Washington D.C., Apr 20, 2022 / 17:19 pm
The Catholic University of America will auction a million-dollar dress that Judy Garland wore as Dorothy Gale in the 1939 film “The Wizard of Oz.” The university says that the proceeds will go toward educating drama students.
“Even though we love the dress, it has never been displayed or shared broadly over the past 50 years,” Jackie Leary-Warsaw, dean of the Benjamin T. Rome School of Music, Drama, and Art, said in a statement shared with CNA. “It was given to inspire and support the arts at Catholic University — and we hope others can enjoy the dress while this gift also supports the next generations of highly talented actors, like Judy Garland or Mercedes McCambridge.”
Leary-Warsaw is the wife of Michael Warsaw, chairman and CEO of the EWTN Global Catholic Network.
McCambridge, an Oscar-winning actress and artist-in-residence at Catholic University in 1973, gifted the dress now valued at an estimated $800,000—$1.2 million, to Father Gilbert Hartke, the founder and head of Catholic University’s drama school.