Next episode: 2025-06-20
American Masters is a PBS television series which produces biographies on enduring writers, musicians, visual and performing artists, dramatists, filmmakers, and others who have left an indelible impression on the cultural landscape of the United States.
Premiere
Private conversations: on the set of 'death of a salesman'
Philip johnson, self portrait
Katherine anne porter: the eye of memory
The unknown chaplin (1)
The unknown chaplin (2)
The unknown chaplin (3)
Billie holiday: the long night of lady day
James levine: a life in music
Aaron copland: a self portrait
Thomas eakins: a motion portrait
Georgia o'keeffe
Eugene o'neill: a glory of ghosts
Isaac in america: a journey with isaac bashevis singer
Directed by william wyler
Rubinstein remembered
Nik and murray
George gershwin remembered
Maurice sendak: mon cher papa
The negro ensemble company
Unanswered prayers: the life and times of truman capote
The ten-year lunch: the wit and legend of the algonquin round table
Buster keaton: hard act to follow
Lillian gish: the actor's life for me
A duke named ellington
Andre kertesz of the cities
Aretha franklin: the queen of soul
Rivera in america
Saint-gaudens: masque of the golden bowl
Neil simon: not just for laughs
Broadway's dreamers: the legacy of the group theatre
Harold clurman: a life of theatre
Stella adler: awake and dream!
Satchmo: the life of louis armstrong
James baldwin: the price of the ticket
Celebrating bird: the triumph of charlie parker
Jasper johns: ideas in paint
Mort sahl: the loyal opposition
W. eugene smith: photography made difficult
Harold lloyd: the third genius
Milos forman: portrait
Preston sturges: the rise and fall of an american dreamer
John cassavetes
Martin scorsese directs
You're the top: the cole porter story
Edward r. murrow: this reporter
John hammond: from bessie smith to bruce springsteen
Sanford meisner: the american theatre's best kept secret
John cage: i have nothing to say and i am saying it
Helen hayes: first lady of the american theatre
Miracle on 44th street: a portrait of the actor's studio
A. einstein: how i see the world
Sarah vaughan: the divine one
Frederic remington: the truth of other days
Menuhin: a family portrait
Robert motherwell and the new york school
Ray charles: the genius of soul
Waldo salt: a screenwriter's journey
Paul simon: born at the right time
George lucas: heroes, myths & magic
D.w. griffith: father of film
Benny goodman: adventures in the kingdom of swing
Martha graham: the dancer revealed
Rediscovering will rogers
Tennessee williams: orpheus of the american stage
Placido domingo: a musical life
Edgar allan poe: terror of the soul
Rod serling: submitted for your approval
William styron: the way of the writer
Richard avedon: darkness and light
Buckminster fuller: thinking out loud
Nichols and may: take two
Lena horne: in her own voice
Danny kaye: a legacy of laughter
Man ray: prophet of the avant-garde
Jack paar: as i was saying
Isamu noguchi: stones and paper
The life and times of allen ginsberg
Vaudeville
Billy wilder: the human comedy
Lou reed: rock and roll heart
Don hewitt: 90 minutes on 60 minutes
Alexander calder
Leonard bernstein: reaching for the note
The line king: al hirschfeld
Paul robeson: here i stand
Robert rauschenberg: inventive genius
The lives of lillian hellman
Dashiell hammett: detective, writer
Yours for a song: the women of tin pan alley
Hitchcock, selznick and the end of hollywood
Norman rockwell: painting america
Ella fitzgerald: something to live for
Paul taylor: dancemaker
Sidney poitier: one bright light
Isaac stern: life's virtuoso
The source: the story of the beats and the beat generation
Clint eastwood: out of the shadows
Mailer on mailer
On cukor
Lucille ball: finding lucy
Bob marley: rebel music
A conversation with gregory peck
Alfred stieglitz: the eloquent eye
Coming to light: edward s. curtis and the north american indians
Goldwyn: the man and his movies
F. scott fitzgerald: winter dreams
Richard rodgers: the sweetest sounds
Quincy jones: in the pocket
Good rockin' tonight: the legacy of sun records
Merce cunningham: a lifetime of dance
Ralph ellison: an american journey
Gene kelly: anatomy of a dancer
Willie nelson: still is still moving
Lon chaney: a thousand faces
Juilliard
Alice waters and her delicious revolution
Joni mitchell: a woman of heart and mind
Muddy waters: can't be satisfied
Robert capa: in love and war
The education of gore vidal
Arthur miller, elia kazan and the blacklist
James brown: soul survivor
Cary grant: a class apart
Balanchine
Judy garland: by myself
Henry luce and time-life's america: a vision of empire
Hank williams: honky tonk blues
Julia! america's favorite chef
James dean: sense memories
Sweet honey in the rock: raise your voice
George stevens: a filmmaker's journey
Bob newhart: unbuttoned
Willa cather: the road is all
Ernest hemingway: rivers to the sea
Bob dylan: no direction home (1)
Bob dylan: no direction home (2)
John ford/john wayne: the filmmaker and the legend
The world of nat king cole
Woodie guthrie: ain't got no home
Marilyn monroe: still life
Walter cronkite: witness to history
Andy warhol: a documentary (part 1)
Andy warhol: a documentary (part 2)
Sketches of frank gehry
Annie leibovitz: life through a lens
Novel reflections on the american dream
Atlantic records: the house that ahmet built
Les paul: chasing sound
David hockney: the colors of music
John james audubon: drawn from nature
Tony bennett: the music never ends
Orozco: man of fire
Good ol' charles schulz
Carol burnett: a woman of character
Pete seeger: the power of song
Zora neale hurston: jump at the sun
Marvin gaye: what's going on
You must remember this: the warner bros. story: you ain't heard nothin' yet (1923-1935)
You must remember this: the warner bros. story: good war, uneasy peace (1935-1950)
You must remember this: the warner bros. story: a new reality (1950-1970)
You must remember this: the warner bros. story: woodstock notions (1970-1989)
You must remember this: the warner bros. story: the big tent (1980-present)
The brothers warner
Jerome robbins: something to dance about
Glass: a portrait of philip in twelve parts
Hollywood chinese
Neil young: don't be denied
Garrison keillor: the man on the radio in the red shoes
Trumbo
Joan baez: how sweet the sound
Louisa may alcott: the woman behind 'little women'
Sam cooke: crossing over
I.m. pei: building china modern
The doors: when you're strange
Merle haggard: learning to live with myself
Cachao: uno más
A letter to elia
Lennon nyc
Genius within: the inner life of glenn gould
Jeff bridges: the dude abides
Troubadors: carole king/james taylor & the rise of the singer-songwriter
John muir in the new world
James levine: america's maestro
Pearl jam twenty
Bill t. jones: a good man
Woody allen: a documentary (1)
Woody allen: a documentary (2)
Charles & ray eames: the architect and the painter
Phil ochs: there but for fortune
Cab calloway: sketches
Margaret mitchell: american rebel
Harper lee: hey, boo
Johnny carson: king of late night
The day carl sandburg died
Inventing david geffen
Joffrey: mavericks of american dance
Sister rosetta tharpe: the godmother of rock & roll
Philip roth: unmasked
Mel brooks: make a noise
Billie jean king
Jimi hendrix: hear my train a comin'
Marvin hamlisch: what he did for love
Salinger
Alice walker: beauty in truth
A fierce green fire
Plimpton! starring george plimpton as himself
Tanaquil le clercq: afternoon of a faun
Dorothea lange: grab a hunk of lightning
Joan rivers: a piece of work
The boomer list
Bing crosby rediscovered
Ricky jay: deceptive practice
August wilson: the ground on which i stand
Jascha heifetz: god's fiddler
American ballet theatre: a history
Harper lee
Althea
Pedro e. guerrero: a photographer's journey
The women's list
Mike nichols
B.b. king: the life of riley
Carole king: natural woman
Fats domino and the birth of rock 'n' roll
Loretta lynn: still a mountain girl
Janis: little girl blue
The highwaymen: friends till the end
Norman lear: just another version of you
Eero saarinen: the architect who saw the future
By sidney lumet
Maya angelou: and still i rise
Patsy cline
James beard: america’s first foodie
Jacques pépin: the art of craft
Richard linklater: dream is destiny
Tyrus
Edgar allan poe: buried alive
Inspiring woman web series
This is bob hope
Lorraine hansberry: sighted eyes/feeling heart
Bombshell: the hedy lamarr story
Ted williams: “the greatest hitter who ever lived”
Artists flight: eva hesse
Artists flight: everybody knows…elizabeth murray
Andrew wyeth
Basquiat: rage to riches
Itzhak perlman
Decoding watson
Sammy davis, jr.: i’ve gotta be me
Charley pride
Holly near: singing for our lives
Joseph pulitzer: voice of the people
Garry winogrand: all things are photographable
Terrence mcnally: every act of life
Robert shaw -- man of many voices
Worlds of ursula k. le guin
Raúl juliá: the world’s a stage
Rothko: pictures must be miraculous
N. scott momaday: words from a bear
Miles davis birth of the cool
Mae west: dirty blonde
Toni morrison: the pieces i am
Unladylike2020: the changemakers
Walter winchell: the power of gossip
Michael tilson thomas: where now is
Keith haring: street art boy
Laura ingalls wilder: prairie to page
How it feels to be free
Flannery
Twyla moves
Never too late: the doc severinsen story
Oliver sacks: his own life
Amy tan: unintended memoir
Ballerina boys
Buddy guy: the blues chase the blues away
Rita moreno: just a girl who decided to go for it
Becoming helen keller
Ailey
Marian anderson: the whole world in her hands
Waterman – duke: ambassador of aloha
Joe papp in five acts
Brian wilson: long promised road
Buffy sainte-marie: carry it on
The adventures of saul bellow
Groucho & cavett
Roberta flack
Dr. tony fauci
In the making
Nam june paik: moon is the oldest tv
Little richard: king and queen of rock 'n' roll
Jerry brown: the disrupter
Floyd abrams: speaking freely
A song for cesar
Max roach: the drum also waltzes
Hopper: an american love story
Moynihan
The incomparable mr. buckley
Blake edwards: a love story in 24 frames
Julia alvarez: a life reimagined
Renegades: daniel k. inouye
Brenda lee: rockin' around
The disappearance of miss scott
Liza: a truly terrific absolutely true story
Art spiegelman: disaster is my muse
Janis ian: breaking silence
2025-06-20
Hannah arendt: facing tyranny
2025-06-27
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