Newman and Green by Richard Avedon
New York auction house Bonhams will offer items from the estate of Adolph Green (1914-2002) and Phyllis Newman (1933-2019) in A Helluva Life, an online sale from September 2 to 14. Green and his collaborator Betty Comden wrote nearly 30 Broadway and MGM musicals, including the iconic Singin’ in the Rain. Newman was an award-winning stage and screen performer. “Our parents both had long and extraordinary careers and lives,” noted their children, Amanda and Adam. “Both were first generation Americans who came from the humblest of beginnings and went on to create artistic and personal lives for themselves beyond their wildest dreams. We are proud of their legacy and happy to share some of it.”
Among the sale highlights are six Tony Awards, including those won by Green for Hallelujah, Baby! (1967), Applause (1970), The Will Rogers Follies (1991), and On The Twentieth Century (1978) as well as the one Newman won for Subways Are for Sleeping (1961). Each award is estimated at $4,000 to $6,000. Other highlights include Green’s personal annotated 1952 script for Singin’ in the Rain ($800-$1,200), an Al Hirschfeld cartoon of the original 1944 Broadway cast of On the Town featuring Green ($3,000-$5,000), and Green and Newman’s 1960 wedding photos ($1,500-$2,000) by acclaimed photographer Richard Avedon.