You Won’t Believe What These WIZARD OF OZ Treasures Sold For
By Movieguide® Contributor
An iconic Hollywood heirloom recently found a new home. The ruby red slippers worn by Judy Garland in the original WIZARD OF OZ sold for $28 million at an auction on Saturday.
Auction house Heritage Auctions sold the shoes, and “Robert Wilonsky, a vice president with the Dallas-based auction house, told CBS News in an email that, with the buyer’s premium — a commission that the buyer pays — the slippers sold for a total of $32.5 million,” CBS reported. The buyer has remained anonymous.
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But besides being worn by Garland, the shoes have a rather storied past.
The famous slippers were stolen by ex-mobster Terry Martin in 2005 when he broke into the Judy Garland Museum in Grand Rapids, Minnesota. They were missing for 13 years before the FBI recovered them in 2018. “He pleaded guilty in October 2023. Martin admitted he used a small sledgehammer to break into the museum. He then used the tool to crack the case the slippers were in and take them. He said he didn’t hear any alarm. He took off in his car and kept them in a trailer adjacent to his home,” CBS News said.
Martin stole the shoes because believed the shoes were made of real jewels. He lost interest when he discovered they were not.
Memorabilia collector Michael Shaw received the slippers once they were confiscated. They are one of four existing pairs worn by Garland in the movie.
Other WIZARD OF OZ memorabilia have fetched millions.
The original Cowardly Lion costume worn by Bert Lahr auctioned for $3,0077,000. Screen Rant reported, “The costume’s high auction price signifies not just the monetary value of film memorabilia but also the emotional connection fans and collectors have with cinematic history.” The costume was controversially made of real lion fur.
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