Academy celebrates Gregory Peck Collection

Nov 21, 2006 by Ian Evans

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences celebrated the gift of the Gregory Peck Collection on Monday, November 20. Peck family, friends and industry colleagues, attended the gathering.

Peck’s widow, Veronique, joined Academy President Sid Ganis in displaying an extensively annotated personal copy of the script for To Kill a Mockingbird as a symbol of the richness of the entire collection.

Peck, served three terms as president of the Academy and was also a longtime governor of the Academy’s Actors Branch.

“We’re delighted to provide a home for the Gregory Peck Collection, documenting the life and career of one of the most iconic figures in our cultural history,” said Ganis. “We are giving it our usual meticulous care, and we’ll make sure that it’s available for film researchers for years to come.”

“Our family is very gratified that my husband’s scripts and personal papers reflecting his lifetime of work as an artist will be at a special place,” said Veronique Peck. “Our continuing gift of these materials will enable scholars who love film — and who also loved Gregory’s contributions to filmmaking — to gain deeper insights into the process. In the end, the Gregory Peck Collection can only reflect the greater magic that is filmmaking, and it is through the films themselves that he will live on as long as movies are seen.”

For more information on the Margaret Herrick Library and its collections, visit www.oscars.org/mhl.