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Biography
1987 · TV Series · TV-14 · 120 min · ★ 6.7
Documentary
This long-running documentary series profiles notable people from entertainment, politics, the arts, and beyond, exploring the experiences and choices that shaped their lives. Episodes draw on research, archival material, and perspectives from those who knew the subject, with later seasons expanding the range to include even well-known fictional icons.
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Not currently available to stream in the US.
~285 hours to watch · 285 episodes.
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Details
- Years
- 1987
- Release date
- 1987-04-06
- Network
- CBS, A&E, A&E, A&E
- Language
- English
- Rated
- TV-14
- Runtime
- 120 min
- TMDB rating
- 6.7/10 (35 votes)
About
If you enjoy accessible, fact-focused portraits of famous figures and the stories behind their public lives, this is a solid pick, especially if you like American Masters; Not for you if you want a single continuing storyline.
Pros: well researched profiles; wide range of subjects; informative and entertaining | Cons: interest varies by subject; occasional inconsistency; limited time per episode
Cast & crew
- HH
Heinrich Hoffmann
as Self - Photographer (archive footage)
- IR
Ivan Reitman
as Self
- RW
Richard Widmark
as Self - Actor
- RW
Robin Williams
as Self
Scarlett Johansson
as Self
- VP
Vincent Price
as Self (archive footage)
- CN
Chuck Nice
as Himself
- NG
Nerin Gun
as Self - Biographer (archive footage)
- JB
Justin Barrett
as Narrator (voice)
- PK
Paul Kaup
as Narrator
Directed by Kevin Knoblock, Steven C. Smith
Episodes27 seasons · 285 episodes
Season 115 episodes
- S1E16 Apr. 198760mAmazon Prime Video
- S1E2Al Capone: Scarface60m
- S1E3Bob Hope: America's Entertainer60m
- S1E4Bugsy Siegel60m
- S1E5Dalai Lama: The Soul of Tibet60m
- S1E6King Arthur: His Life and Legends60m
- S1E7Lucky Luciano: Chairman of the Mob60m
- S1E8Nelson Mandela: Journey to Freedom60m
- S1E9Muhammad: The Prophet60m
- S1E10Napoleon Bonaparte: The Glory of France60m
- S1E11Bonnie & Clyde: The Story of Love & Death60m
- S1E12Babe Ruth60m
- S1E13Frederick Douglass60m
- S1E14Lizzie Borden: A Woman Accused60m
- S1E15Milton Hershey: The Chocolate King60m
Season 21 episode
- S2E1Muhammad: The Prophet42m
Season 381 episodes
- S3E1Harry S. Truman60m
- S3E2Henry Ford: Tin Lizzy Tycoon60m
- S3E3Mata Hari60m
- S3E4Paul Revere60m
- S3E5Bruce Lee: The Immortal Dragon60m
- S3E6Sid Caesar: Television's Comedy Genius60m
- S3E7The Rockefellers60m
- S3E8Teddy: A Kennedy Portrait60m
- S3E9General Omar Bradley60m
- S3E10Marilyn Monroe - Behind the Legend60m
- S3E11Houdini: The Great Escape60m
- S3E12George Washington: Founding Father60m
- S3E13Christa McAuliffe: Teacher in Space60m
- S3E14Wilbur and Orville: Dreams of Flying60m
- S3E15Gene Roddenberry: Star Trek and Beyond60m
- S3E16Donald Trump: Master of the Deal60m
- S3E17Frank Capra: Mr. Capra Goes to America60m
- S3E18Davy Crockett: American Frontier Legend60m
- S3E19Roy Rogers: American Legend60m
- S3E20Willie Nelson60m
- S3E21Patsy Cline: Remembering Patsy60m
- S3E22W.C. Fields: Behind the Laughter60m
- S3E23Eleanor Roosevelt: A Restless Spirit60m
- S3E24The Babe: The Story of Babe Ruth60m
- S3E25Pope John Paul II: Statesman of Faith60m
- S3E26Bette Davis: If Looks Could Kill60m
- S3E27Gilda Radner: In Her Own Words60m
- S3E28Benjamin Franklin: Citizen of the World60m
- S3E29Mike Tyson: Fallen Champ60m
- S3E30Michelangelo: Artist and Man60m
- S3E31Edgar Allan Poe: The Mystery of Edgar Allan Poe60m
- S3E32Cleopatra: Destiny's Queen60m
- S3E33Van Cliburn: Concert Pianist60m
- S3E34Admiral William 'Bull' Halsey60m
- S3E35FDR: The War Years60m
- S3E36Hirohito60m
- S3E37Clint Eastwood: The Man from Malpaso60m
- S3E38Santa Claus60m
- S3E39Shari Lewis and Lamb Chop60m
- S3E40Stooges: The Men Behind the Mayhem60m
- S3E41FDR: Years of Crisis60m
- S3E42Andrew Carnegie: Prince of Steel60m
- S3E43Andrew Jackson: A Man for the People60m
- S3E44Aristotle Onassis: The Golden Greek60m
- S3E45Attila: Scourge of God60m
- S3E46Benedict Arnold: Triumph and Treason60m
- S3E47Charles Dickens: A Tale of Ambition and Genius60m
- S3E48Charles Manson: Journey into Evil60m
- S3E49Charlton Heston: For All Seasons60m
- S3E50Christopher Columbus: Explorer of the New World60m
- S3E51Crazy Horse: The Last Warrior60m
- S3E52Daniel Boone60m
- S3E53Genghis Khan: Terror and Conquest60m
- S3E54George Custer: Showdown at the Little Bighorn60m
- S3E55Goebbels: Master of Propaganda60m
- S3E56H.G. Wells: Time Traveler60m
- S3E57Hercules: Power of the Gods60m
- S3E58Huey Long: The Kingfish60m
- S3E59Jack the Ripper: Phantom of Death60m
- S3E60John Dillinger: Public Enemy #160m
- S3E61John Wilkes Booth: Assassin in the Spotlight60m
- S3E62Lee Harvey Oswald: An American Tragedy60m
- S3E63Leif Ericson: Voyages of a Viking60m
- S3E64Malcolm X: A Search for Identity60m
- S3E65Marco Polo: Journey to the East60m
- S3E66Mozart60m
- S3E67Nostradamus: Prophet of Doom60m
- S3E68Patrick Henry: Voice of Liberty60m
- S3E69Ponce de León: The First Conquistador60m
- S3E70Sherlock Holmes: The Great Detective60m
- S3E71Sitting Bull: Chief of the Lakota Nation60m
- S3E72Susan B. Anthony: Rebel for the Cause60m
- S3E73The Gettys: A Tragedy of Riches60m
- S3E74The James Gang: Outlaw Brothers60m
- S3E75The Red Baron: Master of the Air60m
- S3E76The Vanderbilts: An American Dynasty60m
- S3E77Theodore Roosevelt: Roughrider to Rushmore60m
- S3E78Thomas Jefferson: Philosopher of Freedom60m
- S3E79Tokyo Rose: Victim of Propaganda60m
- S3E80Wild Bill Hickock: Gentleman of the Old West60m
- S3E81Yitzhak Rabin: Soldier of Peace60m
Season 532 episodes
- S5E1Abbott and Costello60m
- S5E2Abraham Lincoln: Preserving the Union60m
- S5E3Adam & Eve: Lost Innocence60m
- S5E4Admiral Chester Nimitz: Thunder of the Pacific60m
- S5E5Albert DeSalvo: The Boston Strangler60m
- S5E6Alexander Graham Bell: Voice of Invention60m
- S5E7Albert DeSalvo: The Boston Strangler60m
- S5E8Annie Oakley: Crack Shot in Petticoats60m
- S5E9Audie Murphy: Great American Hero60m
- S5E10Confucius: Words of Wisdom60m
- S5E11Conrad Hilton: Innkeeper to the World60m
- S5E12David and Goliath: A Biblical Battle60m
- S5E13Edward VIII: The Traitor King60m
- S5E14Evita: The Woman Behind the Myth60m
- S5E15Fidel Castro: El Comandante60m
- S5E16Hatfields & McCoys: An American Feud60m
- S5E17Henry VIII: Scandals of a King60m
- S5E18Jeffrey Dahmer: The Monster Within60m
- S5E19John F. Kennedy Jr.: Child of a Dream60m
- S5E20John Paul Jones: Captain of the High Seas60m
- S5E21Marie Antoinette: The Tragic Queen60m
- S5E22Mikhail Gorbachev: A Man Who Changed the World60m
- S5E23Moses and the Ten Commandments90m
- S5E24Moshe Dayan: A Warrior's Story60m
- S5E25Noah and the Ark: Voyage to a New Beginning60m
- S5E26Richard Nixon: Man and President60m
- S5E27Saddam Hussein60m
- S5E28Saint Patrick: Man, Myth & Magic60m
- S5E29The Astors: High Society60m
- S5E30The Fabulous World of Fabergé60m
- S5E31The Hunchback of Notre Dame60m
- S5E32William Shakespeare: A Life of Drama60m
Season 651 episodes
- S6E1Anastasia: Her True Story60m
- S6E2Andy Griffith: Hollywood's Homespun Hero60m
- S6E3Augustus: First of the Emperors60m
- S6E4Ayatollah Khomeini: Holy Terror60m
- S6E5Caligula: Reign of Madness60m
- S6E6Charles Kuralt: A Life on the Road60m
- S6E7Constantine: The Christian Emperor60m
- S6E8David Copperfield: Master of Illusion60m
- S6E9Diana: The People's Princess60m
- S6E10Dow and Jones: Wizards of Wall Street60m
- S6E11Dutch Schultz: Menace to Society60m
- S6E12Edgar Cayce: The Sleeping Psychic60m
- S6E13Edward R. Murrow: Voice of America60m
- S6E14Eliot Ness: Untouchable60m
- S6E15Elizabeth I: The Virgin Queen60m
- S6E16Elizabeth: The Reluctant Monarch60m
- S6E17Erwin Rommel: The Last Knight60m
- S6E18F. Scott Fitzgerald: The Great American Dreamer60m
- S6E19Frank Costello: Prime Minister of the Mob60m
- S6E20General George C. Marshall: Soldier and Statesman60m
- S6E21George Armstrong Custer: America's Golden Cavalier60m
- S6E22Hadrian: Emperor of the Golden Age60m
- S6E23Ivan the Terrible: Might and Madness60m
- S6E24J.C. Penney: Main Street Millionaire60m
- S6E25JFK: A Personal Story60m
- S6E26Jimmy Stewart: His Wonderful Life60m
- S6E27Joseph Kennedy: Father of an American Dynasty60m
- S6E28Julius Caesar: Master of the Roman World60m
- S6E29Justinian: The Last of the Romans60m
- S6E30Katharine Graham: Pillar of the Post60m
- S6E31Leonardo Da Vinci: Renaissance Master60m
- S6E32Lucrezia Borgia: Pretty Poison60m
- S6E33Martin Luther King, Jr.: The Man and the Dream60m
- S6E34Meyer Lansky: Mob Tycoon60m
- S6E35Mother Teresa: A Life of Devotion60m
- S6E36Nancy Reagan: The President's Leading Lady60m
- S6E37Neiman Marcus: Last of the Merchant Kings60m
- S6E38Nelson Rockefeller: Passionate Millionaire60m
- S6E39Nero: The Power and the Madness60m
- S6E40Pancho Villa: Outlaw Hero60m
- S6E41R.H. Macy: Merchant Prince60m
- S6E42Sam Giancana60m
- S6E43Sam Walton: Bargain Billionaire60m
- S6E44Samuel Bronfman: Whiskey Man60m
- S6E45Sigmund Freud: Analysis of a Mind60m
- S6E46Stanley & Livingstone: The Mercenary and the Missionary60m
- S6E47The Gambinos: First Family of Crime91m
- S6E48The Marshall Fields: A Chicago Tradition60m
- S6E49The Woolworths: Five-and-Dime Fortune and Failure60m
- S6E50Thurgood Marshall: Justice for All60m
- S6E51Vladimir Lenin: Voice of the Revolution60m
Season 723 episodes
- S7E1David Berkowitz: Son of Sam60m
- S7E2Mao Tse Tung: China's Peasant Emperor60m
- S7E3Amelia Earhart: Queen of the Air60m
- S7E4Angela Lansbury: A Balancing Act60m
- S7E5Anne Frank: The Life of a Young Girl60m
- S7E6Beethoven: The Sound and the Fury60m
- S7E7Colonel Sanders: America's Chicken King60m
- S7E8Dwight D. Eisenhower: Commander-in-Chief60m
- S7E9Ernest Hemingway: Wrestling With Life60m
- S7E10Evel Knievel: Hell on Wheels60m
- S7E11Howard Carter: Triumph and Treasure60m
- S7E12Jackie Kennedy Onassis: In a Class of Her Own60m
- S7E13Jim Jones: Journey into Madness60m
- S7E14John Wayne: American Legend60m
- S7E15P.T. Barnum: The Greatest Showman on Earth60m
- S7E16Ray Kroc: Fast Food McMillionaire60m
- S7E17Satan: Prince of Darkness60m
- S7E18Vincent Van Gogh: A Stroke of Genius60m
- S7E19Charles Lindbergh: Against the Wind60m
- S7E20Fred Gwynne: More than a Munster60m
- S7E21John Wayne Gacy: A Monster in Disguise60m
- S7E22Nicolae Ceausescu: The Unrepentant Tyrant60m
- S7E23The Tiffanys: Mark of Excellence60m
Season 1031 episodes
- S10E1Larry Flynt: Fighting Dirty60m
- S10E2Al Lewis: Forever Grandpa60m
- S10E3Jimmy Hoffa: The Man Behind the Mystery60m
- S10E4John J. Pershing: The Iron General60m
- S10E5John Steinbeck: An American Writer60m
- S10E6Mary Magdalene: The Hidden Apostle60m
- S10E7Pol Pot: Secret Killer60m
- S10E8Sally Hemings: Redefining History60m
- S10E9Stonewall Jackson60m
- S10E10Yvonne De Carlo: Gilded Lily60m
- S10E11Enzo Ferrari: Passion for Speed60m
- S10E12Genovese: Portrait of a Crime Family (The Mafia - Disc 3)60m
- S10E13George Lucas: Creating an Empire60m
- S10E14Henry Hill: Goodfella60m
- S10E15Calamity Jane60m
- S10E16Donald Rumsfeld: Top Gun60m
- S10E17General George Patton: A Genius for War60m
- S10E18Hitler and Stalin: Roots of Evil60m
- S10E19Home Improvement: A Half-Hour of Power60m
- S10E20John & Abigail Adams: Love and Liberty60m
- S10E21Joseph Stalin: Red Terror60m
- S10E22Lewis & Clark: Explorers of the New Frontier60m
- S10E23Mahatma Gandhi: Pilgrim of Peace60m
- S10E24Mark Twain: His Amazing Adventures60m
- S10E25Osama Bin Laden: In the Name of Allah60m
- S10E26Pablo Escobar: The Terror of Columbia60m
- S10E27RFK: His Many Sides60m
- S10E28Ronald Reagan: The Role of a Lifetime60m
- S10E29The Extraordinary Voyages of Jules Verne60m
- S10E30The Manson Women: An American Nightmare60m
- S10E31Saturday Night Live60m
Season 111 episode
- S11E1Drew Barrymore: Beating the Odds
Season 191 episode
- S19E1Bram Stoker
Season 2045 episodes
- S20E1Chuck Norris60m
- S20E2General Douglas MacArthur: The Return of a Legend60m
- S20E3Albert Einstein60m
- S20E4Ben & Jerry's60m
- S20E5Bill Clinton: Hope, Charisma & Controversy60m
- S20E6Catherine the Great60m
- S20E7Charles Darwin: Evolution's Voice60m
- S20E8J. Pierpont Morgan: Emperor of Wall Street60m
- S20E9Mussolini: Italy's Nightmare60m
- S20E10Peter60m
- S20E11Peter the Great: The Tyrant Reformer60m
- S20E12Pocahontas: Ambassador of the New World60m
- S20E13Pontius Pilate60m
- S20E14Rasputin: The Mad Monk60m
- S20E15Saint Paul60m
- S20E16Solomon60m
- S20E17The Hiltons60m
- S20E18The Kellogg Brothers: Corn Flake Kings60m
- S20E19William Shatner: Captain's Log60m
- S20E20Al Qaeda60m
- S20E21Frank Serpico: Honor Bound60m
- S20E22Gerald R. Ford: Healing the Presidency60m
- S20E23Jane Austen60m
- S20E24The Brontë Sisters60m
- S20E25The Home Depot60m
- S20E26Thomas Edison: Father of Invention60m
- S20E27Woodrow Wilson: Reluctant Warrior60m
- S20E28Howard Schultz and Starbucks60m
- S20E29Solomon and Sheba: An Epic Love Story60m
- S20E30Weird Al Yankovic60m
- S20E31Bill Gates: The Sultan of Software60m
- S20E32Caroline Kennedy: The Next Generation60m
- S20E33David Ben-Gurion60m
- S20E34Ian Fleming60m
- S20E35Lucky: The Story of Charles Lindbergh60m
- S20E36Ted Kennedy: Tragedy, Scandal, and Redemption60m
- S20E37The Apostles60m
- S20E38The Harry Potter Kids60m
- S20E39Barack Obama60m
- S20E40George Washington: American Revolutionary60m
- S20E41Wall Street60m
- S20E42Jeff Dunham: Birth of a Dummy60m
- S20E43Kate Middleton: Uncommon Bride60m
- S20E44Pippa Middleton: Her Life60m
- S20E45Under 21 and Filthy Rich60m
Season 212 episodes
- S21E1Dave Chappelle42m
- S21E2Jon Stewart45m
Season 261 episode
- S26E1Episode 1
Season 271 episode
- S27E1Episode 1