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FDiane Keaton’s romper hats and polka dot scarves, to Gene Hackman’s paintbrushes, Terence Stamp’s love letters from Jean Shrimpton and even Matthew Perry’s black leather wallet (his credit cards and AAA membership card are still inside), fans are being offered – at a price – an increasing number of celebrity deaths.
The boom in the sale of items from dead celebrities – which has grown ever since Marilyn Monroe’s most famous scene in 1999 – also attracted its own portmanteau: “deleb” as in famous dead people.
The first of at least four auctions of Keaton’s art and objects were sold at Bonhams in New York earlier this week by him. Annie Hall original script selling for $394,000, exceeding its $2,000 estimate.
Several of his hats have sold for thousands of dollars, including black felt Neogranadine (today Colombia) cup which she wears in an Instagram video teaching fans how hats can be used to enhance their good looks. It sold for $5,888, including buyer’s premium, a multiple of $200-300. Box of six of her purple polka-dot dresses – expected to sell for $200-300 – sold for $6,144. A “box made” of pins and nail clippers went for $960. Keaton’s first auction raised $1.2m, with 47 of the 50 lots selling for more than expected.
In total, Bonhams, in partnership with the renowned specialist The Fine Art Group, will sell 787 of Keaton’s works. They range from Keaton’s original collages and the Gucci sequin suit and beret worn at the Lacma charity gala in 2021, to personal and prosaic items including the “work” of his black label, kitchen chopping boards and dog bowls.
Shane David Hall, head of celebrity client group Fine Art Group, says fans are keen to own personal items of celebrities rather than personal items related to their professional lives such as movie posters or paintings.
“Over the last 20 years, the market has grown tremendously,” he said. “People really appreciate their connection to celebrities and how they’ve changed their lives, and there’s a desire to have something to maintain and grow that connection.”
Hall says it’s celebrities with cults, like Keaton and Perry, who get the most attention and where attention is focused on their stuff rather than the technical stuff.
“There’s a new generation of collectors who are earning their living, and they’re more connected to celebrities and athletes than their parents,” says Hall. “With people like Diane Keaton, they mean something to their fans, these are the people who grew up with her movies and her famous clothes. Diane’s stuff resonates with them, there are pieces that relate to the events of their lives that remind them of important moments in their story.”
Hall says knowing that many of Keaton’s products would resonate with fans led to a large group buy-in. “We like to have value propositions that are accessible so that there is opportunity for everyone regardless of budget.”
At the cheapest end there was none 2216 on the secondary market for “Tailored & Timeless” – four very heavy reading glasses that were valued at $200-300 (sold for $2,176).
Bonhams, which has also handled auctions for the late Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Barbara Walters, Lauren Bacall, Michael Caine and Hackman, says real estate is a major part of its business and sales of that share were up 185% last year, with an average increase of 28.5% each year through 2022.
“We sold Gene Hackman’s collection in 2025 and raised more than $3m. Besides Hackman’s fine art, we found that his three Golden Globes were among the most sought-after lots, surpassing expectations up to 17-times and bringing a total of more than $125,000,” says Annam’s head of Bonhams Hicks.
“Fans often place a high value on the content associated with their favorite characters, and as a result, those pieces often fetch more money than what would be available without a celebrity group.”
For example, Hicks says, every item in the Ruth Bader Ginsburg Library sold above its estimate. His famous 1957-58 Harvard Law Review – the year he became a member – sold for $100,312.
With such high profits, acquiring rights to popular sites has become a big business in itself. Professional advisors, such as Fine Art Group, and celebrity auction houses, such as LA’s Julien’s Auctions and New York’s Heritage Auctions, invest time and money in getting to know celebrities and their families so that when the inevitable time comes their successors will call.
“We’ve spent years building relationships with famous families,” says Hall. “I would say we are the only company that addresses the unique challenges of celebrities in this way.” Some companies make the mistake of treating celebrities like any other wealthy private client, but that’s not the case, they need a big handshake and a lot of communication.”
Martin Nolan, co-founder and managing director of Julien’s Auctions, says he first became aware of the potential value of celebrity when his former boss at investment bank Merrill Lynch Martin Zweig bought Monroe’s “Happy Birthday Mr President” dress for $1.27m in 1999.
“I thought he was crazy, and it made me think twice about his collection,” says Nolan. But after he died, his widow told us to sell his collection, and she told me that she just wanted to be assured that the dress was worth that much.
Nolan says getting rights to a celebrity spot is “extremely competitive” and he spends years building relationships. “We’re the only celebrity auction house, with Sotheby’s, Christie’s and Bonhams coming in and out, we do that every day,” he says. “And famous people talk to each other, and we have a good reputation for preserving and celebrating their places.”
In general, he says, auction houses take 20% of the proceeds of the sale, “but they can be very competitive on price” he says, some auction houses take famous places as “lost leaders” in return for the beauty that comes from groups.
Nolan admits that celebrity consumers are on the decline, but he says they appeal to all types of people and come from all over the world. The most interesting thing he says about consumers is that “they are often famous themselves”.
“Celebrities are like you or me, they have people they love and admire and when they pass they want to be remembered.”
