Nanu, Nanu: Mork's spacesuit up for sale

Buy this, and you'd be the star at any fancy dress party: the red and white spacesuit worn by Robin Williams as Mork in the hit 1970s TV series is up for auction next month.

The suit, which is expected to reach between $15,000 and $20,000, was designed by Robert Fuca. It was originally sold by Paramount in the 1980s, and has since been in a private collection.

Also going under the hammer - not literally, we trust - is the "egg" spaceship in which Mork arrived from the planet Ork in the opening season of the series, and which was used to transport items throughout. About four feet tall and made out of fibreglass, it's still intact, despite shots of Williams breaking into it to retrieve his suitcase, thanks to a bit of clever camera work. The egg is expected to sell for between $4,000 and $6,000.

"Robin William's character 'Mork' became a household name during the run of the series and continued to do so after the Paramount production ended," says Joe Maddalena, CEO and president of California auction house Profiles in History.

"To the best of our knowledge, this is the only hero 'Mork' spacesuit costume to ever come up for public auction."

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There are other Williams-related items also up for grabs at the auction. These include the original Jumanji game board prop used on screen in the movie, and Williams' 'Armand Goldman' black-and-white suit from the comedy The Birdcage.

The auction house is also selling the prison sweatshirts Steve McQueen wore in The Great Escape, a Lone Ranger mask from the collection of Clayton Moore and dresses worn by Grace Kelly, Ginger Rogers and Marilyn Monroe.

The auction takes place between October 17 and 20, with bidding accepted in person, by telephone, through absentee bids or online.

Williams committed suicide last month at the age of 63 after treatment for depression - raiing a question over the timing of the auction. But, Brian Chanes, a spokesman for Profiles in History, told Agence France-Presse, "This is such a big piece from a pop-culture, television history perspective, I think that it's going to stand on its own merit, not because of what recently, tragically, happened with Robin."

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