of Hurricane Rita
, as well as Hurricane Katrina. Louisianan musician Aaron Neville
, who had lost everything in the storms of Katrina, performed at the auction. The Edge donated many of his personal items to the auction, as did his fellow band members. Possessions of Kurt Cobain
, Jim Morrison
, Miles Davis
, Jimi Hendrix
, Bob Dylan
and Johnny Cash
.
. The items included his signature white glove and white socks. They sold for $35,000 and $15,000 respectively. In late 2008, the auction house announced that they would be selling over 2,000 personal items of Jackson's. Many of the items are from the singer's Neverland Ranch
, including the property's wrought iron gates. The auction is scheduled for April 2009 and was said to be organised by Jackson himself. Darren Julien stated, "We have been working closely with him for five months and he is in complete control of this". A percentage of the profits is to be donated to MusiCares
, a charity for musicians in need. Catalogues for the auction were priced at $100, with signed editions priced at $500. A preview of the items attracted more than 25,000 visitors to Co Kildare.
Jackson's company, MJJ Productions, filed a suit against Julien's in March 2009. They claimed that the auction house had failed to provide Jackson with a list detailing the items for sale. They also alleged that Julien's broke its contract with the singer by not allowing him to view photographs of the items and choose the ones he wanted to withhold from the sale. MJJ Productions stated that the items were "priceless and irreplaceable", and that Julien's attempts to sell them were "malicious, fraudulent, extreme, outrageous and without any legal justification whatsoever". The auction house asserted that they would press on with the auction despite the legal action. Darren Julien queried, "If it is true and he is stating that there are items he does not want sold, why would he have ever given us the items in the first place?". He added, "Everything has been aboveboard". Eventually the auction was cancelled, per an agreement between the two parties. Juliens's said they spent $2 million preparing the auction. Instead, the items will be but on public display for just over a week, before returning to Jackson.
In 2011 Julian's sold the jacket worn by Jackson in his 1983 'Michael Jackson's Thriller' music video, for $1.8 million. This sale broke the record for highest sale for the auction house and most valuable piece of Michael Jackson memorabilia.
in 2005. Items included her divorce papers to Joe DiMaggio
, personal phone directory and an original watercolor painting Monroe made and inscribed to President John F. Kennedy
for his birthday. The phone directory contained the numbers of Frank Sinatra
, Henry Fonda
, Jane Russell
and former husband and Arthur Miller
. Hundreds of Monroe fans showed up for the sale, which also featured Monroe's her fishnet stockings, suspender belts, a dog licence and a note from her beauty salon with instructions on how to dye her hair. Julien's stated, "This is the first time that most of these items will be seen by the public including a dizzying array of clothing from all the designers she cherished". The items fetched over $1 million at auction.
's kidney stone
. The kidney stone sold for $25,000 to GoldenPalace.com
. Golden Palace Chief Executive Officer Richard Rowe said in a statement, "This is a bold new addition to our fleet". The money from the sale of the stone went to Habitat for Humanity, which builds houses for the needy. Darren Julien joked, "This would be the first Habitat for Humanity house built out of stone".
In a 2006 interactive auction, Julien's sold the derby hat of James Bond
villain Oddjob for $33,600 to a Bond collector from Ft. Lauderdale. The auction also featured the sale of belt worn by Elvis Presley
for $66,000, six times its estimation. Other items included interview tapes of John Lennon and a red evening gown worn by Dustin Hoffman
.
Julien's held an entertainment sale in 2007. The sale included a pill bottle prescribed to Elvis Presley which was estimated to be worth between $2,000 to $4,000. The bottle's seller, George Klien, stated, "About 10 years ago I sold some old memorabilia in order to buy my house in Cordova. I guess now they're coming back up for resale. I had no idea they were going to auction until somebody called me this morning". He added, "I think what this auction says is that Elvis' popularity is sustaining itself. It's amazing what people are putting up for bid these days".
Los Angeles, California
Los Angeles , with a population at the 2010 United States Census of 3,792,621, is the most populous city in California, USA and the second most populous in the United States, after New York City. It has an area of , and is located in Southern California...
. The auction house deals with the sale of personal possessions owned by celebrities, including Marilyn Monroe
Marilyn Monroe
Marilyn Monroe was an American actress, singer, model and showgirl who became a major sex symbol, starring in a number of commercially successful motion pictures during the 1950s....
, Elvis Presley
Elvis Presley
Elvis Aaron Presley was one of the most popular American singers of the 20th century. A cultural icon, he is widely known by the single name Elvis. He is often referred to as the "King of Rock and Roll" or simply "the King"....
and Michael Jackson
Michael Jackson
Michael Joseph Jackson was an American recording artist, entertainer, and businessman. Referred to as the King of Pop, or by his initials MJ, Jackson is recognized as the most successful entertainer of all time by Guinness World Records...
. Julien's often sell obscure items, such as William Shatner
William Shatner
William Alan Shatner is a Canadian actor, musician, recording artist, and author. He gained worldwide fame and became a cultural icon for his portrayal of James T...
's kidney stone
Kidney stone
A kidney stone, also known as a renal calculus is a solid concretion or crystal aggregation formed in the kidneys from dietary minerals in the urine...
, for thousands of dollars. The auctions attract hundreds of visitors, and many of their proceeds are donated to charity. The company's President and CEO is Darren Julien, a graduate of Reppert School of Auctioneering
Reppert School of Auctioneering
The Reppert School of Auctioneering is the world's leading auctioneer education provider, since 1921. It is located at the in Indianapolis, Indiana.- History :The Repperts School of Auctioneering was founded in 1921 by Col. Fred Reppert of Decatur, Indiana...
.
Cher
Singer CherCher
Cher is an American recording artist, television personality, actress, director, record producer and philanthropist. Referred to as the Goddess of Pop, she has won an Academy Award, a Grammy Award, an Emmy Award, three Golden Globes and a Cannes Film Festival Award among others for her work in...
held an auction in October 2006. The auction was administered by Julien's and featured the singer's costumes, jewelry, art, furniture, cars and personal memorabilia. Cher's Bentley
Bentley
Bentley Motors Limited is a British manufacturer of automobiles founded on 18 January 1919 by Walter Owen Bentley known as W.O. Bentley or just "W O". Bentley had been previously known for his range of rotary aero-engines in World War I, the most famous being the Bentley BR1 as used in later...
sold for $204,000, with the total sales of the auction reaching $3.5 million. The auction had 3,500 approved bidders, with customers buying on the phone, online and in person. Auctioneer Darren Julien said of the singer, "Basically Cher gave us the contents of her home. For someone to do something like this, still be alive and not need the money is pretty remarkable. Cher is a trendsetter". Prior to the auction Cher said, "I am beginning a new chapter in my career and have decided to rewrite my personal environment, my home. I'm thrilled that the sale of many of these beloved objects will benefit such worthwhile organisations and charities". The four-day pre-sale exhibition at the Beverly Hilton attracted hundreds of collectors and fans wearing Cher concert T-shirts. Many celebrities viewed the auction, including Jacqueline Bisset
Jacqueline Bisset
Jacqueline Bisset is an English actress. She has been nominated for four Golden Globe Awards and an Emmy Award. She is known for her roles in the films Bullitt , Airport , The Deep , Class , and the TV series Nip/Tuck in 2006...
, Charlene Tilton
Charlene Tilton
Charlene L. Tilton is an American actress and singer. She is best known for playing Lucy Ewing in the television series Dallas.-Career:...
and shoe designer Manolo Blahnik
Manolo Blahnik
Manuel "Manolo" Blahnik Rodríguez CBE, , is a Spanish fashion designer and founder of the self-named, high-end shoe brand.-Biography:Born to a Czech father and a Spanish mother and born and raised in the Canary Islands , Blahnik graduated from the University of Geneva in 1965 and studied art in Paris...
. Blahnik had created some of Cher's boots and heels that were among the items being auctioned. A portion of the proceeds went to the Cher Charitable Foundation.
Icons of music
Julien's held a benefit auction in 2007 for Music RisingMusic Rising
Music Rising is a charity co-founded by Producer Bob Ezrin, U2's The Edge and Gibson Guitar CEO Henry Juszkiewicz. Launched in November 2005 in the wake of Hurricane Katrina, the foundation aims to help in the purchasing of new instruments for the musicians of New Orleans affected by the disaster.-...
, a charity which aims to replace musical equipment lost or destroyed by Hurricane Katrina
Hurricane Katrina
Hurricane Katrina of the 2005 Atlantic hurricane season was a powerful Atlantic hurricane. It is the costliest natural disaster, as well as one of the five deadliest hurricanes, in the history of the United States. Among recorded Atlantic hurricanes, it was the sixth strongest overall...
. The auction featured 196 rock
Rock music
Rock music is a genre of popular music that developed during and after the 1960s, particularly in the United Kingdom and the United States. It has its roots in 1940s and 1950s rock and roll, itself heavily influenced by rhythm and blues and country music...
-related items, including a saxophone
Saxophone
The saxophone is a conical-bore transposing musical instrument that is a member of the woodwind family. Saxophones are usually made of brass and played with a single-reed mouthpiece similar to that of the clarinet. The saxophone was invented by the Belgian instrument maker Adolphe Sax in 1846...
signed by Bill Clinton
Bill Clinton
William Jefferson "Bill" Clinton is an American politician who served as the 42nd President of the United States from 1993 to 2001. Inaugurated at age 46, he was the third-youngest president. He took office at the end of the Cold War, and was the first president of the baby boomer generation...
, a guitar that belonged to Jimi Hendrix
Jimi Hendrix
James Marshall "Jimi" Hendrix was an American guitarist and singer-songwriter...
and an Elvis Presley
Elvis Presley
Elvis Aaron Presley was one of the most popular American singers of the 20th century. A cultural icon, he is widely known by the single name Elvis. He is often referred to as the "King of Rock and Roll" or simply "the King"....
recording contract. U2
U2
U2 are an Irish rock band from Dublin. Formed in 1976, the group consists of Bono , The Edge , Adam Clayton , and Larry Mullen, Jr. . U2's early sound was rooted in post-punk but eventually grew to incorporate influences from many genres of popular music...
's The Edge
The Edge
David Howell Evans , more widely known by his stage name The Edge , is a musician best known as the guitarist, backing vocalist, and keyboardist of the Irish rock band U2. A member of the group since its inception, he has recorded 12 studio albums with the band and has released one solo record...
, co-founder of the charity, donated his guitar
Guitar
The guitar is a plucked string instrument, usually played with fingers or a pick. The guitar consists of a body with a rigid neck to which the strings, generally six in number, are attached. Guitars are traditionally constructed of various woods and strung with animal gut or, more recently, with...
to the cause. The Edge stated, "I wanted to give something really significant that would really mean a lot for me to give. It deserved something that I would miss". The guitar was expected to fetch between $60,000 and $80,000. The guitarist's bandmates also donated items to the auction. Adam Clayton
Adam Clayton
Adam Charles Clayton is a musician, best known as the bassist of the Irish rock band U2. Clayton has resided in County Dublin since the time his family moved to Malahide when he was five years old in 1965...
provided a bass guitar
Bass guitar
The bass guitar is a stringed instrument played primarily with the fingers or thumb , or by using a pick....
, Larry Mullen gave a pair of tom-tom drums and Bono
Bono
Paul David Hewson , most commonly known by his stage name Bono , is an Irish singer, musician, and humanitarian best known for being the main vocalist of the Dublin-based rock band U2. Bono was born and raised in Dublin, Ireland, and attended Mount Temple Comprehensive School where he met his...
donated a pair of Emporio Armani sunglasses.
In April 2008, The Edge announced another benefit auction, Icons of Music II, for May of the same year. The proceeds went to Music Rising, who aided the victims of Hurricane Rita
Hurricane Rita
Hurricane Rita was the fourth-most intense Atlantic hurricane ever recorded and the most intense tropical cyclone ever observed in the Gulf of Mexico. Rita caused $11.3 billion in damage on the U.S. Gulf Coast in September 2005...
, as well as Hurricane Katrina. Louisianan musician Aaron Neville
Aaron Neville
Aaron Neville is an American soul and R&B singer and musician. He has had four top-20 hits in the United States along with four platinum-certified albums...
, who had lost everything in the storms of Katrina, performed at the auction. The Edge donated many of his personal items to the auction, as did his fellow band members. Possessions of Kurt Cobain
Kurt Cobain
Kurt Donald Cobain was an American singer-songwriter, musician and artist, best known as the lead singer and guitarist of the grunge band Nirvana...
, Jim Morrison
Jim Morrison
James Douglas "Jim" Morrison was an American musician, singer, and poet, best known as the lead singer and lyricist of the rock band The Doors...
, Miles Davis
Miles Davis
Miles Dewey Davis III was an American jazz musician, trumpeter, bandleader, and composer. Widely considered one of the most influential musicians of the 20th century, Miles Davis was, with his musical groups, at the forefront of several major developments in jazz music, including bebop, cool jazz,...
, Jimi Hendrix
Jimi Hendrix
James Marshall "Jimi" Hendrix was an American guitarist and singer-songwriter...
, Bob Dylan
Bob Dylan
Bob Dylan is an American singer-songwriter, musician, poet, film director and painter. He has been a major and profoundly influential figure in popular music and culture for five decades. Much of his most celebrated work dates from the 1960s when he was an informal chronicler and a seemingly...
and Johnny Cash
Johnny Cash
John R. "Johnny" Cash was an American singer-songwriter, actor, and author, who has been called one of the most influential musicians of the 20th century...
.
Michael Jackson
In 2005 and 2006, Julien's auctioned several items owned by Michael JacksonMichael Jackson
Michael Joseph Jackson was an American recording artist, entertainer, and businessman. Referred to as the King of Pop, or by his initials MJ, Jackson is recognized as the most successful entertainer of all time by Guinness World Records...
. The items included his signature white glove and white socks. They sold for $35,000 and $15,000 respectively. In late 2008, the auction house announced that they would be selling over 2,000 personal items of Jackson's. Many of the items are from the singer's Neverland Ranch
Neverland Ranch
Neverland Valley Ranch is a developed property in Santa Barbara County, California, most famous for being a home of American entertainer Michael Jackson from 1988 to 2005. Jackson named the property after Neverland, the fantasy island in the story of Peter Pan, a boy who never grows up...
, including the property's wrought iron gates. The auction is scheduled for April 2009 and was said to be organised by Jackson himself. Darren Julien stated, "We have been working closely with him for five months and he is in complete control of this". A percentage of the profits is to be donated to MusiCares
MusiCares
The MusiCares Foundation, Inc., was established in 1989 by the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences. Meant for musicians to have a place to turn, in times of financial, personal, or medical crisis, its primary purpose is to focus the resources and attention of the music industry on human...
, a charity for musicians in need. Catalogues for the auction were priced at $100, with signed editions priced at $500. A preview of the items attracted more than 25,000 visitors to Co Kildare.
Jackson's company, MJJ Productions, filed a suit against Julien's in March 2009. They claimed that the auction house had failed to provide Jackson with a list detailing the items for sale. They also alleged that Julien's broke its contract with the singer by not allowing him to view photographs of the items and choose the ones he wanted to withhold from the sale. MJJ Productions stated that the items were "priceless and irreplaceable", and that Julien's attempts to sell them were "malicious, fraudulent, extreme, outrageous and without any legal justification whatsoever". The auction house asserted that they would press on with the auction despite the legal action. Darren Julien queried, "If it is true and he is stating that there are items he does not want sold, why would he have ever given us the items in the first place?". He added, "Everything has been aboveboard". Eventually the auction was cancelled, per an agreement between the two parties. Juliens's said they spent $2 million preparing the auction. Instead, the items will be but on public display for just over a week, before returning to Jackson.
In 2011 Julian's sold the jacket worn by Jackson in his 1983 'Michael Jackson's Thriller' music video, for $1.8 million. This sale broke the record for highest sale for the auction house and most valuable piece of Michael Jackson memorabilia.
Marilyn Monroe
Julien's sold over 200 personal possessions of Marilyn MonroeMarilyn Monroe
Marilyn Monroe was an American actress, singer, model and showgirl who became a major sex symbol, starring in a number of commercially successful motion pictures during the 1950s....
in 2005. Items included her divorce papers to Joe DiMaggio
Joe DiMaggio
Joseph Paul "Joe" DiMaggio , nicknamed "Joltin' Joe" and "The Yankee Clipper," was an American Major League Baseball center fielder who played his entire 13-year career for the New York Yankees. He is perhaps best known for his 56-game hitting streak , a record that still stands...
, personal phone directory and an original watercolor painting Monroe made and inscribed to President John F. Kennedy
John F. Kennedy
John Fitzgerald "Jack" Kennedy , often referred to by his initials JFK, was the 35th President of the United States, serving from 1961 until his assassination in 1963....
for his birthday. The phone directory contained the numbers of Frank Sinatra
Frank Sinatra
Francis Albert "Frank" Sinatra was an American singer and actor.Beginning his musical career in the swing era with Harry James and Tommy Dorsey, Sinatra became an unprecedentedly successful solo artist in the early to mid-1940s, after being signed to Columbia Records in 1943. Being the idol of the...
, Henry Fonda
Henry Fonda
Henry Jaynes Fonda was an American film and stage actor.Fonda made his mark early as a Broadway actor. He also appeared in 1938 in plays performed in White Plains, New York, with Joan Tompkins...
, Jane Russell
Jane Russell
Jane Russell was an American film actress and was one of Hollywood's leading sex symbols in the 1940s and 1950s....
and former husband and Arthur Miller
Arthur Miller
Arthur Asher Miller was an American playwright and essayist. He was a prominent figure in American theatre, writing dramas that include plays such as All My Sons , Death of a Salesman , The Crucible , and A View from the Bridge .Miller was often in the public eye,...
. Hundreds of Monroe fans showed up for the sale, which also featured Monroe's her fishnet stockings, suspender belts, a dog licence and a note from her beauty salon with instructions on how to dye her hair. Julien's stated, "This is the first time that most of these items will be seen by the public including a dizzying array of clothing from all the designers she cherished". The items fetched over $1 million at auction.
Other sales
In January 2006, Julien's handled the sale of William ShatnerWilliam Shatner
William Alan Shatner is a Canadian actor, musician, recording artist, and author. He gained worldwide fame and became a cultural icon for his portrayal of James T...
's kidney stone
Kidney stone
A kidney stone, also known as a renal calculus is a solid concretion or crystal aggregation formed in the kidneys from dietary minerals in the urine...
. The kidney stone sold for $25,000 to GoldenPalace.com
GoldenPalace.com
GoldenPalace.com is an online casino, hosted at Mohawk Internet Technologies, which is located in the Kahnawake Mohawk Territory near Montreal. They are well-known for their publicity stunts. They are also known for large 'bonuses' which must be waged a comparatively excessive fifty times before...
. Golden Palace Chief Executive Officer Richard Rowe said in a statement, "This is a bold new addition to our fleet". The money from the sale of the stone went to Habitat for Humanity, which builds houses for the needy. Darren Julien joked, "This would be the first Habitat for Humanity house built out of stone".
In a 2006 interactive auction, Julien's sold the derby hat of James Bond
James Bond
James Bond, code name 007, is a fictional character created in 1953 by writer Ian Fleming, who featured him in twelve novels and two short story collections. There have been a six other authors who wrote authorised Bond novels or novelizations after Fleming's death in 1964: Kingsley Amis,...
villain Oddjob for $33,600 to a Bond collector from Ft. Lauderdale. The auction also featured the sale of belt worn by Elvis Presley
Elvis Presley
Elvis Aaron Presley was one of the most popular American singers of the 20th century. A cultural icon, he is widely known by the single name Elvis. He is often referred to as the "King of Rock and Roll" or simply "the King"....
for $66,000, six times its estimation. Other items included interview tapes of John Lennon and a red evening gown worn by Dustin Hoffman
Dustin Hoffman
Dustin Lee Hoffman is an American actor with a career in film, television, and theatre since 1960. He has been known for his versatile portrayals of antiheroes and vulnerable characters....
.
Julien's held an entertainment sale in 2007. The sale included a pill bottle prescribed to Elvis Presley which was estimated to be worth between $2,000 to $4,000. The bottle's seller, George Klien, stated, "About 10 years ago I sold some old memorabilia in order to buy my house in Cordova. I guess now they're coming back up for resale. I had no idea they were going to auction until somebody called me this morning". He added, "I think what this auction says is that Elvis' popularity is sustaining itself. It's amazing what people are putting up for bid these days".