William K. Everson
Encyclopedia
William Keith "Bill" Everson (8 April 1929 – 14 April 1996) was an English
-American archivist, author, critic, educator, collector and film historian. He often discovered lost
films.
, Somerset
, England
, the son of Catherine (née Ward) and Percival Wilfred Everson, an aircraft engineer. Bill Everson's earliest jobs were in the motion picture industry; as a teenager he was employed at Renown Pictures as publicity manager, wrote film criticism and operated several film societies.
from 1946 to 1948, Everson worked as a cinema theatre
manager for London
's Monseigneur News Theatres. Emigrating to the United States in 1950 at age 21, he worked in the publicity department of Monogram Pictures
(later Allied Artists) and subsequently became a freelance publicist. Concurrently with his employment as writer, editor and researcher on the TV series Movie Museum and Silents Please, Everson became dedicated to preserving films from the silent era
to the 1940s which otherwise would have been lost. Through his industry connections, he began to acquire feature films and short subjects that were slated to be destroyed or abandoned. Many of his discoveries were projected at his Manhattan
film group, the Theodore Huff Memorial Film Society, originally founded by Huff (the biographer of Charlie Chaplin
), Everson, film critic Seymour Stern and Variety
columnist Herman G. Weinberg as the Theodore Huff Film Society. After Huff's death, Everson added the word "Memorial."
At each screening, Huff members were presented with extensive program notes written by Everson about each film. During the 1960s, these screenings were held in a hall at Union Square
. Occasionally, he would make special arrangements with a select invited group to see a 35mm print in a theater. For example, on a Sunday morning in the mid-1960s, he took over Dan Talbot
's New Yorker Theater to show the silent She
(1925) to an audience of no more than 15 silent-film buffs. Later, the Huff Society screenings relocated from Union Square to The New School
, by invitation of Everson's friend and fellow Huff Society member Joseph Goldberg, who was a professor at The New School.
Everson was an influential figure to the generation of film historians who came of age from the 1960s to the 1980s, many of whom were regulars at his New School screenings. Other attendees at the Huff Society included such New York personalities as author Susan Sontag
and publisher Calvin Beck
. Kevin Brownlow
described an infamous incident at the Huff Society:
Everson's film programs were uniquely eclectic, with many assembled from his own personal collection, which comprised over 4,000 titles by the 1970s. These screenings usually showcased minor masterpieces and overlooked B pictures that he deemed worthy of reappraisal. He brought these rediscoveries to other venues, such as the Pacific Film Archive and the Telluride Film Festival
.
He worked as a consultant to producers and studios preparing silent-film projects, and collaborated closely with Robert Youngson
, screening and assembling the best in silent comedy for Youngson's feature-length revivals. (Everson even wrote some of Youngson's promotional feature articles for publication.) Everson also assisted in the production of the syndicated TV series The Charlie Chaplin Comedy Theatre (1965) and its offshoot feature film The Funniest Man in the World (1967). He was technical advisor on David L. Wolper
's TV specials Hollywood, the Golden Years (1961) and The Legend of Rudolph Valentino
(1982).
Everson was a prolific writer, and he contributed articles and reviews to numerous film magazines, including Films in Review, Variety
and Castle of Frankenstein
. His nearly 20 books include Classics of the Silent Screen (1959, attributed to nostalgia maven Joe Franklin
but actually written by Everson), The American Movie (1963), The Films of Laurel and Hardy (1967), The Art of W. C. Fields
(1967), A Pictorial History of the Western Film (1971), and American Silent Film (1978).
From 1964 to 1984 he taught film history at The School of Visual Arts
, and from 1972 to 1996 was professor of cinema studies at New York University
's Tisch School of the Arts
. He also taught film history courses at The New School. Everson's courses often had an emphasis on comedy, Westerns and British films. Everson sometimes discussed film history as a guest on Barry Gray
's late-night radio talk show in New York. He appeared as an actor in Louis McMahon's serial parody Captain Celluloid vs. the Film Pirates (1966); the four-part film, made by a cast and crew of like-minded movie buffs, concerned heinous traffic in rare silent-screen masterpieces.
at the age of 67 in Manhattan, and he was survived by his wife, Karen Latham Everson, his daughter, Bambi, his son, Griffith and his granddaughter, Sarah. His manuscripts, film screening notes and memorabilia were donated to the Tisch School of the Arts
at New York University
, comprising the William K. Everson Collection.
A few years after his death, Everson was inducted into the Monster Kid Hall of Fame at The Rondo Hatton Classic Horror Awards.
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
-American archivist, author, critic, educator, collector and film historian. He often discovered lost
Lost film
A lost film is a feature film or short film that is no longer known to exist in studio archives, private collections or public archives such as the Library of Congress, where at least one copy of all American films are deposited and catalogued for copyright reasons...
films.
Early life and career
Everson was born in YeovilYeovil
Yeovil is a town and civil parish in south Somerset, England. The parish had a population of 27,949 at the 2001 census, although the wider urban area had a population of 42,140...
, Somerset
Somerset
The ceremonial and non-metropolitan county of Somerset in South West England borders Bristol and Gloucestershire to the north, Wiltshire to the east, Dorset to the south-east, and Devon to the south-west. It is partly bounded to the north and west by the Bristol Channel and the estuary of the...
, England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
, the son of Catherine (née Ward) and Percival Wilfred Everson, an aircraft engineer. Bill Everson's earliest jobs were in the motion picture industry; as a teenager he was employed at Renown Pictures as publicity manager, wrote film criticism and operated several film societies.
Later career
Following service in the British ArmyBritish Army
The British Army is the land warfare branch of Her Majesty's Armed Forces in the United Kingdom. It came into being with the unification of the Kingdom of England and Scotland into the Kingdom of Great Britain in 1707. The new British Army incorporated Regiments that had already existed in England...
from 1946 to 1948, Everson worked as a cinema theatre
Movie theater
A movie theater, cinema, movie house, picture theater, film theater is a venue, usually a building, for viewing motion pictures ....
manager for London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
's Monseigneur News Theatres. Emigrating to the United States in 1950 at age 21, he worked in the publicity department of Monogram Pictures
Monogram Pictures
Monogram Pictures Corporation is a Hollywood studio that produced and released films, most on low budgets, between 1931 and 1953, when the firm completed a transition to the name Allied Artists Pictures Corporation. Monogram is considered a leader among the smaller studios sometimes referred to...
(later Allied Artists) and subsequently became a freelance publicist. Concurrently with his employment as writer, editor and researcher on the TV series Movie Museum and Silents Please, Everson became dedicated to preserving films from the silent era
Silent film
A silent film is a film with no synchronized recorded sound, especially with no spoken dialogue. In silent films for entertainment the dialogue is transmitted through muted gestures, pantomime and title cards...
to the 1940s which otherwise would have been lost. Through his industry connections, he began to acquire feature films and short subjects that were slated to be destroyed or abandoned. Many of his discoveries were projected at his Manhattan
Manhattan
Manhattan is the oldest and the most densely populated of the five boroughs of New York City. Located primarily on the island of Manhattan at the mouth of the Hudson River, the boundaries of the borough are identical to those of New York County, an original county of the state of New York...
film group, the Theodore Huff Memorial Film Society, originally founded by Huff (the biographer of Charlie Chaplin
Charlie Chaplin
Sir Charles Spencer "Charlie" Chaplin, KBE was an English comic actor, film director and composer best known for his work during the silent film era. He became the most famous film star in the world before the end of World War I...
), Everson, film critic Seymour Stern and Variety
Variety (magazine)
Variety is an American weekly entertainment-trade magazine founded in New York City, New York, in 1905 by Sime Silverman. With the rise of the importance of the motion-picture industry, Daily Variety, a daily edition based in Los Angeles, California, was founded by Silverman in 1933. In 1998, the...
columnist Herman G. Weinberg as the Theodore Huff Film Society. After Huff's death, Everson added the word "Memorial."
At each screening, Huff members were presented with extensive program notes written by Everson about each film. During the 1960s, these screenings were held in a hall at Union Square
Union Square (New York City)
Union Square is a public square in the Manhattan borough of New York City, New York.It is an important and historic intersection, located where Broadway and the former Bowery Road – now Fourth Avenue – came together in the early 19th century; its name celebrates neither the...
. Occasionally, he would make special arrangements with a select invited group to see a 35mm print in a theater. For example, on a Sunday morning in the mid-1960s, he took over Dan Talbot
Daniel Talbot
Daniel Talbot is a former footballer. He played in the Football League for Rushden & Diamonds before dropping into non-league football. His father is Brian Talbot.-References:...
's New Yorker Theater to show the silent She
She (1925 film)
She is a 1925 British-German fantasy adventure film directed by Leander de Cordova and G.B. Samuelson and starring Betty Blythe, Carlyle Blackwell, Mary Odette. It was filmed in Berlin as a co-production, and based on H. Rider Haggard's novel of the same name.The book has been a popular subject for...
(1925) to an audience of no more than 15 silent-film buffs. Later, the Huff Society screenings relocated from Union Square to The New School
The New School
The New School is a university in New York City, located mostly in Greenwich Village. From its founding in 1919 by progressive New York academics, and for most of its history, the university was known as the New School for Social Research. Between 1997 and 2005 it was known as New School University...
, by invitation of Everson's friend and fellow Huff Society member Joseph Goldberg, who was a professor at The New School.
Everson was an influential figure to the generation of film historians who came of age from the 1960s to the 1980s, many of whom were regulars at his New School screenings. Other attendees at the Huff Society included such New York personalities as author Susan Sontag
Susan Sontag
Susan Sontag was an American author, literary theorist, feminist and political activist whose works include On Photography and Against Interpretation.-Life:...
and publisher Calvin Beck
Castle of Frankenstein
Castle of Frankenstein was an American horror, science fiction and fantasy film magazine, distributed by Kable News and published in New Jersey from 1962 to 1975 by Calvin Thomas Beck's Gothic Castle Publishing Company. The first three issues were edited by Larry Ivie and Ken Beale. From 1963 and...
. Kevin Brownlow
Kevin Brownlow
Kevin Brownlow is a filmmaker, film historian, television documentary-maker, author, and Academy Award recipient. Brownlow is best known for his work documenting the history of the silent era. Brownlow became interested in silent film at the age of eleven. This interest grew into a career spent...
described an infamous incident at the Huff Society:
- It was a society that showed the rarest films — often in a double bill with a recognised classic. Everson's programme notes became world-famous (and let us hope that some enterprising publisher will bring them out). In 1959, MGMMetro-Goldwyn-MayerMetro-Goldwyn-Mayer Inc. is an American media company, involved primarily in the production and distribution of films and television programs. MGM was founded in 1924 when the entertainment entrepreneur Marcus Loew gained control of Metro Pictures, Goldwyn Pictures Corporation and Louis B. Mayer...
's Ben-HurBen-Hur (1959 film)Ben-Hur is a 1959 American epic film directed by William Wyler and starring Charlton Heston in the title role, the third film adaptation of Lew Wallace's 1880 novel Ben-Hur: A Tale of the Christ. The screenplay was written by Karl Tunberg, Gore Vidal, and Christopher Fry. The score was composed by...
received rave reviews and Everson felt that they were not deserved — so he showed the 1925 versionBen-Hur (1925 film)Ben-Hur is a 1925 silent film directed by Fred Niblo. It was a blockbuster hit for newly merged Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. This was the second film based on the novel Ben-Hur: A Tale of the Christ by Lew Wallace...
at the Huff. Rival collector Raymond RohauerRaymond RohauerRaymond Rohauer was an American film collector and distributor.Rohauer moved to California in 1942 and was educated at Los Angeles City College. Rohauer made a five-reel 16mm experimental film Whirlpool which was not successful. He subsequently became active in film exhibition at the Coronet...
, experiencing a little trouble himself over a lawsuit from MGM, told the FBI what Everson was doing, and they confronted him after the performance. They seized the print, and Everson spent the next few days squirreling other hot titles around New York. Lillian GishLillian GishLillian Diana Gish was an American stage, screen and television actress whose film acting career spanned 75 years, from 1912 to 1987....
had to intervene on his behalf. In the 1970s, the FBI instituted a "witch hunt" among film collectors, but by then Everson was too highly respected to be touched. Archives came to depend on him — he would not only loan rare prints for copying or showing, but he would travel the world presenting the films he loved. I was astounded to meet him at an airport weighed down by three times as many cans of films as any human could be expected to carry. He had the uncanny knack of finding lost films. It would be no exaggeration to say that single-handedly, he transformed the attitude of American film enthusiasts towards early cinema.
Everson's film programs were uniquely eclectic, with many assembled from his own personal collection, which comprised over 4,000 titles by the 1970s. These screenings usually showcased minor masterpieces and overlooked B pictures that he deemed worthy of reappraisal. He brought these rediscoveries to other venues, such as the Pacific Film Archive and the Telluride Film Festival
Telluride Film Festival
The Telluride Film Festival was started in 1974 by Bill and Stella Pence, Tom Luddy and Jim Card in the town of Telluride, Colorado, United States. It is operated by the National Film Preserve....
.
He worked as a consultant to producers and studios preparing silent-film projects, and collaborated closely with Robert Youngson
Robert Youngson
Robert Youngson was a film producer, director, and screenwriter.Born in Brooklyn, New York, he was responsible for reacquainting movie audiences with the work of the great silent comedians. His feature-film compilations The Golden Age of Comedy and When Comedy Was King were popular successes...
, screening and assembling the best in silent comedy for Youngson's feature-length revivals. (Everson even wrote some of Youngson's promotional feature articles for publication.) Everson also assisted in the production of the syndicated TV series The Charlie Chaplin Comedy Theatre (1965) and its offshoot feature film The Funniest Man in the World (1967). He was technical advisor on David L. Wolper
David L. Wolper
David Lloyd Wolper was an American television and film producer, responsible for shows such as Roots, The Thorn Birds, North & South, L.A. Confidential, and the film Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory...
's TV specials Hollywood, the Golden Years (1961) and The Legend of Rudolph Valentino
Rudolph Valentino
Rudolph Valentino was an Italian actor, and early pop icon. A sex symbol of the 1920s, Valentino was known as the "Latin Lover". He starred in several well-known silent films including The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse, The Sheik, Blood and Sand, The Eagle and Son of the Sheik...
(1982).
Everson was a prolific writer, and he contributed articles and reviews to numerous film magazines, including Films in Review, Variety
Variety (magazine)
Variety is an American weekly entertainment-trade magazine founded in New York City, New York, in 1905 by Sime Silverman. With the rise of the importance of the motion-picture industry, Daily Variety, a daily edition based in Los Angeles, California, was founded by Silverman in 1933. In 1998, the...
and Castle of Frankenstein
Castle of Frankenstein
Castle of Frankenstein was an American horror, science fiction and fantasy film magazine, distributed by Kable News and published in New Jersey from 1962 to 1975 by Calvin Thomas Beck's Gothic Castle Publishing Company. The first three issues were edited by Larry Ivie and Ken Beale. From 1963 and...
. His nearly 20 books include Classics of the Silent Screen (1959, attributed to nostalgia maven Joe Franklin
Joe Franklin
Joe Franklin is an American radio and television personality. From New York City, Franklin is sometimes credited with hosting the first television talk show...
but actually written by Everson), The American Movie (1963), The Films of Laurel and Hardy (1967), The Art of W. C. Fields
W. C. Fields
William Claude Dukenfield , better known as W. C. Fields, was an American comedian, actor, juggler and writer...
(1967), A Pictorial History of the Western Film (1971), and American Silent Film (1978).
From 1964 to 1984 he taught film history at The School of Visual Arts
School of Visual Arts
The School of Visual Arts , is a proprietary art school located in Manhattan, New York City, and is widely considered to be one of the leading art schools in the United States. It was established in 1947 by co-founders Silas H. Rhodes and Burne Hogarth as the Cartoonists and Illustrators School and...
, and from 1972 to 1996 was professor of cinema studies at New York University
New York University
New York University is a private, nonsectarian research university based in New York City. NYU's main campus is situated in the Greenwich Village section of Manhattan...
's Tisch School of the Arts
Tisch School of the Arts
Tisch School of the Arts is one of the 15 schools that make up New York University ....
. He also taught film history courses at The New School. Everson's courses often had an emphasis on comedy, Westerns and British films. Everson sometimes discussed film history as a guest on Barry Gray
Barry Gray (radio)
Barry Gray was an influential American radio personality, often labeled as "The father of Talk Radio"....
's late-night radio talk show in New York. He appeared as an actor in Louis McMahon's serial parody Captain Celluloid vs. the Film Pirates (1966); the four-part film, made by a cast and crew of like-minded movie buffs, concerned heinous traffic in rare silent-screen masterpieces.
Death and legacy
Everson died of prostate cancerProstate cancer
Prostate cancer is a form of cancer that develops in the prostate, a gland in the male reproductive system. Most prostate cancers are slow growing; however, there are cases of aggressive prostate cancers. The cancer cells may metastasize from the prostate to other parts of the body, particularly...
at the age of 67 in Manhattan, and he was survived by his wife, Karen Latham Everson, his daughter, Bambi, his son, Griffith and his granddaughter, Sarah. His manuscripts, film screening notes and memorabilia were donated to the Tisch School of the Arts
Tisch School of the Arts
Tisch School of the Arts is one of the 15 schools that make up New York University ....
at New York University
New York University
New York University is a private, nonsectarian research university based in New York City. NYU's main campus is situated in the Greenwich Village section of Manhattan...
, comprising the William K. Everson Collection.
A few years after his death, Everson was inducted into the Monster Kid Hall of Fame at The Rondo Hatton Classic Horror Awards.
External links
- William K. Everson obituary by Kevin BrownlowKevin BrownlowKevin Brownlow is a filmmaker, film historian, television documentary-maker, author, and Academy Award recipient. Brownlow is best known for his work documenting the history of the silent era. Brownlow became interested in silent film at the age of eleven. This interest grew into a career spent...
, The IndependentThe IndependentThe Independent is a British national morning newspaper published in London by Independent Print Limited, owned by Alexander Lebedev since 2010. It is nicknamed the Indy, while the Sunday edition, The Independent on Sunday, is the Sindy. Launched in 1986, it is one of the youngest UK national daily...
(bottom of page) - William K. Everson Archive: New York University, Department of Cinema Studies
- Everson biography at Turner Classic MoviesTurner Classic MoviesTurner Classic Movies is a movie-oriented cable television channel, owned by the Turner Broadcasting System subsidiary of Time Warner, featuring commercial-free classic movies, mostly from the Turner Entertainment and MGM, United Artists, RKO and Warner Bros. film libraries...