A leather jacket worn by late Hollywood actor Patrick Swayze in the film Dirty Dancing was sold for $62,500 (approximately Rs 40 lakh) at Julien’s Auction in Los Angeles on Friday. Among the several items put on sale by his widow Lisa Niemi was also a silk shirt the actor had worn in the hit film Ghost, BBC reported. The actor’s niece however had opposed the auction and referred to it as a “slap in the face”.
The items auctioned also included a tooth and a set of X-ray images showing his knee and broken leg. Niemi said her grief counsellor had advised to let go of some of his belongings. “Of course, the most personal and sentimental items I have kept.” She said a portion of the funds will be donated to the Pancreatic Cancer Action Network, Irish Examiner reported.
While Niemi said she had “mixed feelings” about putting Swayze’s memorablia on sale, she said she wanted to share the possessions with the actor’s fans. “No matter what, it is still a letting go. There is always a little bit of loss associated with that. I am such a lucky woman to have had a man who loved me as much as Patrick did,” Niemi said. She declined to comment on opposition expressed by the actor’s niece.
“These were family heirlooms,” Danielle Swayze told the Press Association.
The actor had died at the age of 57 of pancreatic cancer in 2009. He wore the jacket in the 1987 film while delivering the iconic dialogue, “Nobody puts Baby in a corner.”
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