The Cowardly Lion costume from the 1939 Hollywood classic the Wizard of Oz sold at auction for $3.1 million.

Cowardly Lion Costume Sells For $3.1 MilLION

The costume was just one of many items up for auction as part of a special TMC Presents: There’s No Place Like Hollywood sale at Bonhams auction house in New York. Other items included signed photos of Humphrey Bogart, and the To Kill a Mockingbird script used by the script supervisor Meta Rebner.

The one-of-a-kind costume, designed by Gilbert Adrian and made from real lion hides, was worn by actor Bert Lahr throughout the filming of the musical.

TMC Auction

The buyer, who remained anonymous, paid $3,077,000 for the costume – the bidding began at $1.6 million – and came complete with a head sculpture in Lahr’s likeness. The original Cowardly Lion costume wasn’t the only piece of Wizard of Oz memorabilia up for auction. Larh’s script from film was sold for $75,000, and a “test” dress for Dorothy worn by star Judy Garland during pre-production went for $245,000.

The Cowardly Lion costume was the second-highest sale from the TMC auction, beat only by the piano from Rick’s Café in Casablanca (1942), which sold for $3,413,000. Items from the more recent Lord of the Rings trilogy also fetched a pretty penny at auction – one of four swords used by Viggo Mortensen’s Aragorn in The Return of the King sold for $437,000 and Saurman’s staff sold for $125,000.

“Our second auction with Turner Classic Movies further proves the appeal of iconic films from both past and present. Key props, costumes, and scripts from films of all eras continue to reach new heights at auction and we were very pleased to present this fantastic selection of memorabilia to fans the world over,” said Dr. Catherine Williamson, the Director of Entertainment Memorabilia at Bonhams.

Article by Olivia Truffaut-Wong

Olivia Truffaut-Wong was born and raised in Berkeley, California, where she developed her love of all things entertainment. After moving to New York City to earn her degree in Film Studies, she stayed on the East Coast to follow her passion and become an entertainment writer. She lives on a diet of television, movies and food.