Celebrity Collectors

What do the rich and famous collect? We might imagine celebrities collecting money, cars, art, houses or jewelry. But, they also collect more unusual and off-beat things. Yes, The Tonight Show host Jay Leno has a 17,000-square-foot garage in Southern California filled with over 100 cars ranging from a 1906 Baker electric car to newer Corvette models. But did you know that Steven Spielberg, director of iconic American movies such as “E.T.” and “Jaws,” and fellow director, George Lucas of "Star Wars" fame, both collect the artwork of another iconic artist: Norman Rockwell. Spielberg and Lucas recently lent their Rockwell collection—whose artwork depicts scenes from American life—to the Smithsonian Museum in Washington D.C. Both Whoopi Goldberg and Lily Tomlin are reported to collect Bakelite jewelry. Tom Hanks doesn't just dance on piano keys like in his movie "Big," he also like to let his fingers do the walking on with his collection of over 200 vintage portable manual typewriters. Nicolas Cage collects comic books. Wayne Gretzky was an avid collector of rare and valuable coins. Corbin Bernsen, who played divorce lawyer Arnie Becker on TV’s L.A. Law and the dad on Psych, has collected over 7,000 snow globes. Christie Brinkley seems to like collecting Eiffel Towers.