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Table of contents What's This?
  • Descriptive Summary
  • Important Information for Users of the Collection
  • Biography
  • Collection Scope and Content Summary
  • Indexing Terms

  • Descriptive Summary

    Title: Bill Batty papers
    Date (inclusive): 1928-1989
    Collection number: 537
    Creator: Batty, Bill
    Extent: 4 linear feet of papers. 3 linear feet of photographs.
    Repository: Margaret Herrick Library. Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.
    Languages: English

    Important Information for Users of the Collection

    Access

    Available by appointment only.

    Publication rights

    Property rights to the physical object belong to the Margaret Herrick Library. Researchers are responsible for obtaining all necessary rights, licenses, or permissions from the appropriate companies or individuals before quoting from or publishing materials obtained from the library.

    Preferred Citation

    Bill Batty papers, Margaret Herrick Library, Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.

    Acquisition Information

    Gift of the William Batty estate, 2003

    Biography

    William R. Batty was a film fan and theater enthusiast in Middletown, Connecticut, who made a living in the marine hardware business. His friendship with actress Sue Carol, to whom he first wrote in 1927, spurred in a life-long interest in Hollywood personalities. In 1948, Batty was a guest at the Hollywood home of Carol and her husband, Alan Ladd. Over the next forty years, Batty made more than two dozen excursions to Los Angeles to mingle with Carol and other actors. He often met Hollywood actors during the summer season at the Norwich and Ivoryton playhouses in Connecticut and would later seek them out in California, along with studio publicists, such as Frank Neill at 20th Century-Fox. Batty's writings about the trips appeared in local Connecticut newspapers.

    Collection Scope and Content Summary

    The Bill Batty papers spans the years 1928-1989 and encompasses 7 linear feet. The collection contains clippings, correspondence in response to Batty's fan letter inquiries, and two scrapbooks. Photographs and slides document Batty's trips to Hollywood between 1948 and 1989. Included are candid on-set photographs and autographed photographs.

    Arrangement

    Arranged in the following series: 1. Subject files; 2. Scrapbooks; 3. Photographs.

    Indexing Terms

    Batty, Bill , 1909-2003--Archives.
    fans