William K. Everson was neither a filmmaker nor an actor, yet his contribution to cinema remains invaluable--for Everson is responsible for preserving thousands of films from the '20s and '30s, an era when so many films were destroyed or improperly stored after their runs were through. Born in London near film studios, his love of films began in childhood and by the time he'd grown to manhood it had become a passion which eventually became his life-long obsession. Everson moved to New York when he was 21. There he found scores of movies to watch and soon after arriving, he began collecting films, using any means to gain possession of them. It usually wasn't too difficult as the studios placed little value on old films. Sometimes Everson acquired them while working as a publicist; other times he would learn of a film's imminent destruction and rush out to try and buy it. If that failed, he would purloin the film. For many years, he stored his enormous collection (over 4,000 films by the mid 1970s) in his West Side apartment. He would frequently hold screenings for fans at the apartment and by the mid 1960s was showing them at the New York New School for Social Research. In 1970, the U.S. government finally founded the American Film Institute and began preserving the old films. Still, Everson continued collecting. A noted film historian, he has also written several books on film history and has penned a few documentary television specials about films. Thanks to his vision, many historically important films have been preserved for posterity.
by Sandra Brennan
biography
