Era Ends as "Ackermansion" is Closed
In a story that will make any collector of anything shiver, legendary science fiction enthusiast Forrest J. Ackerman (founder and editor of Famous Monsters of Filmland magazine) has been forced by age and ill-heath to sell his collection of 75 years of memorabilia and his home, the "Ackermansion." According to the Los Angeles Times (registration required for link) the two-story, 5,800-square-foot mansion on winding Glendower Avenue in the Los Feliz hills once had more than 300,000 science-fiction and horror film items, crammed into every nook and cranny. Its walls were covered with movie posters, paintings and masks of screen legends like Boris Karloff.
Writes Jim Van Hise:
After years of broken promises, Forry has given up his dream of housing his collection in a museum. Following his medical problems in April and May he decided that at age 86 it was all too much for him to continue to manage. He's sold his home and the collection has been dispersed among several dealers who are selling it for him. Some has already found a home among private collectors, some will appear in auctions and some has already been sold on ebay.
On Sept,14th and 15th, Forry presided over an estate sale where material not taken by the major dealers was sold off at fire sale prices to fans who visited his house, many just wanting a souvenir of what was. I was there both days, originally going just to view the end of an era but surprisingly finding some material well worth acquiring. The first time I visited the Ackermansion was twenty years ago, and now it is no more. Someone with more guts than I actually asked him today how Forry felt about all this, and he replied, "It's 75 years of my life down the drain."
8:37:41 AM 
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