ET’s original mechanical head from Steven Spielberg’s four-time Oscar-winning film has sold for $635,000 (£500,000) at a memorabilia auction in Los Angeles.

The animatronic from the 1982 film “ET – The Extra-Terrestrial” was developed by the late special effects artist Carlo Rambaldi and features a metal frame with an outer skin made of foam latex – and can activate the pulsation of veins for close-ups.

The film about an alien left behind on Earth – starring Drew Barrymore and Henry Thomas – was nominated for nine Oscars and won four, including best visual effects for Rambaldi and his team.

The sale was part of a four-day “Hollywood Legends” auction hosted by Julien’s Auctions. The first two days focused on robots, wizards, heroes and aliens, from blockbuster films of the 1950s to modern classics.

The auction also sold a pair of original wand props used by Daniel Radcliffe (Harry Potter) and Rupert Grint (Ron Weasley) in Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix – surpassing their upper estimates of $10,000 (£7,900) and $7,000 (£5,500) respectively.

Potter’s wand, which sold for $69,850 (£55,000), was used at Hogwarts to train members of Dumbledore’s Army and during a battle at the Ministry of Magic against the Death Eaters, while Weasley’s wand was used throughout the film and sold for $76,200 (£60,000).

A Batsuit costume worn by Michael Keaton in the 1992 comic book adaptation of Batman Returns, featuring the yellow and black resin bat emblem on the chest, also went under the hammer for $63,500 (£50,000).

Meanwhile, the Captain America shield prop worn by Chris Evans in the 2011 film Captain America: The First Avenger also sold for $65,000 (£51,000).

An original machete prop used by Harrison Ford in the 1984 film “Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom” was also sold for the same price.