Buddy Ebsen Silver Boots, Unknown Origin. This lot presents a fascinating mystery. One of the classic bad luck stories of Ho... (Total: 1 Item)

Description

Buddy Ebsen Silver Boots, Unknown Origin. This lot presents a fascinating mystery. One of the classic bad luck stories of Hollywood history concerns Buddy Ebsen's allergic reaction to the aluminum dust in the Tin Man make-up used during the production of MGM's classic The Wizard of Oz. The accident infected his lungs and proved nearly fatal -- Buddy almost suffocated -- and Jack Haley took over the role (with a different make-up). Of course, the mishap never damaged Buddy's incredibly prolific career -- and he outlived every principal actor in The Wizard of Oz -- but it did enter movie mythology as one of those might-have-been moments. This lot features a pair of what appear to be Tin Man boots, found in Buddy's garage. The boots do not match the boots seen in surviving shots of Buddy in the test make-up, nor do they look like the boots Jack Haley wore in the film. Could they have been an early discarded pair? Or a pair that Buddy wore after his test shots and before Haley replaced him? The answer, to be honest, is proving elusive, but the fact remains that they are Tin Man-style boots, and they did belong to Buddy Ebsen. The boots are 13" tall and 12" long, have slits in the back and padding inside them, and are riveted together down the front and under the bottom. There is also some silver tape on both boots, which are in overall Fair condition. At the least these boots must have been a reminder to Buddy Ebsen (who titled his 1994 autobiography The Other Side of Oz) of a famous career mishap that might have proved fatal professionally and personally -- and that he survived by almost 65 years. From the Buddy Ebsen Estate.

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