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'Cowardly Lion' Costume Conjures Up Amazing Price at Auction

The 'Wizard of Oz' costume, famed for its dynamic tail and regal mane, was part of a sale of Hollywood items by Bonhams.
Image: US-BONHAMS-COWARDLY LION
Actor Bert Lahr's "Cowardly Lion" costume from the "Wizard of Oz" on display at Bonham's November 24, 2014 in New York.DON EMMERT / AFP - Getty Images
/ Source: CNBC.com

The Cowardly Lion costume worn by Bert Lahr in "The Wizard of Oz" sold for $2.6 million—topping its $2 million estimate.

The costume, famed for its dynamic tail and regal mane, was part of a sale of Hollywood items by Bonhams on Monday. The ultimate cat costume was made from actual lion hide and was worn in more than a dozen scenes in the 1939 film, according to Bonhams. Because it was so hot under all that fur, the costume had to be placed in an industrial drying bin overnight so that the perspiration could be dried before the next production day. The costume was discovered carefully bundled up in an old building on the MGM lot. It has a hidden zipper in the front and an attached tail in the back.

-- Robert Frank, CNBC.com