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Access Atlanta > Blog > Archives > 2007 > January > 22 > Entry

‘GWTW’ trove goes on block

Fans of the book, film and even the architecture of “Gone With the Wind” will want to circle Feb. 11 on their calendars. That’s when “GWTW” memorabilia of all varieties goes on the auction block in Barnesville.

The sale will take place at the Gone With the Wind Hall of Stars Museum, an antebellum mansion owned by “GWTW” actor Fred Crane, who portrayed Brent Tarleton, one half of the film’s Tarleton twins. Film buffs will recall that Crane, then a young man, had the film’s first piece of dialogue.

Crane, 89, wants to slow down and leave the museum and its many artifacts to others. His dream scenario is to sell the property and everything in it to a sole buyer so the museum can continue.

Autographed items by “GWTW” stars Vivien Leigh, Clark Gable, Olivia de Havilland, Butterfly McQueen, Leslie Howard and others are up for grabs along with memorabilia from other stars like Hattie McDaniel.

A rare first edition of Margaret Mitchell’s novel, originally given as a gift by the author to then-Georgia governor E.D. Rivers, is also being sold.

Perhaps the oddest stuff in the collection? Alligator dress shoes and cuff links once owned by “Superman” actor George Reeves. Reeves (originally credited as George Bessolo), played the other Tarleton twin in “GWTW.” Crane and Reeves struck up a lifelong friendship (Reeves even performed best man duties at Crane’s first wedding in 1940).

According to auctioneers, the mansion in Barnesville — located about 35 miles northwest of Macon — was built in 1849 and served as a Confederate headquarters and hospital during the Civil War. It is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

The sale will start at 11 a.m. under a heated tent.

For more info, www.fsagallery.com and www.atlantaauctionco.com.

Good grades

Predictably, the reporter responsible for WGCL’s strangely appetizing “Restaurant Report Card” segments is thrilled that the state’s new restaurant health inspections will contain both a number and a letter grade.

“It’s great for us since viewers will now actually get a letter grade on ‘Restaurant Report Card,’ ” correspondent Adam Murphy told Buzz on Monday. “It won’t really lessen the impact of what we do at all. If anything, it’ll make things clearer to the consumer.”

The new system should be in place by the end of the year.

Murphy says he was disappointed, however, that unlike South Carolina and California, the state is not requiring eateries to post their inspections at the front door. “That would enable diners to make a decision on whether or not they wanted to eat at an establishment before they ever walk in the front door,” he told us.

But Murphy, a self-professed occasional late-night drive-through consumer himself, is pleased about the new mandatory postings at those establishments. “You wouldn’t believe how many e-mails we’ve received from viewers who wanted that information posted there. Before the change, it really was ‘eat at your own risk’ at drive-throughs.”

Thanks from Urban

Keith Urban praised his wife, Nicole Kidman, and thanked his fans for their support during his three-month stay at a rehab center for alcohol abuse treatment, in a video posted on his Web site.

Urban entered the Betty Ford Center in Rancho Mirage, Calif., on Oct. 19 for what he thought would be a 30-day stay.

The 39-year-old country singer, who has publicly acknowledged a former addiction to cocaine, said he decided to stay for three months because he realized that learning to abstain was only part of the process to recovery.

Celebrity docket

Hotel heiress/reality TV star Paris Hilton was placed on 36 months probation and ordered to pay fines after pleading no contest Monday to alcohol-related reckless driving in Los Angeles, a reduction of an original charge of driving under the influence.

Hilton, 25, did not appear in court. The plea was entered by her attorneys, the city attorney’s office said.

Judge Michael Sauer also ordered her to attend an alcohol rehabilitation program and imposed other conditions.

He gave her the option of reducing her probation to 24 months if she completed 40 hours of community service. No immediate decision was made on that option.

Sick bay

Drummer Travis Barker is leaving a European tour with his new band Plus 44 because of an unhealed fracture in his arm.

The former Blink-182 drummer had been on tour despite a fractured right arm he suffered Sept. 9 while filming a video, according to Interscope Records.

Barker, 31, will return to Los Angeles to be treated. The band, fronted by former Blink-182 singer and bassist Mark Hoppus, has not announced a replacement drummer.

Overscene

Lifestyle guru/rug merchant Martha Stewart dining at Watershed in Decatur; “Amazing Race” reality show winner Reichen Lehmkuhl lunching at Einstein’s in Midtown; and nonpracticing “Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman” actress Jane Seymour and her “Walk the Line” actor-hubby James Keach at the Crowne Plaza Ravinia in Dunwoody. Seymour’s fave room service order? Coffee.

Quote of the day

“It was pretty disheartening to be objectified like that.” — Actor Leonardo DiCaprio reflecting on his horrid life as a supermodel serial-dating heartthrob after the success of “Titanic” in 1997.

Celebrity birthdays

Actress Chita Rivera is 74. Singer Anita Pointer of the Pointer Sisters is 59. Keyboardist Danny Federici of Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band is 57. Actor Richard Dean Anderson (“MacGyver”) is 57.Singer-guitarist Robin Zander of Cheap Trick is 54. Actress Gail O’Grady (“American Dreams,” “NYPD Blue”) is 44. Actress Mariska Hargitay (“Law & Order: Special Victims Unit”) is 43. Actress Tiffani Thiessen (“Beverly Hills, 90210”) is 33.

Contributing: news services

If you have a tip, call 404-526-2749. Or fax 404-526-5509. Or e-mail: buzz@ajc.com.

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