The Phil Silvers Archival Museum is located in

Coventry Coventry ( or ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city in the West Midlands (county), West Midlands, England. It is on the River Sherbourne. Coventry has been a large settlement for centuries, although it was not founded and given its ...

, England. It opened in 2015 and remains the only Phil Silvers museum in the world. The museum houses artefacts from Silvers' life including some of his correspondence and clothing.

Phil Silvers Appreciation Society

The museum is dedicated to the American actor Phil Silvers, who was famous for playing

Sergeant Bilko ''The Phil Silvers Show'', originally titled ''You'll Never Get Rich'', is a sitcom which ran on CBS from 1955 to 1959. A pilot titled "Audition Show" was made in 1955, but it was never broadcast. 143 other episodes were broadcast – all half-a ...

on his 1955 to 1959 '' The Phil Silvers Show''. The museum was founded by Steve Everitt, a

resident. Everitt first saw Silvers in a rerun of his show in 1981 when Everitt was a teenager, watching television after his parents had gone to bed. Everitt afterwards sent Silvers birthday and Christmas cards and letters. Everitt, with Mick Clews, founded the Phil Silvers Appreciation Society in 1984. Silvers was supportive of the organisation and contributed a telephone interview to a 1985 episode of the BBC's '' Pebble Mill at One'', on which Everitt was being interviewed. This interview was the last broadcast interview before Silvers' 1985 death.

Museum

Everitt went on to establish a shop (Sgt Bilko's Vintage Emporium) at Coventry's

FarGo Village FarGo Village is a Strip mall, creative quarter on Far Gosford Street, Coventry, England. Costing £5 million and opened on 27 September 2014, it is a mixture of mobile catering units, small boutique style units housed in repurposed shipping c ...

, selling television memorabilia. Everitt established the Phil Silvers Archival Museum within his shop, partly funded by selling his home. He found support from Silvers' daughter, Tracey, who donated his correspondence from Everitt and other personal items, and from donations from Silvers' fellow cast members. The collection includes a smoking jacket, waistcoat and a pair of glasses worn by Silvers. The estate of actress

Debbie Reynolds Mary Frances "Debbie" Reynolds (April 1, 1932 – December 28, 2016) was an American actress, singer, and businesswoman. Her career spanned almost 70 years. She was nominated for the Golden Globe Award for Most Promising Newcomer for her portra ...

donated a jacket worn by Silvers during a screen test for the 1944 film ''Something for the Boys''. A 1940s television set has been modified to continually show episodes of the ''Phil Silvers Show''. The museum opened to the public on 1 November 2015, the 30th anniversary of Silvers' death and was initially free to enter. Despite being Coventry's smallest museum, it has been described in ''The Boar'' (the

University of Warwick The University of Warwick ( ; abbreviated as ''Warw.'' in post-nominal letters) is a public research university on the outskirts of Coventry between the West Midlands (county), West Midlands and Warwickshire, England. The university was founded i ...

student newspaper) as "one of Coventry’s major attractions". It is the only Phil Silvers museum in the world and is open seven days a week. Whilst maintaining the museum Everitt has also helped with the quality control of a DVD boxed set of the ''Phil Silvers Show'' and hosted a screening of the show at the

British Film Institute The British Film Institute (BFI) is a film and television charitable organisation which promotes and preserves film-making and television in the United Kingdom. The BFI uses funds provided by the National Lottery to encourage film production, ...

. He also successfully campaigned for Silvers to receive a star on the

Hollywood Walk of Fame The Hollywood Walk of Fame is a historic landmark which consists of more than 2,700 five-pointed terrazzo and brass stars embedded in the sidewalks along 15 blocks of Hollywood Boulevard and three blocks of Vine Street in Hollywood, Californ ...

. The museum has been visited by comedians and actors including

Phill Jupitus Phillip Christopher Jupitus (, ''né'' Swan; born 25 June 1962) is an English stand-up and improv comedian, actor, performance poet, cartoonist and podcaster. Jupitus was a team captain on all but one BBC Two-broadcast episode of music quiz ''N ...

, Danny Baker, Paul Merton,

Nick Hancock Nicholas John Hancock (born 25 October 1962) is an English actor and television presenter. He hosted the sports quiz ''They Think It's All Over'' for 10 years. He also formerly presented ''Room 101'' (1994–1999) on TV, as well as its earlier ...

, Tim Vine and Paul Bradley. Baker donated a signed programme from Silvers' Broadway show ''

High Button Shoes ''High Button Shoes'' is a 1947 musical with music by Jule Styne, lyrics by Sammy Cahn and book by George Abbott and Stephen Longstreet. It was based on the semi-autobiographical 1946 novel ''The Sisters Liked Them Handsome'' by Stephen Longstre ...

''. The museum has also received support from

Mark Hamill Mark Richard Hamill (; born September 25, 1951) is an American actor and writer. He is known for his role as Luke Skywalker in the ''Star Wars'' film series, beginning with the original 1977 film and subsequently winning three Saturn Awards f ...

. Everitt now co-owns the museum with Clews. They plan to move the museum to larger premises in the future. It was expanded after a successful crowdfunding campaign and expanded again in March–April 2021. It now charges an admission fee of £3.

References

{{reflist Museums established in 2015 Museums in Coventry History of television in the United Kingdom History of television in the United States Mass media museums in the United Kingdom 2015 establishments in England