An original Tony Curtis cutout from the cover of the Beatles’ Sgt Pepper’s Lonely Heart Club Band is coming to auction on June 18.
Bidding at Heritage Auctions will start at $37,500.
Tony Curtis was one of 61 famous faces to appear on the Sgt Pepper cover
Curtis was one of 61 figures from history and popular culture chosen to appear on the record’s iconic sleeve.
He’s slotted in just above Oscar Wilde.
Paul McCartney explained the genesis of the cover in a 2000 interview: “This album was a big production, and we wanted the album sleeve to be really interesting.
“Everyone agreed. We liked the idea of reaching out to the record-buyer, because of our memories of spending our own hard-earned cash and really loving anyone who gave us value for money.
“So, for the cover, we wouldn't just have our Beatle jackets on... To help us get into the character of Sgt Pepper's band, we started to think about who our heroes might be.”
A gnome cuout that can be seen in the bottom tight corner of the record achieved $42,500 at Heritage Auctions in 2015.
A blue tracksuit John Lennon wore constantly during a month spent in Denmark in 1970 is offered with an opening bid of $18,750.
He travelled there with Yoko Ono to stay with her ex-husband, jazz drummer Tony Cox, and daughter Kyoko.
Lennon had left the Beatles just months before and was figuring out his next move.
Heritage comments: “The photos of the couple wearing the suits show them both with freshly short-cut hair, worn as a symbolic gesture of new beginning”.
We have a great selection of Beatles memorabilia for sale, click here to take a look.
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