It was 10 years ago this month that one of the surviving pairs of ruby slippers from The Wizard of Oz were stolen from The Judy Garland Museum. The mainstream media has reported that an anonymous benefactor has offered up a $1 million dollar reward for information leading to the recovery of maybe the most iconic piece of Hollywood memorabilia ever created, though Newsweek questions whether this person or persons exist after the cancellation of an interview.
Two other pairs of original ruby slippers that have been saved include a set donated to the Smithsonian’s “Natural Museum of American History” (which Oprah Winfrey smashed together on her original TV series) and a set purchased from Profiles in History by Leonardo DiCaprio and other “angel donors” and gifted to the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts & Sciences’ “Hollywood History Museum“.
I’ve been contacted by two different documentary filmmakers in recent years, working on the story behind the theft. Per the Newsweek story, if the slippers are ever recovered, they would be the property of the insurance company who paid out a $1 million dollar claim with the original theft.
Jason DeBord