![D.W. Griffith](https://www.insidehook.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/12/DW-Griffith_1200-1.jpg?resize=840%2C622)
It makes sense that someone who’s been successful in the arts would covet its history. Broadway producer Tom Gregory has amassed a sizable collection of rare Hollywood memorabilia throughout the years, and he’s offered up a giant portion of it—250 signed photos from the Silent Film Era to the Golden Age of Hollywood—to RR Auction in Boston.
With 70 percent of silent films destroyed, Gregory’s signed photos from that era hold a particularly important place in Hollywood history. The gem of the lot is a signed photograph of director D.W. Griffith (center in the above photo), who among other early classics, produced the highly racist (but revolutionary, nonetheless) epic Birth of a Nation. (His signature is on the lower end, with a pre-auction estimate of just $1,500.)
Maybe the best-known names come out of the Golden Age section of the autograph lot. Signed photos include Greta Garbo, James Dean, Wizard of Oz cast members, and even famed horror stars Bela Lugosi and Boris Karloff. (See a number of them below.)
“Tom Gregory has amassed a collection that can accurately be deemed world class,” said Robert Livingston, executive Vice President at RR Auction, in a press release.
The auction goes live on Dec. 8 and runs through Dec. 15. RealClearLife has curated a list of our seven favorites below, along with their pre-auction estimates (i.e. likely what you’ll have to bid on the photos in real time to eventually win them). At the bottom, watch Gregory expound on his collection.
![Hollywood Signed Photos Auction](https://www.insidehook.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/12/Hollywood-Signed-Photos-7_1200-1.jpg?resize=840%2C1065)
![Hollywood Signed Photos Collection](https://www.insidehook.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/12/Hollywood-Signed-Photos-1_1200-1.jpg?resize=840%2C1049)
![Hollywood Signed Photos Collection](https://www.insidehook.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/12/Hollywood-Signed-Photos-2_1200-1.jpg?resize=840%2C1039)
![Hollywood Signed Photos Auction](https://www.insidehook.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/12/Hollywood-Signed-Photos-3_1200-1.jpg?resize=840%2C1035)
![Hollywood Signed Photos Auction](https://www.insidehook.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/12/Hollywood-Signed-Photos-4_1200-1.jpg?resize=840%2C1089)
![Hollywood Signed Photos Auction](https://www.insidehook.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/12/Hollywood-Signed-Photos-5_1200-e1481220264231-1.jpg?resize=840%2C1114)
![Hollywood Signed Photos Auction](https://www.insidehook.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/12/Hollywood-Signed-Photos-6_1200-1.jpg?resize=840%2C1071)
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