WSJ: Debbie Reynolds’ Hollywood Museum Enters Chapter 11

Post by **silentfilm** » Fri Jun 19, 2009 2:52 pm

http://blogs.wsj.com/bankruptcy/2009/06 ... hapter-11/

Debbie Reynolds’ Hollywood Museum Enters Chapter 11
By Jacqueline Palank

Associated Press
The California non-profit organization that actress Debbie Reynolds founded to build a museum for her collection of Hollywood memorabilia - including Judy Garland’s blue dress from “The Wizard of Oz” and the white dress Marilyn Monroe wore over the subway grate in “The Seven-Year Itch” - has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, Bankruptcy Beat has learned.

The Hollywood Motion Picture and Television Museum, which owns the artifacts of Hollywood’s Golden Age that Reynolds collected over several decades, sought Chapter 11 protection to halt a lawsuit that its lender filed against it, according to the organization’s bankruptcy lawyer, Peter Susi. In an interview Thursday, Susi told Bankruptcy Beat that there’s a dispute over how much the lender is owed on a $1 million-plus loan. Filing for Chapter 11 protection automatically halts pending lawsuits against a company.

This isn’t the first time Reynolds has been involved in a bankruptcy proceeding. The actress herself (known for her roles in such films as “Singin’ In The Rain” and “The Unsinkable Molly Brown,” as well as recent turns in the TV show “Will & Grace”) sought Chapter 11 protection in 1997 along with her eponymous Las Vegas hotel, which had displayed some of her movie collectibles. The hotel couldn’t generate enough cash to cover its expenses, according to the Los Angeles Times, and was later sold to the parent company of the World Wrestling Federation, Titan Sports Inc.

The goal of the current filing, Susi said, is to resolve the litigation and find a home for the collection, which Reynolds began acquiring in the 1970s as the major movie studios began selling off their costumes, sets, equipment and props. The collection includes pieces from all eras of film history, ranging from outfits worn by silent film stars Rudolph Valentino and Mary Pickford to the white tuxedo Tom Hanks wore in “Big.”

The non-profit (whose chief executive is Todd Fisher, Reynolds’ son, and whose board members include Reynolds’ daughter, actress Carrie Fisher, director George Lucas and Hollywood legends Shirley MacLaine and Elizabeth Taylor) is currently constructing a building in Pigeon Forge, Tenn., (also home to Dollywood) that was slated to open this spring.

“They very much want to display this stuff and not have it scattered to the four winds,” Susi said. “It’s been a lifetime putting it together.”

Michael O'Regan · Post by **Michael O'Regan** » Sat Jun 20, 2009 2:28 am

Meanwhile catch Ms Reynolds in residency at CAFE CARLYLE in NYC through June 27.

sandarax · Post by **sandarax** » Mon Jul 06, 2009 1:18 am

What are good ideas for a Hollywood Themed sweet sixteen party?
I'm having a sweet sixteen party at my country club in July. The party will be outside on a large patio, and i want it to be some variation of Hollywood themed. What are some suggestions for food (it's catered so general ideas), decorations, extra things?
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Jack Theakston · Post by **Jack Theakston** » Mon Jul 06, 2009 8:16 am

Why don't you rent some of Debbie's movie props and have them on display?

rudyfan · Post by **rudyfan** » Mon Jul 06, 2009 1:32 pm

Poor Debbie, she's been trying to get a museum going (and staying around) for decades now. I never got to Vegas to see the stuff when she had her hotel.