Column: Treasure trove of Gregory Peck memorabilia goes to auction

Actor Gregory Peck passed away in 2003, just before the American Film Institute named his “To Kill a Mockingbird” character, Atticus Finch, the big screen’s greatest hero. The No. 2 hero was Indiana Jones and No. 3 was James Bond.

Peck’s youngest son, Anthony Peck, 66, says he was delighted that the hero was someone representing real life with courageous values rather than an action hero in a fantasy scenario.

That 2003 announcement would have meant the world to his father, known for portraying upstanding, honest, decent characters guided by a moral compass to do what wasn’t necessarily popular but was right.

It is that legacy that Anthony Peck and his sister, Cecilia Peck Voll, want to spotlight with the treasure trove of Gregory and Veronique Peck memorabilia, photos, film scripts, clothing, awards and art that they have made available for online and live auction Feb. 23 by Heritage Auctions’ Dallas office.

One of the top items is Peck’s leather-bound, photo filled “To Kill a Mockingbird” screenplay. The auction also includes a 35th anniversary copy of the novel personally autographed by author Harper Lee.

Gregory Peck embraces Mary Badham, 9, a Birmingham, Ala. acting discovery who plays his daughter in “To Kill a Mockingbird.”

(Uncredited / Associated Press)

“Harper Lee once said the role of Atticus Finch gave Gregory Peck the chance to play himself,” says Anthony, noting that his father embodied Finch in real life.

The Academy Award-winning actor is best known in San Diego for co-founding the La Jolla Playhouse in 1947 with actors Mel Ferrer and Dorothy McGuire.

After being born and raised in La Jolla, where he attended La Jolla Grammar School and later San Diego High School downtown, Peck graduated from UC Berkeley. He then moved to New York to kick off his theatrical career, eventually heading back west to Los Angeles, where he found his niche in Hollywood films.

But Peck returned to La Jolla in summers to continue working with La Jolla Playhouse as artistic director and to support the acting community.

It was his way of giving back, Anthony says. “He wanted to help everywhere he was and everyone he could.”

Both Anthony, an actor and screenplay writer residing in Aspen, Colo., and Cecilia, a documentary producer living in Santa Monica, carry on the family tradition. Peck also had three children by his first wife, Greta, before the couple divorced in 1955.

Among the 246 auction items is a San Diego Press Club Headliner Award he was presented here in 1976.

While Anthony and Cecilia grew up in Los Angeles, Anthony says they loved spending long weekends and summer vacations at the La Jolla Beach & Tennis Club.

The auction includes artworks by Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec and Raoul Dufy, a bronze bust that Veronique sculpted of her husband, and a custom-tailored gray flannel suit from the actor’s closet. Peck starred in the 1956 movie “The Man in the Gray Flannel Suit.”

This Gregory Peck photo from the 1947 movie, “Duel in the Sun,” is among 246 personal mementos that are being auctioned.

(Courtesy of Heritage Auctions)

There are several other items of clothing, cuff links, watches, shoes, a hat given to Peck by Lyndon B. Johnson and a top hat the actor wore to the Royal Ascot.

Also on the auction block is an ornately tooled leather saddle from director Henry King that was a favorite of the actor and a fixture in his office, a film director’s chair, aviator sunglasses worn by Peck in the movie “MacArthur” and an embroidered needlepoint given to Peck by Harper Lee on his birthday.

One of the largest items is a poker table and chairs. On most Sunday evenings for more than 30 years, friends and celebrities gathered at the Peck home bordering Beverly Hills, to play cards and tell jokes.

The table and chairs were a gift from Frank and Barbara Sinatra, who often joined the games, as did Jack Lemmon, Angie Dickinson and Walter Matthau.

Anthony says they didn’t play for high stakes. They played for camaraderie.

“I would be upstairs and hear them roaring with laughter,” Anthony recalls. “They were all story tellers. They had the best time.”

But the auction items he most reveres are the leather-bound collections of scripts from his dad’s movies. The scripts, complete with annotations and photos are organized chronologically and preserved in three leather-bound binders.

Sentimental keepsakes also include guest books signed by celebrities, movie stars, VIPs and politicians who visited the Peck home through the years.

They contain signatures that would make an autograph collector drool — French President Jacques Chirac, Kirk Douglas, Berry Gordy, Charlton Heston, Anjelica Huston, Quincy Jones, Gene Kelly, Norman Lear, Shirley MacLaine, Sidney Poitier, Frank Sinatra, Barbra Streisand and Elizabeth Taylor, to mention a few.

Some are accompanied by parting comments and illustrations. One guest book bears a full-page note from Michael Jackson.

Robert Wilonsky, of Heritage Auctions, calls Peck’s filmography staggering and his activism inspiring. “Working with Anthony and Cecilia has been a genuine treat for all of us, because, it’s important to note, most of us work here because we’re fans first and foremost of the memories and mementos we offer. To share them with others is the real thrill of this job.”

Anthony says it was difficult for him and his sister to part with these items.

“We had my dad all of his life and all of our lives. He was so loved and respected. We wanted to make some of these most meaningful things available,” Anthony says. He called this their way of sharing their dad’s legacy with the world.

A portion of the sale proceeds will be donated to World Central Kitchen, founded by Chef José Andrés to feed those in need, he adds. “My father wanted to help those less fortunate.”

The siblings already have donated many items to the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures, and they are keeping items closest to their hearts.

“Everything in this auction was chosen in the interest of supporting our father’s legacy and showing the kind of man he was,” adds Anthony.