The replacement Oscar statuette for “Citizen Kane” that Orson Welles’s daughter was granted in 1988, after his estate couldn’t find the original following his death in 1985, sold at auction over the weekend for a whopping $645,000 although the transaction may not have been legal.
That’s according to the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS), which is looking into the legitimacy of the sale that occurred during a Heritage Auctioneers “Hollywood Entertainment” auction where, among other items from Welles’s career, featured the 1941 Oscar for Original Screenplay he shared with co-screenwriter Herman Mankiewicz. The iconic film received nine nominations, including Best Picture, Best Director, and Best Actor for Welles’s performance, but the movie only won Best Screenplay.
