ATLANTA (AP) – Friends of Peabo Bryson stepped in to help the award-winning singer keep some of his prized possessions, including at least one of his two Grammys.

Bryson’s Grammy Awards for “Beauty and the Beast” and “A Whole New World” were auctioned during the weekend to help pay his $1.2 million tax debt. The Internal Revenue Service seized all of Bryson’s property from his Atlanta home in August.

A woman who cast the winning $9,400 bid for one of the Grammys identified herself and her associates only as “very close friends of the family.”

“We’re giving it back to him,” she told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.

Bryson, 52, won a Grammy in 1992 for his recording of “Beauty and the Beast” with Celine Dion and another in 1993 for “A Whole New World (Aladdin’s Theme)” with Regina Belle.

Bryson’s 1992 Grammy sold for $15,500 and one of his gold records went for $3,000.

The IRS said it would not disclose the amount raised through the sale.

Auction benefits museum

BEVERLY HILLS, Calif. (AP) – A sequined, strapless pant-outfit and shawl worn by Marilyn Monroe in “The Seven Year Itch” sold for $58,750 at a charity auction of Hollywood costumes.

Actress Debbie Reynolds auctioned off nearly 400 movie costumes and props to raise money for a permanent museum for the rest of her Hollywood collection. Saturday’s auction was conducted at Le Meridien Hotel in Beverly Hills, with bids also taken online at eBay and by phone.

Monroe’s outfit and its accompanying pink satin shawl were worn briefly in the 1955 film. The bidder, who purchased the item by phone, requested anonymity.

The event raised more than $500,000 for the planned Hollywood Motion Picture Museum, according to Darren Julien of Julien Entertainment.

Reynolds, 71, who starred in the 1952 musical “Singin’ in the Rain,” has been passionate about preserving Hollywood memorabilia since buying most of her collection in 1970 at an MGM Studio auction.

A dinner with Reynolds sold for $5,875. Another costume worn by Monroe, a late 1800s-styled jacket and dress from her 1950 film “A Ticket To Tomahawk,” sold for $41,125.

Other items included an original 1939 poster for “Gone With The Wind,” which sold at $11,750; and, $5,875 for the white denim uniform worn by Sigourney Weaver in the 1979 sci-fi horror film “Alien.”

Swedish leader ties knot

STOCKHOLM, Sweden (AP) – Swedish Prime Minister Goeran Persson married his girlfriend in a private ceremony, his spokeswoman said Sunday.

Persson and Anitra Steen were married at Persson’s home in Harpsund on Saturday, spokeswoman Anna Helsen said. Friends and family attended the service.

Persson and Steen, both 54, became a couple after the prime minister divorced his second wife in 2002. He has been prime minister since 1996.

Steen heads Sweden’s state-run liquor monopoly, Systembolaget, which has been at the center of controversy amid bribery allegations involving dozens of its employees.

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SCHUYLER, Va. (AP) – The two-story home of the family that inspired “The Waltons” television series was sold at auction for $122,000.

“I didn’t want to see it torn down,” said Pam Rutherford, who was the highest bidder Saturday. “There are so many different things that can be done with it.”

Rutherford grew up about five miles from the house, which she said had fallen into disrepair.

The 1,469-square-foot house became famous when Earl Hamner Jr. created “The Waltons,” the folksy TV show portraying a close-knit family in Depression-era Virginia that was based on his family.

The house had been in the Hamner family for more than a century but Earl Hamner’s youngest brother, James Hamner, has said he is too ill to maintain the house where he has spent most of his life. James Hamner, who inspired the Waltons character “Jim Bob,” has emphysema and heart problems.

The house shown on “The Waltons,” which ran from 1972 to 1981, resembled the Hamner house.

AP-ES-12-07-03 1319EST

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