PETER
CUSHING AUCTION : Sneak Peep at some items! A legendary Star Wars and
horror actor’s film memorabilia – including a famed pair of slippers -
is set to go under the hammer for tens of thousands of pounds. Hundreds
of items belonging to the late Peter Cushing, who lived in Whitstable
and also starred in Sherlock Holmes and Dr Who, will go up for auction
on October 1.
They include artefacts from his 60-year career on the silver screen, during which he was most famed for his starring roles in Hammer House of Horror films. About 400 lots are due to be sold at the Canterbury Auction Galleries and are expected to spark interest from film buffs across the world - especially Star Wars fans. One of the more intriguing and highly valued lots is a pair of slippers Cushing wore on the set of Star Wars, in which he played evil Death Star commander Grand Moff Tarkin.
The high leather boots the actor wore in the film pinched his size 12 feet, so he asked director George Lucas if he could wear slippers instead and be filmed from the thighs up, which the moviemaker happily agreed to.
For a joke, the film crew made a tiny pair for a 12-inch model of Cushing’s character. Now both his slippers and the model are coming up for auction, with an estimate of £15,000 to 20,000. The first Star Wars film in 1977 film was such a success that Cushing was awarded a bonus of US $6,000 for his “dedication, perseverance, creativity, and hard work” - about £25,000 in today’s money.
Carrying an auction estimate of £4,000 to £5,000, the rare letter informing him of his windfall - dated December 1977 and from producer Gary Kurtz - carries a very early Star Wars logo, with a figure wielding a light sabre. It was the first appearance of the now-familiar stacked type on the Star Wars logo.
Another gem for film buffs is a collection of fascinating production notes from 20th Century Fox about the upcoming 1977 film, explaining what is required “for true credibility” and explaining its reasons for choosing Tunisia as a location. Included is a photocopy of a map of Tunisia with three locations highlighted. The lot is estimated at £200 to £300.
Cushing, who lived in Whitstable for 35 years, appeared in various sinister guises – including Baron Frankenstein and Dracula’s nemesis, Dr Van Helsing – in many horror movies presented by prestigious Hammer Film Productions.
The lots include many letters and signed photos from this period of his career, including his contract for the 1969 film Frankenstein Must Be Destroyed – the fifth in the series featuring the terrifying Doctor, for which he was paid £8,000
Cushing’s talent as a painter / artist grew over the years and some of his work is also now being sold.
It includes a watercolour titled 'View of the Golf Links, Whitstable, from my studio window (before housing development hid it)'.
It’s initialled with a signature, title and dedication ‘to Joyce [Broughton] and Bernard’ on the back. Measuring 14.25ins x 10.75ins the piece is estimated at £400-£600.
Cushing, who died in 1994, lived with his beloved wife Helen while making many of the 91 films in which he starred.
His endlessly polite and unassuming manner won the hearts of the people of Whitstable. With his deerstalker, bow tie and tweed jacket, he often looked like he had stepped out of another era.
The people of Whitstable were so proud and protective of the international star in their midst, they would conveniently ‘forget’ where he lived if curious tourists wanted to photograph his house. He would walk and cycle almost daily and stop at the picturesque Tudor Tea Rooms in town and do the day’s newspaper crossword.
Whoever served him would usually receive a handwritten letter or poem afterwards, talking about their kindness and how it had made his day. In the space next to the crossword he’d often draw sharp and funny caricatures of the tea room staff and fellow customers.
One of many treasures in the sale is an exercise book with scores of caricatures, cut from those newspapers and stuck in, called ‘Characters from The Tudor Tearoom'. The book, containing other sketches and notes, is signed and dated ’90. They - and many paintings in the sale, including a silk scarf for his wife - reveal him as not just a keen observer but a talented artist too. He took up painting to deal with the stresses of his acting career and was taught by British artist Edward Seago.
Devastated by his wife’s death in 1971, he went to live with his great friend and assistant of 35 years, Joyce Broughton, and her family.He died in 1994, aged 81, from prostate cancer. The town’s Wetherspoon pub at the former picture house in Oxford Street was later named after him. Despite his passing, he was ‘digitally resurrected’ in 2016 to replay his character of Grand Moff Tarkin in the Star Wars spin-off, Rogue One.
After Joyce’s death, the family have now decided to release much of the memorabilia for others to appreciate Cushing’s many talents. Joyce’s daughter, Alex, said: “Our ‘Uncle’ Peter was a significant figure in all our lives. My late mother’s estate contained a large collection of Peter’s paintings and film memorabilia and correspondence – some of which we did not know existed.
“We think this is a great and rare opportunity for Peter’s large domestic and international fan base to gain some unique insight into his wider career and personal life.”
For more information on the auction, go to the auction gallery website HERE!.
Marcus Brooks
IF YOU LIKE what you see here at our website, you'll love our daily themed posts at our PCAS FACEBOOK FAN PAGE.
Just click that blue LINK and click LIKE when you get there, and help
us . . Keep The Memory Alive!. The
Peter Cushing Appreciation Society website, #facebook fan page and
#youtube channel are managed, edited and written by Marcus Brooks, PCAS
co-ordinator since 1979. PCASuk is based in the UK, but open to everyone, whoever, where ever, YOU are!
