ShowBiz Ireland - Liam Neeson puts Star Wars Light Sabre up for auction

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14-11-00 news
Neeson puts LightSabre up for auction...

Actor Liam Neeson today waged war on Aids in Africa with the lightsabre he used in the Star Wars prequel The Phantom Menace. The Irish star is spearheading a charity auction of movie memorabilia using his personal contacts in Hollywood to get unique items for which film buffs are expected to pay a small fortune. Among them is the weapon he used as the Jedi Knight Qui-Gon Jinn in the fantasy movie, the first time director George Lucas has ever allowed one of the gadgets to be sold.

"Needless to say the lithium crystals aren't here so it doesn't switch on,'' said 48-year-old Neeson, as he held up the lightsabre at a press conference in London. "It really is a collector's item ... we're expecting to get a lot of money for it.''

The event, Movie Action for Children, is designed to raise more than £3.5 million to pay for drugs which will stop mothers from passing on the HIV virus to their babies. His calls and letters to other stars have already netted a range of items for the sale hosted by auction house Sotheby's in New York on March 6. Among them are Julia Roberts's wedding dress from The Runaway Bride, Mel Gibson's sword from Braveheart and Robert De Niro's outfit from US box office hit Meet The Parents.

Neeson is planning to make a donation of his own: "It will probably be my original script from Schindler's List, with coffee rings and in those days cigarette ash. "I was going to give my sword and shield from Rob Roy, but I kind of feel that it pales in comparison to Mel's sword from Braveheart.

"My colleagues in the movie industry have reacted in an extraordinary way to the challenge,'' he said.

Neeson is working with Unicef Ireland for which he is a special patron... on the auction, which is sponsored by software firm Iona Technologies. Proceeds go to Unicef's efforts to stop mothers passing on the HIV virus in Zambia, Zimbabwe and Ivory Coast.

Aids is a huge problem in many African countries with more than half a million babies born in the continent whose mothers have passed on the illness. Only one in four stand a chance of making it to their fifth birthday, but new drugs can cut the risk of transmission by up to a half.

"It costs just four dollars to give a drug to the mother and infant as soon as it is born to stop the transmission of the HIV virus,'' said Maura Quinn, executive director of Unicef Ireland.

Neeson added: "I'm on board because it coincides with me being a dad of two little boys who are very healthy, thanks be to God, but they are also very vulnerable.

"When Maura approached me about getting involved I just couldn't refuse.''

Lots in the auction, which will also include items from Sharon Stone, Meryl Streep and possibly Michael Jackson, will be exhibited in Los Angeles, London and New York prior to the sale and they will also feature in a fund-raising coffee table book.