LOS ANGELES, CA.- James Cagney’s 1942 Oscar for Best Actor, recognizing his performance as George M. Cohan in Yankee Doodle Dandy, will be auctioned by Nate D. Sanders Auctions on November 20. Interested bidders may participate in the auction online.

Cagney starred in sixty-six films, and was nominated for an academy award three times. He won his only Oscar for his portrayal of George M. Cohan, the father of American musical comedy, in the critically acclaimed film Yankee Doodle Dandy. Considered one of the greatest performers of all-time, Cagney ranked 8th in the American Film Institute’s 50 Greatest American Screen Legends survey.

In a 1972 BBC interview, legendary director Orson Welles paid the ultimate tribute to Cagney, stating, “he was maybe the greatest actor who ever appeared in front of a camera." In 1993 The Library of Congress selected Yankee Doodle Dandy for preservation in the United Stated National Film Registry.

The 13 ½ inch tall gold-plated Oscar statuette sits atop a metal base with a plaque reading “Academy First Award / To James Cagney / For His Performance in 'Yankee Doodle Dandy.''' A smaller plaque on the back of the statuette states, “Academy of / Motion Picture / Arts and Sciences / First Award / 1942.”

Bidding for the James Cagney Oscar begins at $800,000.

Also going under the hammer is the typewriter used by Joseph Stefano to write Psycho, which became Alfred Hitchcock’s directorial masterpiece. Screenwriter Stefano used the olive green Olympia typewriter to adapt Robert Bloch’s novel into one of the most frightening feature films of all-time. Psycho, starring Janet Leigh and Anthony Perkins, went on to earn four Academy Award nominations and is considered by film aficionados to be one of the greatest movies ever.

Stefano also used the typewriter to write 12 early episodes for the cult science fiction television show The Outer Limits. Bidding for the typewriter begins at $25,000.