Orson Welles’ Screenwriting Oscar for Citizen Kane Sells at Auction for $645,000…Though the Academy Is Investigating If It Was LEGAL

Heritage Auctions sold the replacement Oscar that Orson Welles won for writing his 1941 epic Citizen Kane, though the sale may not have been entirely legal.

The Hollywood Entertainment auction included some items from Welles — which lost its 100% rating on Rotten Tomatoes after an 80-year-old negative review surfaced in 2021 — though the Oscar sold to an undisclosed buyer for $645,000, following an starting bid of $250,000.

According to a new report from deadlinedue to a provision in a release signed by Welles’ daughter, Beatrice.

The statuette sold was not the original Oscar statuette that Welles won, but a replacement statuette requested by Beatrice in 1988, three years after Orson died in 1985 at the age of 70.

Beatrice petitioned the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences for a replacement, as the filmmaker’s family was unable to find the original Oscar in his possessions when he died.

Stipulation: However, the sale may not have been legal, according to a new report from Deadline, due to a provision in a release signed by Welles’ daughter, Beatrice

The Academy complied and sent a replacement statue, but it came with a stipulation in a release that Beatrice signed.

The release stated that the statuette could not be sold unless it was first returned to the Academy for the price of only one dollar.

This was the standard agreement the Academy had had since 1950, with many other Oscars won or sold or auctioned prior to that.

The story becomes even more complicated since in 1994 the ‘lost’ original Oscar that Welles won was auctioned at Sotheby’s in London.

The statuette was paired with Gary Graver, a cinematographer who worked on Welles’ unfinished 1974 film The Other Side of the Wind.

Graver claimed that Welles gave Graver the Oscar as compensation for working on the financially tight project.

Graver then sold the Oscar for $50,000 to an unnamed company that put it up for auction at Sotheby’s with a reserve of $250,000.

When Sotheby’s notified Beatrice to verify that the Oscar was genuine, she sued and the court ruled that the Oscar was not given as “payment” and returned her the original Oscar.

Stipulation: The Academy complied and sent a replacement image, but it came with a stipulation in a release that Beatrice signed

One Dollar: The release stated that the statuette could not be sold unless it was first presented to the Academy for the price of only one dollar

Orson: Graver claimed that Welles gave Graver the Oscar as compensation for working on the financially tight project

She even tried to sell the original in 2003, as the Academy had forbidden her to sell the replacement as part of their 1988 agreement.

The Academy stepped in and tried to stop her from selling the original Oscar, though a judge ruled in Beatrice’s favor and she sold the original Oscar for an unspecified amount.

That unknown buyer tried to sell it unsuccessfully for years until 2011 when it sold for a whopping $871,542.

The Oscar won by Citizen Kane screenwriter Herman J. Mankiewicz was sold a year later for another hefty sum, $588,455.

Interestingly, while the Heritage Auction listed several items that came from the Welles estate — such as three spoken word Grammy figurines ($45,000), Welles’s typewriter ($81,250), and three Citizen Kane Oscar nomination certificates ($105,000), the replacement Oscar was not listed from the Welles Estate.

The sender was not identified, although the list stated that a certificate of authenticity would be included.

Heritage also has a policy that guarantees that any sender must be legitimate and able to legally sell the item.

If the replacement Oscar did indeed come from Beatrice, the question remains why she wouldn’t include it under the Welles Estate as with the other items.

Banned: She even tried to sell the original in 2003, as the Academy had banned her from selling the replacement as part of their 1988 agreement

Estate: Interestingly enough, while the Heritage Auction listed several items that came from the Welles Estate – such as three spoken word Grammy figurines ($45,000), Welles’ typewriter ($81,250), and three Citizen Kane Oscar nomination certificates ($105,000) , the replacement Oscar was not listed from the Welles Estate

Heritage also has a policy that allows auction winners to immediately list the item for sale through them once the auction ends, and the mystery buyer appears to be doing just that, offering it for $967,000 or more.

It is possible that Beatrice sold the Oscar privately or gave it to someone else, outside the auction circuit.

If that is indeed the case, it would seem that the purchaser would be bound by the agreement Beatrice signed in 1988 to first offer the Oscar to the Academy for $1.

Yet the buyer (and now potential seller) has still not been identified, though it appears the Academy will launch some sort of investigation.

“They will look into this,” an Academy spokesperson said in a terse statement about the sale.