Judy Garland’s ruby red slippers from The Wizard Of Oz will be going up for auction after it was previously stolen and subsequently recovered.
The pair, which was worn by the late actress, was reunited with the owner, collector Michael Shaw, and will be shown on an international tour before being auctioned off later this year.
This comes shortly after a second man was charged in connection to the theft of the iconic slippers worn by Garland, who died at the age of 47 in 1969, during filming of the 1939 cult classic film.
The famous ruby slippers, which is one of four surviving pairs from the 1939 film, had been stolen in August 2005 from the Judy Garland Museum in Grand Rapids, Minnesota when a thief who broke into the singer’s childhood home.
Nearly two decades later, the FBI recovered the slippers in a sting operation in Minneapolis in 2018, and according to federal prosecutors, the market value is estimated to be around $3.5 million.
Judy Garland’s recovered ruby red slippers from The Wizard of Oz will be going up for auction after it was previously stolen and now recovered; pictured in September 2018
One of the pairs, which was worn by the late actress, was reunited with the owner, collector Michael Shaw, in 2018 and will be shown on an international tour before being auctioned off later this year, according to a Monday press release
The famous ruby slippers, which is one of four surviving pairs from the 1939 film, had been stolen in August 2005 from the Judy Garland Museum in Grand Rapids, Minnesota when a thief who broke into Garland’s childhood home. The FBI recovered the slippers in a sting operation in Minneapolis in 2018, and according to federal prosecutors, the market value is estimated to be around $3.5 million
After being reunited with the shoes, Shaw is now parting ways with them again and collaborating with Heritage Auctions to take the pair on a multi-city world tour before putting them up for auction in December.
‘You cannot overstate the importance of Dorothy’s ruby slippers,’ Heritage Auctions executive vice president Joe Maddalena said in a press release on Monday. ‘They are the most important prop in Hollywood history.
‘This pair is precious as it hails from the legendary collection of Michael Shaw, and we are honored he has partnered with Heritage.
‘As TCM [Turner Classic Movies] host Ben Mankiewicz once said, these slippers “symbolize hope”, and we’re thrilled they will journey down the yellow brick road to the auction block to a new home.’
In the iconic movie, Garland played the beloved character Dorothy, who returned from Oz to Kansas by clicking the heels of her ruby red slippers and repeating the phrase: ‘There’s no place like home.’
Thirty years after filming the critically-acclaimed movie, she tragically passed away from an accidental barbiturate overdose at the age of 47 in 1969.
During The Wizard of Oz, Garland wore several pairs but only four authentic pairs are known to have remained.
The three remaining pairs reside at the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, the Smithsonian Museum of American History and with a private collector.
During the 1939 iconic movie The Wizard of Oz, Garland wore several pairs while playing the beloved character Dorothy
Two men were recently charged with theft of a major artwork for the stolen and now recovered pair. The three remaining pairs reside at the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, the Smithsonian Museum of American History and with a private collector
In the theft of the soon-to-be-auctioned shoes — which are ‘of a higher quality than the pair now residing in the Smithsonian’, according to a Forbes report from 2008 — one man was sentenced in January and another recently sentenced for his involvement in the crime.
A career criminal named Terry Jon Martin, 76, was charged with theft of a major artwork after his confession in October 2023 and sentenced to no prison time due to his declining health.
The second man, Jerry Hal Saliterman, 76, was charged with theft of a major artwork and witness tampering.
He made his first court appearance on Friday, and like Martin, he appeared to be suffering from declining health as appeared in front of the judge with an oxygen tank and in a wheelchair, according to the Associated Press.
Two years ago, the iconic blue and white gingham dress Garland wore in the movie was also rediscovered at Washington, D.C.’s Catholic University after it was missing for 50 years.
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