''Bill'' is a 1981 American

made-for-television A television film, alternatively known as a television movie, made-for-TV film/movie or TV film/movie, is a feature-length film that is produced and originally distributed by or to a television network, in contrast to theatrical films made fo ...

biographical A biography, or simply bio, is a detailed description of a person's life. It involves more than just the basic facts like education, work, relationships, and death; it portrays a person's experience of these life events. Unlike a profile or ...

drama film In film and television, drama is a category or genre of narrative fiction (or semi-fiction) intended to be more serious than humorous in tone. Drama of this kind is usually qualified with additional terms that specify its particular super-g ...

starring Mickey Rooney and

Dennis Quaid Dennis William Quaid (born April 9, 1954) is an American actor known for a wide variety of dramatic and comedic roles. First gaining widespread attention in the late 1970s, some of his notable credits include '' Breaking Away'' (1979), '' The ...

based on the life of

Bill Sackter William Sackter (April 13, 1913 – June 16, 1983) was an American man with an intellectual disability whose fame as the subject of two television movies and a feature-length documentary helped change national attitudes on persons with dis ...

. The film was broadcast on

CBS CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS, the abbreviation of its former legal name Columbia Broadcasting System, is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainm ...

on December 22, 1981. Mickey Rooney won an

Emmy Award The Emmy Awards, or Emmys, are an extensive range of awards for artistic and technical merit for the American and international television industry. A number of annual Emmy Award ceremonies are held throughout the calendar year, each with the ...

and Golden Globe for his performance, and the film also received a Golden Globe for Best TV Film. A sequel, '' Bill: On His Own'', was released in 1983. Writer/filmmaker

Barry Morrow Barry Morrow (born June 12, 1948) is an American screenwriter and producer. He wrote the story and co-wrote the screenplay for ''Rain Man''. He is the father of Emmy Award-winning animator, writer, and storyboard artist, Clayton Morrow, and fathe ...

, portrayed by

, based the story off of his real life experiences with Sackter, and later became his legal guardian. Sackter also served as a partial inspiration for the character of Raymond Babbitt in Morrow's screenplay for the 1988 film ''

Rain Man ''Rain Man'' is a 1988 American road drama film directed by Barry Levinson and written by Barry Morrow and Ronald Bass. It tells the story of abrasive, selfish young wheeler-dealer Charlie Babbitt (Tom Cruise), who discovers that his estranged ...

.''

Plot

Bill is a man with an

intellectual disability Intellectual disability (ID), also known as general learning disability in the United Kingdom and formerly mental retardation,Rosa's Law, Pub. L. 111-256124 Stat. 2643(2010). is a generalized neurodevelopmental disorder characterized by signifi ...

in his 60s. He ventures out into the world for the first time after spending most of his life at Grandville, a dreary inner city institution in

Minneapolis Minneapolis () is the largest city in Minnesota, United States, and the county seat of Hennepin County. The city is abundant in water, with thirteen lakes, wetlands, the Mississippi River, creeks and waterfalls. Minneapolis has its origins ...

Minnesota Minnesota () is a state in the upper midwestern region of the United States. It is the 12th largest U.S. state in area and the 22nd most populous, with over 5.75 million residents. Minnesota is home to western prairies, now given over to ...

, since age seven (when his mother sent him there). Bill is taken in by a kind family and learns what it means to love for the first time in his life.

Cast

* Mickey Rooney -

Largo Woodruff Largo Woodruff (born July 18, 1955) is an American actress who appeared in numerous films in the 1980s. She began her career appearing in commercials before landing a bit part in Woody Allen's ''Stardust Memories'' (1980). Her first major featur ...

- Beverly Morrow * Anna Maria Horsford - Marge Keating *

Harry Goz Harry Goz (February 16, 1932 – September 6, 2003) was an American musical theater actor and voice actor. Career Goz debuted in the 1956 Broadway production of ''Bajour'', co-starring Chita Rivera and Nancy Dussault. Goz played Tevye in th ...

- Dr. Tom Walz * Kathleen Maguire - Florence Archer

References

External links

''The Bill Sackter Story'' official website
* 1981 television films 1981 films 1980s biographical drama films American biographical drama films CBS network films Best Miniseries or Television Movie Golden Globe winners Emmy Award-winning programs Films about intellectual disability Films directed by Anthony Page Films set in Minnesota Peabody Award-winning broadcasts Alan Landsburg Productions films American drama television films 1980s American films {{US-tv-drama-film-stub

Plot

Cast

See also

References

External links