LOS ANGELES, Dec 4 (AFP) - A herd of fibreglass sheep painted by stars including "Some Like It Hot" actor Tony Curtis and superstar Cher went under the hammer Saturday as Hollywood rallied to save rare bighorn sheep.
Celebrities from "Addams Family" star Anjelica Huston, to comic actor Chevy Chase and "All in the Family" television star Sally Struthers also got out their easels to draw attention to the plight of the dwindling bighorns, only 500 of which still roam the earth.
After a year of public display, the colourful celebrity-daubed sculptures were auctioned off at The Lodge at Rancho Mirage resort near the California desert town of Palm Springs.
"I have found joy and pleasure in expressing myself in unspoken languages and abstract ways," Curtis said of his art, which he took up while in alcohol rehabilitation.
"I am privileged that I have found an outlet for my expression after putting it on hold, in part, for so many years while I made movies," said the 79-year-old father of actress Jamie Lee Curtis and ex-husband of "Psycho" star Janet Leigh.
The hotel where the auction took place lies on a mountainside where several of the bighorn sheep, famed for their large and curved horns, still live.
Proceeds from the sale of the virtual herd will benefit the Bighorn Institute, which is dedicated to the conservation and research of the animals.
It was not immediately known how much cash the auction raised for the bighorns.
12/05/2004 02:59 GMT - AFP