LOS ANGELES (AP) - The Academy Award statuette that Orson Welles won for the original screenplay of “Citizen Kane” has been auctioned for more than $861,000 in Los Angeles.
Nate D. Sanders Auctions spokesman Sam Heller says bidders from around the world, including David Copperfield, vied for the Oscar.
The 1942 Oscar was thought to be lost for decades. It surfaced in 1994 when cinematographer Gary Graver tried to sell it. The sale was stopped by Beatrice Welles, Orson’s youngest daughter and sole heir.
Copperfield was outbid in the auction. He says he admires Welles not only for his cinematic successes, but because he, too, was a magician.
Welles hosted Copperfield’s first television special.
The auction house declined to release the highest bidder’s name.
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