John Wayne's eye patch from his 1969 film "True Grit" and the Golden Globe award he won playing U.S. Marshal Rooster Cogburn in the movie will be sold at auction, Heritage Auctions announced on Tuesday.Also included in the sale, which is scheduled to take place in Los Angeles from October 3-6, will be the actor's cowboy boots, hats, driver's license, passport, American Express card and over 50 movie scripts, many with Wayne's handwritten annotations. The items will also be placed on display in Dallas, Texas and New York in September, prior to the auction.
Wayne starred in over 170 films in his career, mostly Westerns and war movies. His son Ethan Wayne, who is President of John Wayne Enterprises told Reuters that the family recently went through Wayne's personal items that had been kept in storage and made the decision to share the items with the fans.
"My father's fans were very important to him. He was open and accessible to them, and making these items accessible to the public is something that feels right," said Ethan Wayne in the press release. "Museums have large collections of my father's personal property, and our family has had a chance to select and keep items sentimental to us. There is no need to keep this memorabilia locked away when it can be enjoyed by his fans."
Ethan Wayne also said that he remembered that when he was younger, he was not allowed to leave the house without carrying autographed cards of his father, to hand out to fans.
"He had three secretaries five days a week opening fan mail and helping him answer it," Ethan Wayne told Reuters. "My father knew that his fans provided him with the ability to continue doing what he loved to do and that they were responsible for letting him lead the lifestyle he had."
Wayne died of stomach cancer at the age of 72 in June 1979 and proceeds from the auction will go to John Wayne Enterprises which supports and funds the John Wayne Cancer Foundation.
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