Robin Williams memorabilia fetches $6.1 million in NY auction

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Art, film memorabilia and personal effects owned by the late actor Robin Williams and his wife fetched 6.1 million US dollars at auction in New York on Thursday, four years after his death, Sotheby's said.

The Oscar-winner, movie veteran, stand-up comedian and television star was one of Hollywood's most popular entertainers whose death in August 2014 triggered an outpouring of emotion the world over.

The death of Oscar-winning actor and comedian Robin Williams in 2014 triggered an outpouring of emotion the world over. /VCG Photo

More than 2,000 fans and collectors from across the globe registered to bid for some 300 items owned by Williams and his second wife, film producer and philanthropist Marsha Garces Williams, Sotheby's said.

The most expensive lot was Swiss artist Adolf Wolfli's "Der San Salvathor" that sold for 795,000 US dollars, the auction house said.

Stand-out items included a watercolor from the movie "Good Will Hunting" that sold for 90,000 US dollars and street artist Banksy's "Happy Choppers" from 2006 that fetched 735,000 US dollars.

Robin Williams as John Keating, an English teacher who inspires his students to look at poetry with a different perspective in "Dead Poets Society." /Photo via Douban.com

The watercolor, painted by the film's director Gus Van Sant and inscribed to Williams, was displayed in the office of his therapist character Sean Maguire.

Forty-five watches from Williams' personal collection sold for a combined total of 445,000 US dollars, including his watch from "Dead Poets Society" (1989) that went for 32,500 US dollars, the auction house said.

Robin Williams holds out his Oscar after winning in the category Best Supporting Actor for his performance in "Good Will Hunting," March 23, 1998. /VCG Photo

The entire sale fetched 6.1 million US dollars, smashing pre-sale estimates of 4.6 million US dollars with 95 percent of all lots sold.

Among the organizations to benefit is The Juilliard School in New York, where a permanent scholarship in Williams's name will be set up, the Wounded Warrior Project and the Challenged Athletes Foundation.

Robin Williams (L) and his second wife Marsha, along with their daughter Zelda, December 13, 1998. /VCG Photo

A father of three, he was known for high-energy, rapid-fire improvisation and clowning, and starred in hit films such as "Good Morning, Vietnam" and "Mrs Doubtfire."

Marsha was his second wife. The couple were married from 1989 to 2010 and had two children together.

Robin Williams' Walk of Fame Star in Hollywood. /VCG Photo

Williams committed suicide aged 63. His widow and third wife, Susan Schneider, later revealed that he had been suffering from Lewy body dementia, a neurodegenerative disease that alters mood, movement and provokes hallucinations.

(Cover: A photo of Robin Williams. /Photo via douban.com)

Source(s): AFP