TV

The Creative Genius of Sam Simon: A Lifetime of Memorabilia, up for charitable auction at Sotheby’s

Sam Simon wanted to be known as much for his charitable contributions to society as for his comedic contributions, and half a year after his death, hundreds of his artistic works and memorabilia are up for auction at Sotheby’s.

As the auction house noted this summer:

“Over a series of Sotheby’s auctions beginning this September, his holdings will be sold to benefit the Sam Simon Charitable Giving Foundation. As a collector, Simon was a magpie, acquiring 19th-century bronzes by Auguste Rodin, midcentury modern furniture by George Nakashima; pinup-inspired paintings by Mel Ramos; an archetypal American image of a boy and his dog by Thomas Hart Benton and works by major contemporary artists such as Eric Fischl and Ed Ruscha. Also on display in his Pacific Palisades home was an assortment of pop-cultural memorabilia, much of it related to his career in television.”

Items Simon collected will go up for bids at several auctions through 2016, but perhaps the largest and most substantial offering for fans of The Simpsons, Cheers, TAXI, The George Carlin Show and all of television starts at noon this Thursday, Oct. 22, 2015, with “The Creative Genius of Sam Simon: A Lifetime of Memorabilia.”

Included in this live auction:

  • Concept drawings from 1988 of The Simpsons
  • Animation cels from Fat Albert and The Cosby Kids, Looney Tunes, Mighty Mouse, Tarzan, Yellow Submarine and more
  • Scripts, jackets, memorabilia and more from TAXI, Cheers, It’s Garry Shandling’s Show, The George Carlin Show, The Tracey Ullman Show, The Simpsons, The Drew Carey Show
  • Signed scripts from famous guest voices on The Simpsons, including Dr. Joyce Brothers, Michael Jackson, Aerosmith, Albert Brooks, Tom Jones, Johnny Carson, Dustin Hoffman, Leonard Nimoy, Bob Hope, Brooke Shields, Adam West, Linda Ronstadt, Joe Frazier, and more
  • 20 rejection letters written to Simon from national magazines
  • Rejected cartoons Simon submitted to The New Yorker and Playboy
  • Signed baseballs and footballs from Hall of Fame players
  • Signed boxing photos and promotional materials
  • And much much more from his catalogue of The Simpsons memories

Register for Sotheby’s live auction “The Creative Genius of Sam Simon: A Lifetime of Memorabilia.”

 

Sean L. McCarthy

Editor and publisher since 2007, when he was named New York's Funniest Reporter. Former newspaper reporter at the New York Daily News, Boston Herald and smaller dailies and community papers across America. Loves comedy so much he founded this site.

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