Brave Buyer Purchases Cowardly Lion Wizard of Oz Costume for $3 Million

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• The Cowardly Lion costume was worn by actor Bert Lahr in the original 1939 movie
• The oversize cat costume’s face mask was sculpted in the likeness of actor Bert Lahr
• The entire costume was created from real lion hides and weighs almost 60 pounds

The Lion Wizard of Oz costume worn by the late actor Bert Lahr sold for over $3 million at auction

A spokes person for owner James Comisar says he auctioned a secondary costume that was suspected to have been used in the film and worn by a stuntman on set for close to a million dollars. He intends on using the proceeds from the auction to exhibit his entire Hollywood Memorabilia Collection.

The costume has been authenticated as the one the late Bert Lahr had worn during filming in 1939 film. The face mask had been sculpted in the likeness of the star. The costume consisted of material created out of real lion pelts and weighed almost 60 pounds. The actor wearing this outfit would swelter from the heat inside and could only stay in the costume for a limited amount of time. The costume was used in over one dozen scenes throughout the original film.

The Cowardly Lion Costume sold at an auction of Hollywood Memorabilia at Bonhams Auction House late Monday.