John Wayne's True Grit Outfit Up For Auction

With the Coen Brothers True Grit remake burning up the box office and garnering Oscar nods, it's the perfect time to auction off a piece of key memorabilia from the original movie. John Wayne's western ensemble from his role as Rooster Cogburn in True Grit (Paramount, 1969) is being offered through High Noon Western Americana on January 29 in Mesa, Arizona as part of their Western auction. Wayne won an Academy Award for the role, the same one that Jeff Bridges is nominated for currently. Should Bridges win it would mark the first time that the same role has resulted in Academy Awards for two different actors.

The lot includes a brown rough-out leather vest with lapels, four pockets, decorative string ties on either side. It has a linen lining with label reading Western Costume Co / Hollywood / 2318-4 / John Wayne / Chest 50. It also comes with a long sleeve, single pocket shirt of fine blue cotton, custom-made for Wayne by Ermenegildo Zegna and worn in the film True Grit, and a salmon neckerchief.

The outfit was originally acquired in the 1970s by Gary Hess, a six-year employee of the Duke Engineering Company (DECO), directly from John Wayne himself, as appreciation for his extraordinary work in resolving some complex technical problems facilitating the completion and lucrative sale to a Texas group working with Exxon. It is offered with notarized letters of provenance and copies of notarized statements from Hess, Walter Adams, and William Evans all employees of DECO, attesting to the presentation of gifts to Mr Hess by Mr Wayne. It is estimated to fetch $15,000 - $20,000 and has a starting bid of $7500 at Live Auctioneers.