Leigh ‘Gone With the Wind’ Oscar Sells for $510,000

The Oscar won by actress Vivien Leigh for her performance as Scarlett O’Hara in “Gone with the Wind” was sold at auction Wednesday for $510,000.

After a spirited competition, an anonymous telephone bidder edged out Robert McDonald, a retired banker from Chicago.

McDonald stopped at $500,000; the next bid was the winner. McDonald lost the Oscar but won over the audience at Sotheby’s gallery, which applauded his bids. He, in turn, stood and bowed.

Leigh received the Academy Award for best actress in 1940. She died in 1967; the award was sold by her family.

The Oscar was the fourth ever sold at auction, and easily surpassed the previous record price of $110,000 for John Lennon’s best score Oscar from the film “Let It Be.”

The other auctioned Oscars and their prices: $68,500 for an Academy Award won by Joan Crawford for “Mildred Pierce,” and $57,000 for Harold Russell’s best supporting actor award for “Best Years of Our Lives.”