William "Bill" Sackter Papers

Collection

Identifier: MsC1028

Staff Only
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Scope and Contents

The William "Bill" Sackter Papers contains various artifacts from the life of Bill Sackter, including Bill's clothing and materials relating to Bill and A Friend Indeed. The collection also included two scrapbooks containing correspondence, newsclippings, ephemera, artwork, and photographs.

Dates

Creation: 1970-2008

Conditions Governing Access

This collection is open for research.

Conditions Governing Use

Copyright status for collection materials may be unknown. Transmission or reproduction of materials protected by U.S. Copyright Law (Title 17, U.S.C.) beyond that allowed by fair use requires the written permission of the copyright owner. Works not in the public domain cannot be commercially exploited without permission of the copyright owners. Responsibility and potential liability based on copyright infringement for any use rests exclusively and solely with the user. Users must properly acknowledge University of Iowa Libraries Special Collections & Archives as the source of the material. For further information, visit https://www.lib.uiowa.edu/sc/services/rights/.

Biographical / Historical

William Sackter was born in St. Paul, Minnesota in 1913. On being tested at school his intelligence was rated as "subnormal" and Bill was placed in an institution for the feeble-minded. He spent the next 44 years in this institution. In 1964 he was moved to a halfway house and was hired to do odd jobs. On one of these jobs he met the filmmaker Barry Morrow and his wife Bev. Morrow became his guardian and when the Morrows moved to Iowa City, Bill moved with them.

In December 1981 the movie Bill came out and Bill enjoyed celebrity status the rest of his life.The movie starred Mickey Rooney as Bill. He started Wild Bill's Coffee Shop at the University of Iowa and ran it until he passed. Though no longer affiliated with the University of Iowa, the coffee shop stayed in business until 2021, when it officially became a learning lab for the University of Iowa School of Social Work. In 2008, filmmaker Lane Wyrick released the documentary A Friend Indeed: The Bill Sackter Story.

Bill Sackter died in his sleep in 1983.