NEW YORK.- Marlon Brando’s legacy was honored today at Christie’s as The Personal Property of Marlon Brando sale totaled an extraordinary $2,378,300. Telephone bidders from all across the world joined a packed saleroom at Christie’s in a six-and-a-half hour marathon auction that paid homage to a cultural icon many regard as the greatest actor of the post-war generation.

Memorabilia relating to Brando’s depiction of Don Corleone in The Godfather – considered by many his most memorable role – dominated the day’s proceedings. A hushed, expectant saleroom filled with over 500 spectators and bidders witnessed Brando’s annotated film script, estimated at $10,000-15,000, fetch a staggering $312,800.

Setting a new world auction record for a film script at auction, it was bought by an anonymous phone bidder. The previous record stood at $244,500, set at Christie’s New York in 1996 for Clark Gable’s Gone With The Wind script.

Another Godfather highlight, the letter from author Mario Puzo asking Brando to consider the role of Don Corleone, fetched $132,000- and was bought by Al Tapper, a private Florida collector.

Miko Brando, Marlon Brando’s second eldest child, says: “Today’s sale has been a real success and I feel humbled by collectors and fans who have spent so freely to own a piece of my father’s heritage and history.”

Helen Bailey, Head of Popular Arts, Christie’s New York, says: “We are delighted and thrilled with the results of today’s auction – a fitting tribute to arguably the world’s greatest film actor and a 20th century icon.”

Other sale highlights included the photograph of Marlon Brando and Rita Moreno in The Night Of The Following Day, 1968 which realized $48,000 – and notably the only piece of film memorabilia Brando kept in his Mulholland Drive home; a transcript of a telegram from Brando to Marilyn Monroe after her nervous breakdown in 1961 which made $36,000; and many of the group lots of books fetching more than $45,000 each – Brando had over 3,600 books in his library, and with many of the books annotated in Brando’s own hand, bidders were eager to snap up these revealing and fascinating items.