GOING ... GOING ... HOLLYWOOD AUCTION ENABLES SHARE OF DREAM.

Byline: Greg Hernandez Staff Writer

BEVERLY HILLS - Walking into the offices of Profiles of History is a bit like walking into a Hollywood time machine.

In a glass case right off the front lobby is the original cowardly lion costume Bert Lahr wore in ``The Wizard of Oz.'' On a corner shelf in founder Joseph Maddalena's office sits two gleaming Academy Award statuettes, and in the opposite corner is one of the black ``wicked witch'' hats Margaret Hamilton wore in ``The Wizard of Oz.''

``This is the very essence of pop culture and has become an acceptable collectable,'' said Maddalena, whose company is auctioning 500 pieces of movie and television memorabilia at 1 p.m. today in a live and simultaneous Internet auction, the company's 20th such event in the last nine years.

Today's auction is expected to bring in between $1.5 million and $2 million. For sale are such movie items as the original poster art from ``E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial,'' which could fetch up to $150,000; a Marilyn Monroe signed nude photograph is expected to sell from $20,000 to $30,000; and Mel Gibson's hero broadsword from ``Braveheart,'' which has an estimated selling price of about $10,000.

From the television world, the deputy uniform Don Knotts wore in ``The Andy Griffith Show'' could bring in $10,000 or more, Johnny Carson's ``monologue curtains'' from ``The Tonight Show'' are valued at between $30,000 and $40,000, and a complete vintage costume of ``H.R. Pufnstuf'' is being estimated to sell for $25,000 to $35,000.

``Anything from television from the '60s or '70s, they kill for that stuff,'' said Maddalena, 44. ``That's what my age group grew up with, and we have money now. People buy their childhoods, they collect their memories.''

Hollywood memorabilia has become big business for Maddalena and others over the past 10 years. The restaurant chains Planet Hollywood and Hard Rock Cafe, which are chock-filled with movie star, rock 'n' roll and sports memorabilia, are credited with playing a key role in jump-starting personal collections in the 1990s.

``They made it accessible to the public - that was the key,'' Maddalena said. ``It provided accessibility to the concept that you could display this stuff in a user-friendly environment.''

Last month, San Francisco-based Bonhams & Butterfields held a two-day auction in Los Angeles and netted more than $1.1 million. Among the top items was the $110,500 paid for the group of four original suits worn by the Beatles on the album cover of 1963's ``Please Please Me.''

``There seems to be a continued interest in celebrity material and products used by celebrities in their everyday lives,'' said Bonhams & Butterfields spokesman D. Levi Morgan. ``It started with our Elvis Presley sales in the early 1990s, which included a lock of his hair that we got from his former hairdresser. We've sold the Lana Turner and Mae West jewelry collections, and we've sold property from the estates of Ann Miller, Jimmy Stewart and Raymond Burr.''

Most of the items come from directors, producers, writers, actors, set designers or from their estates. While most of the items originate from Southern California, the buyers come from all over. When Bonhams & Butterfields was owned by the eBay online auction site, it discovered that many of its buyers were in the Midwest.

``The Internet in general has made things more accessible,'' said Jim Kamnikar, president and CEO of GoAntiques in Dublin, Ohio. ``EBay obviously is the most trafficked of these kinds of Web sites, so they have had a massive impact. Exposure is always great. But with stuff so readily available, it has had an impact on price and not in a positive way.''

That can be the case with items that are not so rare. But the Profiles in History auction boasts some rarities today that should be one of a kind, including designer Bill Travilla's signed original costume sketch of Monroe's famous dress from the subway scene in ``The Seven Year Itch,'' Barbra Streisand's pink chiffon dress negligee from ``Funny Lady,'' and Steve McQueen's sports coat from ``The Getaway.''

Some of the more offbeat items are the ``Conehead'' appliances worn by Dan Aykroyd and Jane Curtain in the 1993 film version of their famous ``Saturday Night Live'' sketch, Spanky's trademark beanie-style felt hats from ``The Little Rascals,'' and Tom Hanks' tattered shoes from ``Cast Away.''

``By the nature of this business, this stuff is either thrown away or destroyed,'' Maddalena said. ``It's a miracle any of this survived. It's an atrocity that Hollywood itself doesn't have a museum to take care of this stuff.''

Maddalena has been a film buff since he was a teenager and corresponded with ``Wizard of Oz'' stars Hamilton and Ray Bolger. While still in high school, he began writing a monthly column for Newsreel magazine and interviewed such stars as Buster Crabb, Ginger Rogers, Jack Hailey and Jimmy Stewart.

Maddalena began the auctions in 1993, but they were not immediate moneymakers. Still, he pressed on and has held three auctions a year since and collects a standard commission of 15 percent.

``It will always be different, but it'll just keep on going,'' Maddalena said. ``There's enough of it to support this market for many, many years.''

Greg Hernandez, [phone]

greg.hernandez(at)dailynews.com

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3 photos

Photo:

(1 -- color) Bill Travilla's costume sketch for Marilyn Monroe's subway scene from ``The Seven Year Itch'' and a replica of the white crepe dress will be auctioned live today.

(2 -- color) Charlton Heston's ``Planet of the Apes'' astronaut costume is mounted on a custom mannequin of him.

(3 -- color) These costumes from the ``Planet of the Apes'' films will be part of the Profiles of History live auction today.

David Sprague/Staff Photographer