Auctions

“The Great Gatsby's” leading man, Leonardo DiCaprio, is using his current screen sway for environmental good -- again. Together with Christie's next week, DiCaprio will co-host “the most important environmental charity ever staged,” the auction house's Brett Gorvy said in a statement. The 11th Hour charity auction, to be held in New York Monday evening, will benefit environmental and wildlife conservation efforts supported by the now 15-year-old Leonardo DiCaprio Foundation.

Kobe Bryant is locked in a court battle with his mother because she is trying to auction off his old Lakers and high school memorabilia. Pamela Bryant was given $450,000 up front by Goldin Auctions, a New Jersey auction house, so it could sell mementos from Kobe's days at Lower Merion High in Ardmore, Pa., and in his early seasons with the Lakers. She planned to use the advance to help purchase a home in Nevada. Goldin Auctions announced plans Tuesday for an auction in June of what its website calls "the bryant collection.

Lakers Hall of Famer Elgin Baylor will be auctioning off memorabilia, awards and personal items on May 31 with the help of Julien's Auctions . Baylor, whose No. 22 jersey is retired at Staples Center, is making available his 1959 All-Star Game MVP Trophy, his 1971-72 championship ring and a number of rare items accumulated over his legendary career. "I worked and played as hard as I possibly could. My college coach said just give it your best effort and then you can feel good about what you've done," Baylor told Michael Mink of Investor's Business Daily . "I was always competitive.

A corked bat that belonged to baseball legend Mickey Mantle is going up for auction later this month by Gray Flannel Auctions . The bat, which has a reserve price of $5,000, is a Mantle bat from the 1960s. Authenticator John Taube was verifying that the bat was a Mantle bat when he noticed alterations at the top of the barrel. “During our examination of the bat, we noticed a circular area .75 inches wide in the center of the top barrel," Taube says in a statement. "The finish in the area has also been touched up to mask the circular area.

Marianne Blend learned she was in trouble about three weeks ago when she looked out the window of her Highland Park home and saw strangers placing a large sign in her frontyard. "They were two big men, so I didn't go out there until they were gone," said the 78-year-old widow. "But when I did go out and looked at it, I couldn't believe it. " The sign announced that her 92-year-old clapboard cottage was being sold in a Superior Court probate auction scheduled for Saturday. For Blend, it was stunning news.

Ever wanted to own something that previously belonged to a celebrity? Teri Hatcher's celebrity yard sale and auction on Saturday offers up that chance.  Hatcher is to preside over the sale of new and used items from stars includng Ellen DeGeneres, Portia de Rossi, Vanessa Williams, Al Pacino, Jason Alexander, Ray Romano, Katey Sagal and more. Proceeds are earmarked for the Juvenile Arthritis Assn. The event is scheduled from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday at the Americana at Brand , 889 Americana Way, Glendale.

A manuscript of Truman Capote's "Breakfast at Tiffany's" is being auctioned online by R.R. Auctions this week. The manuscript includes Capote's handwritten edits, including one of the most significant: He changes the main character's name to Holly Golightly. Indeed, who would find Connie Gustafson appealing? Holly Golightly is far more attractive. R.R. Auctions describes the manuscript as the "final working draft manuscript for its 1958 Random House publication, 8.5 x 11, consisting of its entire 84 pages, mainly on high-quality goldenrod yellow paper, and copiously annotated throughout by author Truman Capote.

Perhaps you recall the must-see-to-believe story of the Designer Dollhouse Showcase , for which top Los Angeles architects and interior decorators revealed the obsessive-compulsive gene that drives them to get every last detail just right , even if the project at hand is just 1:12 scale of reality? Now comes word that at the charity auction where bidding on each designer dollhouse was expected to start at $15,000, "most" of the 10 houses did sell. Officials declined to specify which ones sold, or for how much, treating the auction results like some matter of national security.

Bryce Harper had a great opening day, homering in his first two at-bats as the Washington Nationals defeated the Miami Marlins, 2-0. To top it off, it was his first major league opening day, making it extra special for him. Many players will save a memento from their first opening day, be it a game ball, cap or jersey. Harper wanted to save his jersey. Something to show the grandkids one day. "This is the jersey I wore when I homered twice..... " Well, the Nationals had different ideas.

A Nevada pawn shop is facing criticism for selling the .38-caliber pistol of ex-LAPD Officer Christopher Dorner , who went on a shooting rampage in Southern California earlier this year. Bargain Pawn in North Las Vegas, has put the gun up for sale in an online auction , hoping to donate proceeds to victims' families. But Sgt. Brian Smith, president of the Riverside Police Officers Assn., called the sale “tasteless.” The union is raising funds to benefit the children of Officer Michael Crain, who was shot and killed by Dorner in an ambush.