USA: Sotheby's in Los Angeles are set to auction off part of Cher's private collections from her Malibu home

Fashion icon and award-winning singer and actress Cher is clearing her Malibu home of its Gothic contents and reshaping her life in a giant garage sale. Following a trend set by rock star Elton John, the superstar diva is selling off nearly 800 items from stage costumes to gem encrusted jewelry, works of art, furniture and even a 2005 Bentley car in an auction expected to raise more than 1 million dollars (USD). Cher, who has filled her oceanfront home with Gothic Christian relics, is looking to take on a more "zen-like" approach to interior design. "Over the last 30 years, she's collected Gothic revival, and she basically wants to go to a Tibetan/Moroccan style. And when she got off the tour, she realized in order to completely redecorate her home, she's got to sell everything, so this is the fallout of her making a decision to re-do her home," says Darren Julien, President of Julien's Auctions. Highlights from the sale have traveled to London, Chicago, and New York, ending at the Beverly Hilton in Los Angeles, where the auction will take place on October 4th and 5th. The auction is open to the public, and is expected to garner several international buyers and true Cher fanatics, anxious to get their hands on anything that came from her home. "We anticipate it will bring around 1.4, 1.5 million, and those are conservative estimates. They don't include the Cher factor, so it's just the actual value of the items themselves," says Darren Julien, President of Julien's Auctions. Lots expected to sell extremely high include a Leroy Neiman portrait of Sonny and Cher with their daughter Chastity, a Van Cleef and Arpels diamond necklace valued at $40,000 to $60,000, the Bob Mackie-designed gown Cher performed 70s hit "Dark Lady" in, as well as the gown and headdress he designed for her to wear at the 1998 Academy Awards ceremony. Also up for sale are several lots of handmade jewelry designed by Cher herself, made during the off-time of her extensive world tours. "Originally the sale was only going to be 200 lots, and now it's mushroomed into nearly 800 lots of furniture, decorations, paintings, books, Bob Mackie sketches, Bob Mackie gowns, 'Living Proof' tour gowns, 90 lots of jewelry -- it's just been crazy, but it's been spectacular," says Lee Dunbar, Director of Sotheby's Collectibles Department. Not all of the money raised in the auction will go back into Cher's redecorating efforts. A large portion of the proceeds will go to several charities close to the star's heart, including 100 percent of some items up for bid such as a 2003 Hummer vehicle that comes with an autographed soldier's helmet. "And one of the reasons Cher wanted to do this now was because a lot of the proceeds are going to four major charities that she's been involved with. One, of course, the Children's Cranial Facial Association that she's worked with since 1985 when she did the movie 'Mask,' and then you have Operation Helmet which was started in 2003, which provides free helmet upgrades for soldiers in Iraq and Afghanistan, the Intrepid Fallen Heroes Fund, and Habitat for Humanity, so there's a purpose behind all of this," says Lee Dunbar, Director of Sotheby's Collectibles Department. Cher, born Cherylin Sarkisian in May 1946, first hit fame alongside Sonny Bono with the 1965 hit "I got you babe," and her roller-coaster career has been echoed by her turbulent and often front-page private life. An Oscar nominee for "Silkwood" and winner for "Moonstruck," she has also won a Grammy, an Emmy and been awarded Best Actress by the Cannes Film Festival and won three Golden Globes. But she is probably equally well known for her willowy, body and contour-hugging flamboyant dresses. "She is like a chameleon, she can be anything, and you never lose the fact that she's Cher. We were just talking about a few minutes ago, that people say 'well, Madonna changes her image,' and sometimes I can't tell if it's Madonna or not, I have to be told that it is. Everybody always knew whether it was Cher, no matter what hair color she had on, no matter what she was wearing," says fashion designer Bob Mackie, famous for his glittery beaded gowns made popular by Cher. It is often said about Cher that only she and cockroaches would be able to survive a nuclear war, but rarely is that phrase embroidered on a pillow, up for sale when the Cher Auction commences on October 4th at the Beverly Hilton Hotel.

ITN Source | October 13, 2006

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