‘Wild Bill’ Sackter – Iowa City’s Friendly Smile.

**Bill Sackter** spent 44 years in a Minnesota mental institution before emerging in the mid-1960’s – befriended by a young college graduate from Minneapolis. When that friend moved to Iowa City to accept a job with the UI School of Social Work, Bill came as well, eventually blossoming into a local celebrity and national icon thanks to an Emmy-award-winning TV film which changed the perspective on disability rights not only in Iowa but nationwide.

William “Wild Bill” Sackter was born – April 13, 1913 – in St. Paul, Minnesota to Sam and Mary Sackter – Russian Jewish immigrants who ran a small grocery store on the north side of the city. When Sackter was seven years old (1920), his father died from complications of the Spanish Flu, leaving Mary and her three children in desperate straits.

The 1920 U.S. Census shows Sam & Mary Sackter and their three children – Sarah (age 12), Alice (age 11), and William (age 6).

Around that same time, Bill – who was having difficulty learning in school – was required to take a mandatory intelligence test. Sadly, the results showed Sackter as “subnormal,” so, as it was common back then, state officials determined that, as a “burden on society,” they would assign him to the Faribault State School for the Feeble-Minded and Epileptic. There, Sackter remained for 44 years, never being taught to read or write, with no contact from his immediate family.

The 1930 U.S. Census shows William (age 16) as an “inmate” at the Faribault State School. As a ward of the State of Minnesota, his number was 552-3.

Fortunately, Bill’s tragic story doesn’t end here…

In 1964, when new light was being shed on the treatment of the mentally ill and disabled, the Faribault State Hospital decided to re-test Bill – only to find that his intelligence was near normal. Discharged at age 51, Sackter was then moved into a halfway house, working odd jobs to support himself.

Bill’s life-changing moment occurred in 1972 when he took a job as a dishwasher and kitchen helper at the Minikahda Country Club in Minneapolis (above), where a young college graduate – Barry Morrow (below) – met and befriended him.

Through their new friendship, Morrow began to make life a bit more comfortable for Sackter by simply spending time together and inviting him to become a regular in his friend’s band. As a media specialist who loved to experiment with video taping, Barry recorded a series of informal interviews with Bill, and It’s those sessions that helped deepen the friendship between the two.

At one point, when Bill was concerned about his appearance at concerts (Bill played a mean harmonica), Barry purchased a set of dentures for him, and in an attempt to end Bill’s embarrassment over his balding head, furnished his friend with a new wig (see pic below) as well, as it was Bill’s belief that in order to be “a real good man,” he needed to have hair!

This special friendship between Bill and Barry took a big turn when Morrow was offered a job with the School of Social Work at the University of Iowa in 1974. Bill, of course, wanted to follow his good friend to Iowa City, but with his being a ward of the State of Minnesota, that simply could not happen. Fate intervened, however, when Bill was suddenly hospitalized, needing to have his leg amputated – which would ultimately lead to Sackter being sent back into the state institution in Faribault.

In an unprecedented move, Morrow decided that, in Bill’s best interest, he and his wife Bev would become Bill’s legal guardian – which when approved, allowed Barry to bring his friend to Iowa City in order to live with the Morrows. Here, Bill was treated for his injured leg, and happily, not only his leg was spared, but his once-empty life now found fulfillment in the company of loving friends.

Once settled in Iowa City, Bill spent much of his time hanging around the School of Social Work in North Hall (above), where Morrow worked. There, Sackter met yet another new friend – Tom Walz, the director of the School of Social Work. Walz (below), who saw a great, untapped potential in Sackter, decided to create a new position at the school, employing Bill as the “developmental disabilities consultant with 44 years of experience.”

As part of that position, Bill was put in charge of a small coffee shop – located within North Hall. Very soon, this cheerful man of great good will, who was also a harmonica enthusiast, became a campus celebrity. Sackter, you see, was a jack of all trades, not only running the coffee shop, but also doing a variety of handyman jobs around campus, which included re-purposing a collection of old furniture.

As Bill became better known throughout the UI campus, the nickname Wild Bill’s Coffee Shop was assigned to his workplace, and with his increasing visibility, Sackter was named Handicapped Iowan of the Year for 1976, attending a larger ceremony that following year (1977) for the national award in Washington, D.C., where President Jimmy Carter gave him special recognition.

All the while, his good friend Barry Morrow – the media specialist who was hoping to become a film-maker – was documenting Bill’s dramatic turnaround on video. Read the full story here.

After Barry’s written account of Bill’s story – Bill’s Triumph – appeared in The Des Moines Register (above), the word began getting out about how amazing this Bill Sackter of Iowa City really was, and soon, Morrow received word from some New York City television executives that CBS was interested in buying Bill’s story in order to make it into a screenplay for a made-for-TV movie.

After Bill won the Handicapped Iowan of the Year Award, the publicity began to spread. In October 1978, Bill’s hometown newspaper – The Minneapolis Tribune – published a big eight-page spread on Bill’s amazing story. See that complete layout here.

*From The Iowa City Press-Citizen – November, 1981.*

Released on December 22, 1981, the CBS movie, entitled Bill, aired on network television, starring Hollywood superstar Mickey Rooney in the lead role, with a young Dennis Quaid portraying Barry Morrow. The show was well received and is still credited today as being Hollywood’s first attempt at addressing the needs of those suffering with mental or physical impairments, while making that one person the central focus of the show!

In 1982, Mickey Rooney won both a Golden Globe Award and an Emmy Award for his role as Wild Bill Sackter, Barry Morrow won an Emmy for Outstanding Drama Special, and because of the show’s great success, a sequel was produced – Bill: On His Own – in 1983, starring Rooney and Helen Hunt.

Here, thanks to YouTube, are both TV presentations – Bill (0:00 – 1:37:36) 1981, Bill: On His Own (1:37:36 – 3:14:41) 1983.

*Between January 1982 and June 1983, Bill and Barry were invited to speak at numerous gatherings around the United States. According to Morrow, Barry would tell stories while Bill played his harmonica!*

*This article appeared in the Iowa City Press-Citizen in early December 1981, when the “Bill” movie had its world premiere at Hancher Auditorium in Iowa City.*

Sadly, William ‘Wild Bill’ Sackter died in Iowa City on June 16, 1983 at the age of 70, just months before the airing of the second TV special. According to newspaper accounts, Mae Driscoll, Bill’s landlady, found Bill that morning, dressed for work and sitting in his chair at his home at 1310 Yewell Street. The Iowa City community loved Bill Sackter so much that when he died, the U.S. flag on Old Capitol flew at half-mast.

Bill is buried at Agudas Achim Cemetery – located at 875 Linder Road NE – between Dubuque Street and Prairie du Chien Road. Read more about Agudas Achim here.

Bill’s life was all about the importance of friendships. Besides Barry & Bev Morrow (above), here are just a few more of Bill’s special friends that played a huge part in opening doors to his vibrant life…

*Read more about **Professor Tom Walz** here.*

Mae Driscoll was Bill’s landlady from 1975 to 1983, and without a doubt, this godly woman made a huge impact on Bill’s life in Iowa City. You can read more here.

Though 40 years have passed since Sackter’s death in 1983, his Iowa City legacy forever lives on…

After Bill’s good buddy, Tom Walz, retired from teaching (2001), he began a new career as the founder and director of two local non-profit organizations: Extend a Dream Foundation and Disability Enterprise Foundation – both in remembrance of his friend, Bill Sackter. While Wild Bill’s Coffee Shop continued operating in North Hall, Tom also opened Uptown Bill’s Small Mall (see above). Located at 401 S. Gilbert Street, this short-lived non-profit (2001-2003) offered people with disabilities opportunities to operate a variety of commercial shops, including a larger coffee shop and entertainment center where local musicians would often gather in remembrance of Bill Sackter’s love of music. Read more here.

When Uptown Bill’s Small Mall suddenly closed (2003), Tom Walz and his team moved Wild Bill’s Coffee Shop out of North Hall, transitioning into a larger retail space – Uptown Bill’s Coffee Shop (see above) – located at 730 S. Dubuque Street, employing 12+ persons with disabilities each academic year. Sadly, Uptown Bill’s was forced to close in 2020 following the financial losses that befell so many businesses during the worst of the COVID-19 crisis. Yet it was a tremendous success for nearly twenty years in Iowa City – a shining example of the potential to create businesses that erase the barriers between people with disabilities and the general public.

After Uptown’s Bill closed in 2020, the former site of Wild Bill’s Coffee House in North Hall was re-imagined as a workshop and classroom dedicated to teaching and understanding social justice issues and the discrimination of marginalized groups. Today, you can plug into the podcast “Wild Bill’s Cup of Social Justice,” where the hosts discuss social justice through the lens of social work, sharing stories and discussing how to improve.

*Click here to read about the “Hey Buddy, I’m Bill” exhibit.*

Known for greeting people with a simple “Hey buddy, I’m Bill,” Sackter’s legacy and mark on the University of Iowa is being honored with a fall semester-2023 exhibit in the University’s Main Library Gallery.

The “Hey Buddy, I’m Bill” exhibit, a reference to Sackter’s trademark salutation, walks guests through his storied history. It details his life story, from Sackter’s childhood in Minneapolis to his 44-year institutionalization for an intellectual disability. It also touches on his years of friends and fame in Iowa City, attempting to acknowledge Iowa’s history of institutionalization and progress for disability rights. On September 12, 2023, two of Sackter’s best buddies, Barry & Bev Morrow (below), came to see the exhibit and discuss Sackter’s impact and legacy. A video of that presentation is offered below.

One of the curators of “Hey Buddy, I’m Bill,” Jen Knights, the marketing and communications manager of Performing Arts at the University of Iowa’s College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, created the exhibit idea in 2021, teaming up with Digital Projects Librarian, Brad Ferrier. “This year (2023) is the 40th anniversary of his Bill’s death,” Knights said. “There is a shrinking number of people who still have stories to tell about Bill, and I thought it was important to capture those stories; it became an important time to crystalize his story and set it down for posterity.”

While the exhibit runs until December 2023, the gallery will be digitized online, allowing people to access the exhibition indefinitely. Click here for more info.

On September 12, 2023, Bill & Bev Morrow came back to Iowa City to pay tribute to Bill and to view the “Hey Buddy, I’m Bill” display at the University of Iowa Library. This is Marrow’s presentation that evening. A wonderful remembrance from Bill’s closest buddy! Read more about Barry Morrow here.