OKPOP Museum acquires collection from ‘Blazing Saddles’ star, Oklahoma native
Artifacts from one of the most revered comedies in motion picture history have a new home at the Oklahoma Museum of Popular Culture.
The museum, also known as OKPOP, is yet to open. Before its doors can open, the interior of the museum must be completed. And to get that accomplished, the OKPOP Foundation must raise $18 million in private donations to match $18 million allotted by the state.
In the meanwhile, OKPOP staffers continue to seek out and acquire collections to be housed at the museum.
The press was invited Tuesday to lay eyes on a newly announced collection. OKPOP acquired more than 50 artifacts from the family of Chickasha-born actor Cleavon Little, who died at age 53 in 1992.
Little won a Tony Award (for “Purlie”) and a Primetime Emmy Award (for a guest spot on the sitcom “Dear John”), but he is best known for playing Sheriff Bart in “Blazing Saddles,” a 1974 Mel Brooks comedy.
Costumes (one burgundy, one tan) and boots worn by Little in “Blazing Saddles” were part of the collection secured by OKPOP.
In 2000, when the American Film Institute compiled a list of the top 100 comedies in cinema history, “Blazing Saddles” was sixth on the list. Three Brooks films (also including “The Producers” and “Young Frankenstein”) were ranked in the top 13. Brooks has a slight Oklahoma connection in that, prior to becoming a filmmaker, he spent Army time at Fort Sill.
Little was raised in San Diego, but, because his story started in Oklahoma, he has legitimate credentials for OKPOP inclusion. OKPOP intends to highlight the stories of Oklahoma creatives who have made significant contributions to music, movies, television, radio, comics, animation, literature and other branches of pop culture.
While introducing the media to items from the Little collection, Jake Krumwiede, OKPOP’s executive director, spoke about the ongoing task of acquiring collections as fundraising for the museum continues.
“We are getting into that really exciting period here where we are getting really close,” he said. “The fundraising — we are making a lot of progress. We are starting to get some really, really great collections. We have got more coming that we are really excited about. So it is becoming very tangible, and it is becoming something that we are getting more and more excited about every day, and we really hope everyone else does, too. This collection is reason to get excited.”
OKPOP worked with Little’s family members — a brother, a sister and Little’s daughter — to gain the Little artifacts. Items included the “Blazing Saddles” costumes, archival footage, photos, playbills, posters, awards and trophies.
Said Krumwiede: “Every collection that we receive usually represents at least two years of building relationships with (creatives and families), letting them get to know us and what we are doing and why we are doing it and why we want to remember people like Cleavon Little. It takes time — and sometimes it just takes time get calendars to line up for a visit, either getting them here or going to them sometimes. Big wins like this are representative of years of work sometimes.”
Abby Kurin, managing director of the OKPOP Foundation, announced in November that more than $8.6 million had been raised in the mission to reach the foundation’s $18 million goal.
Paired with matching funds from the state, $36 million would be used for the museum’s completion — $1.5 million for acquisitions and preservation; $4.475 million for building expenses, salaries and parking improvements; $20.475 million for exhibit fabrication/installation, programming development and other development; $9 million for design and consulting fees, plus construction management; and $550,000 for marketing expenses and opening events.
Once funding is completed, interactive museum exhibits will be designed and opened to the public in 18 to 24 months. To learn more, go to okpop.org.
The mission of OKPOP is to inspire and empower new generations of artists, musicians and storytellers to impact the world through the powerful force of creative expression.
