SUBMIT IMAGE: Oscars formerly provided to actress Katharine Hepburn are seen at the “Meet the Oscars Show” at the Hollywood & & Highland Center in Los Angeles, California February 9, 2007. REUTERS/Phil McCarten (UNITED STATES)/ File Photo
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LOS ANGELES (Reuters) – The emerald and diamond engagement ring that Howard Hughes provided to Hollywood star Katharine Hepburn in 1938 cost $108,000 at a Los Angeles auction – more than 3 times the expected price – while a collection of her love letters to him brought $44,800.
Auction house Profiles in History said on Friday that other personal items coming from Hughes also went for more than their pre-sale price quotes, including the entrepreneurs trademark fedora ($ 51,200) and the two-tone jacket ($ 89,600) he wore while piloting his substantial Spruce Goose flying boat.
Hughes and Hepburn never wed but their 18-month love in the late 1930s, which was chronicled in the 2004 movie “The Aviator,” was a big celebrity story at the time.
Her 55 handwritten letters, postcards and notes concerned auction for the very first time and had actually been anticipated to fetch up to $15,000. The engagement ring had a pre-sale estimate of about $30,000.
In the letters, Hepburn used pet names and pseudonyms like C. Mouse and Mrs. H.R. Country and showered the movie magnate and millionaire entrepreneur with praise.
The buyers of the Howard Hughes items were not revealed.
Reporting by Jill Serjeant; Editing by Aurora Ellis
