See the answer here.

On June 14, Bonhams & Butterfields will auction off the Tony Award that Gertrude Berg won for best lead actress in a play in 1959. Berg was honored for her performance in "A Majority of One" as a Jewish widow who surmounts her prejudice against Japanese people (whom she blames for her son's death in World War II) and falls in love with a Japanese tycoon. At the Tonys, she beat Claudette Colbert ("The Marriage-Go-Round"), Lynn Fontanne ("The Visit"), Kim Stanley ("A Touch of the Poet") and Maureen Stapleton ("The Cold Wind and the Warm").

The comedy written by Leonard Spigelgass ran 556 performances on Broadway after opening at the Shubert Theatre in February, 1959. It was nominated for four Tonys — actress, director (Dore Schary), actor (Cedric Hardwicke) and scenic design — but only Berg won.

Back in the 1950s, Berg specialized in portraying demonstrative Jewish matrons. She won the Emmy as best actress of 1951 for "The Goldbergs," a TV sitcom based upon her hit radio show about a boisterous, big-hearted, buttinsky Jewish momma living in New York City. At the Emmys, she beat Helen Hayes, Imogene Coca, Bette White and Judith Anderson.

However, Berg wasn't considered a big enough box-office draw when the feature film of "A Majority of One" was produced in 1961. The lead role went to Rosalind Russell, who won one of her record five Golden Globes (best comedy/musical actress). "A Majority of One" also won best musical/comedy picture and best film promoting international understanding. It was only nominated for one Oscar (cinematography — it lost to "West Side Story"), but helmer Mervyn LeRoy was nommed by the Directors Guild of America (he lost to Robert Wise and Jerome Robbins for "West Side Story") and Leonard Spigelgass scored a WGA bid for adapting his Broadway play to screen (he lost to George Axelrod for "Breakfast at Tiffany's").

Bonham's sets the sale estimate for Gertrude Berg's Tony Award at $1,000 to $1,200, which seems just about right. A few years ago I paid $8,000 for a much more lofty Tony statuette: the trophy Richard Barr earned for producing 1964 best play "Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?"

There was a lot of hubbub lately over the alleged sale of the Tony won by Florence Klotz for designing the costumes to Broadway musical flop "Grind" (1985). The minimum bid at EBay was set ridiculously high — at $10,000. That auction page at EBay claims it sold for $20,000, but if you look closely at the details of the alleged sale, there was only one bid from someone who's ID is kept anonymous. That's very suspicious. Makes you wonder if that bid was logged by the statuette's owner in order to save face when it didn't sell for a more realistic market price — or if that was one of those joke bids placed by an eBay prankster who has no intention of paying up. I'd be shocked if it actually sold for that much.

Photos: Bonhams & Butterfields, CBS

RELATED POSTS:

For sale: Michael Jackson's VMAs and American Music Awards

'Irena's Vow' could put Tovah Feldshuh back in Tony race

'Exit the King' enters Tony Awards race as frontrunner

Jeremy Piven fight for Tony Award goes to round two

Anne Hathaway could contend at Oscars and Tonys for playing Judy Garland

Can 'Sopranos' Emmy champ James Gandolfini win a Tony Award?

Will 'West Side Story' be slighted by the Tony Awards yet again?

Can Angela Lansbury tie Tony record with a fifth win for 'Blithe Spirit'?

Jane Fonda is Tony Award front-runner for '33 Variations'

Get Gold Derby on Twitter. Join the Gold Derby Group at Facebook. Become friends with Tom O'Neil on Facebook. Get Gold Derby RSS feed via Facebook. RSS Feedburner. RSS Atom.

Maybe the Emmy smackdown to win best comedy series is already over since no show seems to have emerged strong enough to dethrone "30 Rock," which won for the last two years.

However, repeat winners aren't too common, although there is that notable exception called "Frasier" (five years in a row! — 1994 to 1998). Before "Frasier," the last yuk-yuk-yuk program to prevail three years in a row was more than a quarter century ago ("Taxi," 1979-1981) and it's hard to make comparisons  between then and now since the Emmy voting process has changed so radically through time.

But one thing is significant. Don't write off, for example, past champ "The Office" (2006) just because it didn't repeat in 2007 and 2008. It's not uncommon for shows to skip a year or two after winning the first time, then return triumphant. (Consider the victories by "Everybody Loves Raymond" in 2003 and 2005)

Now let's get back to the ever-changing voting process, which has just been revamped again this year. Over the last several Emmy derbies, nominees were chosen after judging panels screened sample episodes submitted by the 10 shows that reaped the most votes from the 14,000 TV academy members who checked off a popular ballot. (No proof of viewing was required during that first voting round — then the judging panels took over.)

This year, the cheapskates running the TV academy scrapped the judging panels in order to save money. That's outrageous and unfair because it zaps the hopes of underdogs, but it makes the job of award prognosticators like us much easier. One additional — and positive — change is that the list of nominees will be expanded to six or seven from the usual five.

So, to predict this year's nominees, start with the series that made the Top 10 last year and consider how they fared this year. Did they keep up their quality and TV Nielsens? If so, they'll probably be back. That's what happens when you use a popular ballot to determine award outcomes.

There aren't many newbies from the recent TV season to challenge past Emmy titans, but Showtime's "United States of Tara" looks strong. Entertainment Weekly gives "Better Off Ted" a B+, noting that it "is certainly the most original sitcom to come along in a while." "Worst Week" got a great review from Variety: "There's something refreshing about seeing an utterly screwball comedy mounted on an episodic scale." "Parks and Recreation," starring Amy Poehler and created by "The Office's" Greg Daniels and Mike Schur, premieres on NBC on April 9, but its pilot got poor early test results from audiences. Still, many hit TV series endured the same rough start-up. If "Parks" rallies, beware: This race (plus best comedy actress) could turn into a fierce cat fight between those "Saturday Night Live" divas Poehler and Tina Fey ("30 Rock")! Meow!

* = Top 10 Semi-Finalist in 2008
** = Nominee in 2008

BEST COMEDY SERIES
(Front-runners)
"The Big Bang Theory" (CBS)
"Californication" (Showtime)
"Desperate Housewives" (ABC)
"Entourage" (HBO) **
"Family Guy" (Fox) *
"How I Met Your Mother" (CBS)
"The Office" (NBC) **
"Samantha Who?" (ABC)
"Scrubs" (ABC)
"30 Rock" (NBC) ** (Winner in 2008 and 2007)
"Two and a Half Men" (CBS) **
"Ugly Betty" (ABC) *
"United States of Tara" (Showtime)
"Weeds" (Showtime) * 

In the snappy photo gallery Paul Sheehan compiled for The Envelope, he gives us sneak peeks at 30 films considered to be "Oscar bait" in the next derby, including director Rob Marshall's adaptation of the Tony-winning Broadway musical "Nine" (starring Penelope Cruz and Daniel Day-Lewis) and Peter Jackson's "The Lovely Bones" (with Saorise Ronan, Mark Wahlberg and Rachel Weisz).

Since we posted the gallery the other day, there have been new developments regarding two of the flicks. A trailer just came out for Ang Lee 's "Taking Woodstock" and RopeOfSilicon.com unveiled a poster for Marty Scorsese 's "Shutter Island." Below: what Sheehan reveals about those pix. Check out the rest of the photo gallery highlights here.

"Taking Woodstock" (Focus Features – Aug. 14)
Oscar winner Ang Lee ("Brokeback Mountain") reunites with Oscar-nominated scripter James Schamus ("Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon") for this biopic set against the backdrop of the famed 1969 musical festival. With Schamus now head of the studio, expect a big push for this period piece. Emmy-nominated writer Demetri Martin (""Important Things With Demetri Martin," "Late Night With Conan O'Brien") plays the son of the couple — two-time Olivier Award winner Henry Goodman ("Assassins," "The Merchant of Venice") and Oscar nominee Imelda Staunton ("Vera Drake") -- behind the festival. The rest of the cast is filled with theater folk, including Tony winners Liev Schreiber ("Glengarry Glen Ross") and Dan Folger ("The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee") and nominee Jonathan Groff ("Spring Awakening").

"Shutter Island" (Paramount – Oct. 2)
With this period crime drama based on the 2003 bestselling mystery by Dennis Lehane ("Mystic River"), Martin Scorsese helms his first film since winning an Oscar for 2006 best picture "The Departed." Three-time Oscar nominee Leonardo DiCaprio ("What's Eating Gilbert Grape," "The Aviator," "Blood Diamond") takes direction from Scorsese for the fourth time. He plays a U.S. Marshal searching for patient (Emily Mortimer) missing from a Cape Cod hospital for the criminally insane in 1954. Oscar winner Ben Kingsley ("Gandhi") is the head of the hospital with Oscar nominees Max Von Sydow ("Pelle the Conqueror") as a dubious doctor and Michelle Williams ("Brokeback Mountain") as DiCaprio's wife.

RELATED POSTS

Photo gallery: The 12 greatest Oscar best pictures

Will Michelle Pfeiffer seduce Oscar voters with 'Cheri'?

Do you think Johnny Depp is the actor most overdue to win an Oscar?

Which winners would you force to give back their Oscars?

Matt Damon says Oscars usually get it wrong

Easiest Oscars quiz ever: Which two movies suffered the worst shutout?

Jon Stewart and David Letterman: 'We think it's stupid' to host the Oscars

Photo: Paramount Pictures

Get Gold Derby on Twitter. Join the Gold Derby Group at Facebook. Become friends with Tom O'Neil on Facebook. Get Gold Derby RSS feed via Facebook. RSS Feedburner. RSS Atom.

While the overall reviews for "Irena's Vow" were mixed, critics like New York Times scribe Charles Isherwood thought that Tovah Feldshuh delivered a first-rate performance. In this new play by Dan Gordon, the actress portrays real-life heroine Irena Gut Opdyke, a Polish Catholic who saved 13 Jews from extermination by hiding them in the basement of a Nazi officer's villa.

Although Feldshuh is a theater favorite, she faces stiff competition from better-known names in the lead actress in a play race at the Tony Awards. Among her competition could be any or all of these five Oscar winners — Jane Fonda for her much-heralded return to the rialto after a 46-year absence as a musicologist in "33 Variations"; Marcia Gay Harden, a 1993 Tony nominee for "Angels in America: Millennium Approaches," as a helicopter mother in "God of Carnage"; Mercedes Ruehl, who won a Tony for "Lost in Yonkers" the same year (1991) she won an Oscar for "The Fisher King," who rules the roost in "An American Plan"; Susan Sarandon, who was on Broadway only once, in 1972, but commands our respect as a onetime queen in "Exit the King"; and double Oscar champ Dianne Wiest, who could contend for her first Tony for her portrayal of a wife whose life is shattered in "All My Sons."

Feldshuh is a four-time also-ran at these top theater kudos. She has twice contended for lead actress in a play, losing her first bid in 1976 for "Yentl" to Irene Worth. who won the second of her three Tonys for the revival of "Sweet Bird of Youth," and her 2004 nod for "Golda's Balcony" to Phylicia Rashad ("A Raisin in the Sun"). She lost the 1989 featured actress in a play race for "Lend Me A Tenor" to Christine Baranski, who won her second Tony in this category for "Rumors" five years after prevailing for "The Real Thing." And Felshuh was bested in her 1979 lead actress in a musical bid for "Sarava" by Angela Lansbury, who took Tony No. 4 for "Sweeney Todd."

While all four of Lansbury's wins came for lead actress in a musical ("Mame," "Dear World" and "Gypsy" were the others), this year she could be contending for lead actress in a play for her comedic delight of a turn as a larger-than-life medium in "Blithe Spirit." Janet McTeer returns to Broadway 11 years after winning this award for "A Doll's House" in the title role of the acclaimed West End transfer of "Mary Stuart." Both she and her co-star Harriet Walter (as Queen Elizabeth) contended for the Olivier Award in 2005. While they lost, Kristin Scott Thomas won that award last year for her role as the aging actress in "The Seagull," and she could well be in the running for the Broadway production. And finally, Carla Gugino, soon to begin previews in the much-lauded Chicago transfer of "Desire Under the Elms," could also figure into the final five.

RELATED POSTS:

'Exit the King' enters Tony Awards race as frontrunner

Jeremy Piven fight for Tony Award goes to round two

Jeremy Irons and Joan Allen make wrong 'Impressionism' on Broadway

Anne Hathaway could contend at Oscars and Tonys for playing Judy Garland

Can 'Sopranos' Emmy champ James Gandolfini win a Tony Award?

Will 'West Side Story' be slighted by the Tony Awards yet again?

'Extraordinary' Natasha Richardson was beloved Broadway star

Can Angela Lansbury tie Tony record with a fifth win for 'Blithe Spirit'?

Jane Fonda is Tony Award front-runner for '33 Variations'

Olivier Awards to 'Black Watch' and the Bard

Photos: Walter Kerr Theatre ("Irena's Vow"), Eugene O'Neill Theatre ("33 Variations"), Jacob's Theatre ("God of Carnage"), Ethel Barrymore Theatre ("Exit the King"), Broadhurst Theatre ("Mary Stuart")

Get Gold Derby on Twitter. Join the Gold Derby Group at Facebook. Become friends with Tom O'Neil on Facebook. Get Gold Derby RSS feed via Facebook. RSS Feedburner. RSS Atom.

See the answer here.

• The death of Maurice Jarre from cancer at age 84 is a massive loss. The composer scored more than 150 films. He won the Oscar and Grammy for scoring "Doctor Zhivago" (1965) plus Oscars for "A Passage to India" (1984) and "Lawrence of Arabia" (1962). He also earned nominations for scoring "Les Dimanches de Ville d'Avray" (1962), "The Message" (1976), "Witness" (1985), "Gorillas in the Mist" (1988) and "Ghost" (1991). He was nominated for best song for "Marmalade, Molasses and Honey" ("The Life and Times of Judge Roy Bean," 1972).

• "The Tudors" starring Jonathan Rhys Meyers didn't nab an Emmy nomination for best drama series last year, but it landed in the top 10 after an initial popular vote of TV academy members. Where it landed in that rundown we don't know — only that it didn't survive to the final five after scores from judging panels weighed in. A change in the voting process this year will automatically grant nominations to the top six or seven shows that get the most popular votes. Shrewdly, Showtime is airing the newest installment of "The Tudors" episodes this Sunday in the final weeks of the Emmy eligibility period. Can't wait? You can view the first episode of the new season on line. SHOWTIME

• Getting ready for the Daytime Emmy nominations? Here's an excellent primer covering what's going on in a.m. TV scene. HOLLYWOOD REPORTER

• One urgent update to the day tube's scene: TV's longest-running soap, "Guiding Light" may soon go dark. TV WEEK

• Director Danny Boyle wins yet another kudo for "Slumdog Millionaire." EMPIRE AWARDS

• Cinema scribe Ed Douglas warns us that director Rupert Wyatt's ("The Escapist") adaptation of Sebastian Faulks' bestseller "Birdsong" starring Michael Fassbender ("300," "Hunger") and Paddy Considine ("Cinderella Man," "The Bourne Supremacy") could be a derby player: " Wyatt may be untested (I'm a huge fan of "The Escapist") but the subject matter (romance set in WWI), the studio (Focus) and the cast would make you think that this will probably end up being a Fall release, Oscar push." COMING SOON

• TV columnist Kristin Dos Santos is rooting for a certain rapper-turned-actor to be rewarded for his recent performance as a patient paralyzed with locked-in syndrome on "House M.D." Under the headline "Mos Def'initely Deserves an Emmy," she makes her case and shares this video clip. E! ONLINE

Photo: Showtime

Get Gold Derby on Twitter. Join the Gold Derby Group at Facebook. Become friends with Tom O'Neil on Facebook. Get Gold Derby RSS feed via Facebook. RSS Feedburner. RSS Atom.

Perfect timing. Oscars' best-picture champ, "Slumdog Millionaire," just fell out of the top 10 of box-office draws at theaters, earning only $1.1 million this last weekend. Read the L.A. Times' full box-office report.

Overall, it's reaped $139 million in U.S. theaters. Globally, it's hit a jackpot of about $300 million.

This film that recently won eight chunks of Oscar gold seems to be running out of box-office gold at a fortuitous time. This week — on March 31 — "Slumdog Millionaire" aims for DVD gold when it's released on disc in the U.S.

Photo: Fox Searchlight

Get Gold Derby on Twitter. Join the Gold Derby Group at Facebook. Become friends with Tom O'Neil on Facebook. Get Gold Derby RSS feed via Facebook. RSS Feedburner. RSS Atom.

The Kids' Choice Awards can be, granted, just as illogical as kids themselves, but a series of losses on Saturday night may suggest a trend: Are kids turning against Miley Cyrus? Oh, yeah — and Harry Potter too?

This year, Miley Cyrus led with the most nominations at the Kids' Choice Awards: three. Technically, she ended up losing twice, but really she got clobbered four times if you count the defeats of her TV show, "Hannah Montana," and film "Bolt." One personal nomination she lost was especially ominous because it was in a category she's dominated the previous two years: favorite TV actress. Selena Gomez ("Wizards of Waverly") ended up pulling off a magic trick last night.

Miley Cyrus did nab a separate prize that she also claimed in 2008 — favorite female singer — but that was an upset considering she prevailed over Rihanna, who was presumed to have a huge sympathy vote following her recent ordeal with Chris Brown (who withdrew his Kids' Choice nominations as public outrage put pressure on him to do so).

Miley Cyrus almost got booted out of the award races too. She ended up enduring despite triggering her own scandals as various new sets of photos kept surfacing, raising questions about her status as a teen role model. Maybe now it's clear why Miley Cyrus cried when she claimed her one, lonely orange blimp award last night. She wasn't putting on fake humility as she wept, "I really thought I was going to lose! So thank you, guys!"

"Hannah Montana" lost favorite TV show to "iCarly," which pulled off a jaw-dropping upset, and Miley's financially successful feature film, "Hannah Montana and Miley Cyrus: Best of Both Worlds Tour" ($70 million worldwide), wasn't nominated for favorite movie.

That Kids' Choice Award for favorite film ended up going to "High School Musical 3: Senior Year," which may not seem like a surprise, but, wait: It beat "The Dark Knight."

Speaking of movie upsets, the biggest at the Kids' Choice Awards this year was "Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa" beating "Wall-E," "Kung-Fu Panda" and even Miley Cyrus' "Bolt" (she performed the voice of "Penny" and co-wrote and performed the song "I Thought I Lost You"). Miley also lost the orange blimp for favorite voice from an animated movie, which went to Jack Black (Po, "Kung Fu Panda").

There was at least one shockeroo among the winners: Indianapolis Colts quarterback Peyton Manning out-pacing Olympic superstar Michael Phelps for fave male athlete (sunk by his own personal scandals?). And maybe it's no surprise that the "Twilight" book series wins anything, but its victory at the Kids' Choice Awards is notable because it beat the "Harry Potter" series!

Photo: Jason Merritt / Getty Images

RELATED POSTS

Latest Miley Cyrus pose could cost her awards

Full list of Kids Choice Awards nominations

Associated Press news report on Kids' Choice Award winners

Photo gallery: Kids' Choice Awards arrivals

Get Gold Derby on Twitter. Join the Gold Derby Group at Facebook. Become friends with Tom O'Neil on Facebook. Get Gold Derby RSS feed via Facebook. RSS Feedburner. RSS Atom.

When the first batch of GLAAD Awards are bestowed tonight at the Marriott Marquis Hotel in New York City, winners will be clutching a new statuette. Here are its vital stats:

• 12 inches high (3-inch base, 9-inch metal sculpture)

• Weight: approximately 7 pounds

• Sculpture is die-cast zinc, hand finished with a satin texture and plated with a custom nickel and rhodium finish for a dark luster

• Base is black-stained ash

After tonight's GLAAD Awards presentation, there will be additional kudos ceremonies in Los Angeles on April 18 and in San Francisco on May 9. You can see a full list of nominees here.

That list of GLAAD Awards nominations doesn't make all award-watchers glad. Nelson Branco of TV Guide Canada, in fact, is furious about the nomination of "homophobic" "As The World Turns" for outstanding daytime drama.

Nelson fumes: "Predictably, the seemingly self-professed anti-discrimination organization is recognizing 'ATWT' despite the fact that the CBS sudser ordered a highly controversial kissing ban on their lone gay couple, Luke and Noah, in the beginning of 2008. Also, 'ATWT' banned any kind of sexual intimacy or lovemaking between Nuke since their almost two-year reign on the soap. This, on a series in which every other heterosexual couple could act as the official spokespeople for sexually transmitted diseases. A couple of months ago, Nuke finally consummated their relationship. Unless you were in Peapack, or in a coma, you know the lack of publicity regarding this historic milestone set off a firestorm of controversy over the fact that Nuke’s lovemaking was treated differently than the promotion of their straight counterparts."

Photo: GLAAD

Get Gold Derby on Twitter. Join the Gold Derby Group at Facebook. Become friends with Tom O'Neil on Facebook. Get Gold Derby RSS feed via Facebook. RSS Feedburner. RSS Atom.