Robbie Williams bought Eric Morecambe’s iconic glasses and pipe at auction for £20k, he has revealed.
An auction containing memorabilia and personal items from the comedy legend’s life and career took place between 5 and 9 January, after his widow Joan died at the age of 97 last March.
It was reported at the time by the BBC that Morecambe’s famous glasses had sold for £20,000, far exceeding their estimate of £2,000 to £4,000. Now, Williams has revealed that he was the highest bidder, buying the glasses and the pipe as a “done-loads-of-promo-for-my-film prezzie”, following the recent release of his musical biopic Better Man.
Writing on Instagram, Williams shared that his friend Mike had been appointed as his “Chief Bidder” as he was in Los Angeles and about to board a plane. “As it happens, I got to watch the lot being auctioned live. My iPhone and Mike’s iPhone acting like walkie-talkies,” he wrote.
The singer went on to describe the intense bidding war that took place over ten minutes, writing that his wife Ayda Field encouraged him to keep bidding “with the steely determination of someone bursting through an electronics store door on Black Friday”.
“To be honest, I think we would have gone down with the bidding ship,” he wrote. “Our determination now fully on some primal competitive and irrational shit – “But darling, we’re now going through the children’s inheritance”…….”Fuck em”.”
Once he won the war, Williams said he cried “happy childlike tears”.
“I guess we all need friends-we-never-meet from off the telly. Eric has always been mine,” he said. “An Uncle of sorts. To the very core of me, Eric Morecambe’s spirit has been salve for my soul. How Eric made me feel is how I want to make people feel. What a gift to be able to create such joy and have that joy be present just by thinking of them.”
Over 800 items were auctioned, including a 1978 portrait of Morecambe by the artist Richard Stone, which went for £15,000, and his ventriloquist dummy Charlie which sold for £6,200 – twice its highest estimate.
Elsewhere bidders picked up a letter from Wise to Morecambe which revealed he wished to end their partnership for £3,200, his tailcoat and trousers from the Morecambe and Wise Show for £4,500 and a vintage Luton Town FC tracksuit with Eric stitched on the back for £5,500.
In other Robbie Williams news, the singer recently secured his 15th Number One album with the Better Man soundtrack, which has tied him with The Beatles.
Williams currently holds the record as the solo artist with the most UK Number One albums. Now, with his 15th Number One record, he is in the same range as The Beatles’ record.
In a three-star review of Williams’ biopic – which was directed by Michael Gracey (The Greatest Showman) and sees the singer depicted as a CGI monkey and tells his life story – NME shared: “This is ‘Rudebox’ on film: some of it good, some of it very bad, all of it a bit of a mess. Still, the monkey musical is a big swing that no-one else would have taken. You can’t fault the chutzpah or the ambition. If it makes back its reported budget, we’ll eat $110m worth of bananas.”
The post Robbie Williams bought “uncle of sorts” Eric Morecambe’s iconic glasses and pipe at auction for £20k appeared first on NME.