He died in 1985.
That has been the standard agreement implemented after 1950 thatallOscar winners must sign.
It does not cover anyOscarswon before then, and many have been sold or auctioned off.
RKO Pictures; AMPAS
It, uh, gets evenmorecomplicated from there.
In 1994 somehow the lost original Welles Oscar turned up for auction at Londons Sothebys.
After Sothebys notified Beatrice Welles for verify this was all legitimate before proceeding further, she sued.
HeritageAuctions
Enter theAcademy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.
A judge ruled in her favor, not the Academys.
If it had come directly from Beatrice Welles and the Estate, wouldnt Heritage had printed that?
And why would she even attempt it?
After all, it listed the Estate on so many of the other items up for auction.
And the plot thickens.
By the way, theKaneOscar was not theonlyOscar statuette offered here.
And you thoughtinflationwas crazy.
At least that is what the Academyhopesthey would do.
An Academy Spokesperson said, They will be looking into this.
