MARSHALLTOWN?- The Orpheum Theater has become the new home of an extensive collection of vintage materials chronicling the career of Marshalltown native Jean Seberg.

Last fall, the Orpheum’s collection curator, Nancy Adams, received a letter from Kendall Natvig, former Webster City resident, asking if the theater would like to have an assortment of Seberg artifacts he accumulated through the years.

Adams and the rest of the Orpheum staff jumped at the chance. When the large box arrived in the mail a few weeks ago, they were overcome by the rarity of the artifacts, the number of items and the well-preserved nature of the collection. Nostalgia – and the smell of aged paper – was in the air.

The donation consists of around 50 movie posters representing most of Seberg’s films, lobby cards, movie stills, whole magazines, a variety of articles and magazine covers; items with origins spanning the globe.

“If you look at this collection, you realize what an international star she was,” Natvig said.

Natvig, who grew up in a small town in Iowa and worked as a college professor, has been a life-long fan and collector of Seberg memorabilia and wanted people in her hometown to have access to these rare and historic pieces.

Of particular note are the movie posters, many of which are well-preserved and in vivid color, spanning Seberg’s entire film career in America and abroad. They were created in the pre-digital age when the movie studios had in-house artists who were tasked with designing eye-catching imagery to promote the motion pictures Seberg starred in, including “Saint Joan”, “Bonjour Tristesse”, “In The French Style” “Breathless” and films not as well known to American audiences such as “Congo Vivo” and “Birds in Peru”.

The historical significance of the donation is keenly felt; many of the posters are not in English as her foreign films were not widely circulated in the United States.

“The greatest thing about Kendall’s collection is the foreign posters and the magazine covers, where we didn’t know she had been on the cover. Kendall collected these over a lifetime, as Seberg’s life was happening,” said Michael Oxley, the theater’s director.

The magazine articles chart Seberg’s career as a budding starlet of the late 1950s to fashion icon of the 1960s, her acting career, social activism and tragic death in 1979, at the age of 40.

Nancy Adams, the Orpheum’s collection curator, has been volunteering her time sorting and organizing the donation, filling up scrapbooks and wall space. She has been aided by Bob and Linda Moore as well as Tom LaVille, who has donated Donna Reed posters to the theater.

Adams has worked tirelessly to keep Seberg’s legacy alive, particularly her role coordinating the annual Jean Seberg International Film Festival. While the festival will not be held this year, the Orpheum is planning to screen the new documentary “Movie Star: The Secret Lives of Jean Seberg” made by Garry McGee and Kelly and Tammy Rundle, as a tribute to the star on her birthday, Nov. 13. Also, an exhibit showcasing the newly acquired memorabilia is in the planning stages to coincide with the documentary screening.

“I want the Orpheum to be associated with Jean, and Nancy is our champion,” Oxley concluded.

For more information about the Seberg collection, contact Oxley at 641-844-5920.