Dallas Auction to Gavel Ernie Kovacs' Props

From The Associated Press:

Props used by 1950s television comedian Ernie Kovacs, including a pair of eyeglasses with images of eyes on the lenses, are being sold this weekend by a Dallas collectibles auctioneer.

Kovacs wore the glasses when he was in character as drunken poet Percy Dovetonsils.

The three gorilla masks used in comedy bits involving the "Nairobi Trio" will also be part of the auction online and in Dallas at Heritage Auction Galleries. Doug Norwine, director of music and entertainment at Heritage, said in a news release that the items are consigned by the estate of Kovacs and his late widow, actress and singer Edie Adams.

Adams died in October at 81. Kovacs died in a car accident in 1962 at the age of 42.

Other items in the auction of music and entertainment memorabilia include items consigned by the daughter of "Frankenstein" actor Boris Karloff, Norwine said.

Those items include original photo negatives of Karloff in costume from the 1931 film "Frankenstein" and a 1969 handwritten letter of condolence from fellow actor Christopher Lee to Karloff's widow following Karloff's death.