The remains of Truman Capote will soon be up for bidding at Los Angeles’s Julien’s Auctions.
If you don’t find it too ghoulish, you could own the ashes of the famed author of In Cold Blood and Breakfast at Tiffany’s, which are estimated at up to $6,000. Mark your calendar for the “Icons & Idols: Hollywood” sale, taking place September 23–24.
Housed in a Japanese carved wooden box, the cremated remains come from the estate of Joanne Carson, a close friend of Capote and the second wife of late-night television host Johnny Carson; Capote died at her home in 1984. Other items from Joanne Carson include her ivory silk wedding dress, tagged at up to $1,200, and her wedding ring, inscribed by Johnny (estimated at up to $400).
“With some celebrities this wouldn’t be tasteful, but I know 100 percent he would love it,” Darren Julien, president of Julien’s Auctions, told the Guardian. “Capote loved the element of shock,” Julien told Vanity Fair. “He loved publicity. And I’m sure he’s looking down laughing, and saying, ‘That’s something I would have done.’ He was a larger-than-life character.”
Joanne, besides holding onto Capote’s remains, was also an art collector. Some 40 works from her estate, include examples by Mary Cassatt, Jim Dine, Alberto Giacometti, Henri Matisse, Joan Miró, Pablo Picasso, and Rembrandt.
Among the other attractions of the sale are belongings of Johnny Carson himself along with those of Hollywood personalities like writer/director James Bridges and actor Jack Larson, who were a couple, as well as items from Charlton Heston and Audrey Hepburn.