PROP ART

BUSINESS Why do Hollywood types frequent Industrial Boulevard near the porno shops and nude modeling studios? No, no, no. It’s because that’s where Dallas businessman AL JERNIGAN has amassed the definitive treasure trove of classic furniture under the roof of his Business Furniture Liquidators. Jernigan owns two vast warehouses of antiques, including desks once owned by superlawyer LEON JAWORSKI, legendary U.S. House Speaker SAM RAYBURN and conglom-erateur JIM LING(LTV), and acres of furniture from a Who Used to Be Who list of failed and jailed savings & loan execs.

With a white beard, T-shirt,, sneakers and a Texas drawl you: could hang on, the plain-spoken Jernigan doesn’t appear the sort to build a small but lucrative empire in show business. But his cinematic contributions can be seen in the offices, restaurants and homes; in Robocop, OLIVER STONEFourth of July and JFK, Necessary Roughness and at least 50 other films.

“A guy came to see me about renting furniture for a movie about 10 years ago.” says Jernigan. “He rented 25 old chairs for $50 a piece, and the chairs cost me $50 each, which sounded like a winner to me. He would have rented 100 chairs like that if I had them. You can be sure that, next time around, I did.”

While his entry into the prop business has made dollars and sense, Jernigan’s approach to buying furniture is all art, no science. “I buy oddities at auctions all the time,” says Jernigan. who confesses to binge buying like a kid in a candy store.

“People say. ’what in the world are you buying that for?’ But the next time somebody makes a movie in Dallas, Den-ton, McKinney or Waxahachie, that odd something or other ends up on film.”