American Masters (1986)

American Masters

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.

American Masters

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Seasons

Season 1

Season 1

Season 2

Season 2

Season 3

Season 3

Season 4

Season 4

Season 5

Season 5

Season 6

Season 6

Season 7

Season 7

Season 8

Season 8

Season 9

Season 9

Season 10

Season 10

Season 11

Season 11

Season 12

Season 12

Season 13

Season 13

Season 14

Season 14

Season 15

Season 15

Season 16

Season 16

Season 17

Season 17

Season 18

Season 18

Season 19

Season 19

Season 20

Season 20

Season 21

Season 21

Season 22

Season 22

Season 23

Season 23

Season 24

Season 24

Season 25

Season 25

Season 26

Season 26

Season 27

Season 27

Season 28

Season 28

Season 29

Season 29

Season 30

Season 30

Season 31

Season 31

Season 32

Season 32

Season 33

Season 33

Season 34

Season 34

Season 35

Season 35

Season 36

Season 36

Season 37

Season 37

Season 38

Season 38

Season 39

Season 39

Episodes season 0

  • 0x1

    Premiere

Episodes season 1

  • 1x1

    Private conversations: on the set of 'death of a salesman'

  • 1x2

    Philip johnson, self portrait

  • 1x3

    Katherine anne porter: the eye of memory

  • 1x4

    The unknown chaplin (1)

  • 1x5

    The unknown chaplin (2)

  • 1x6

    The unknown chaplin (3)

  • 1x7

    Billie holiday: the long night of lady day

  • 1x8

    James levine: a life in music

  • 1x9

    Aaron copland: a self portrait

  • 1x10

    Thomas eakins: a motion portrait

  • 1x11

    Georgia o'keeffe

  • 1x12

    Eugene o'neill: a glory of ghosts

Episodes season 2

  • 2x1

    Isaac in america: a journey with isaac bashevis singer

  • 2x2

    Directed by william wyler

  • 2x3

    Rubinstein remembered

  • 2x4

    Nik and murray

  • 2x5

    George gershwin remembered

  • 2x6

    Maurice sendak: mon cher papa

  • 2x7

    The negro ensemble company

  • 2x8

    Unanswered prayers: the life and times of truman capote

  • 2x9

    The ten-year lunch: the wit and legend of the algonquin round table

  • 2x10

    Buster keaton: hard act to follow

Episodes season 3

  • 3x1

    Lillian gish: the actor's life for me

  • 3x2

    A duke named ellington

  • 3x3

    Andre kertesz of the cities

  • 3x4

    Aretha franklin: the queen of soul

  • 3x5

    Rivera in america

  • 3x6

    Saint-gaudens: masque of the golden bowl

  • 3x7

    Neil simon: not just for laughs

  • 3x8

    Broadway's dreamers: the legacy of the group theatre

Episodes season 4

  • 4x1

    Harold clurman: a life of theatre

  • 4x2

    Stella adler: awake and dream!

  • 4x3

    Satchmo: the life of louis armstrong

  • 4x4

    James baldwin: the price of the ticket

  • 4x5

    Celebrating bird: the triumph of charlie parker

  • 4x6

    Jasper johns: ideas in paint

  • 4x7

    Mort sahl: the loyal opposition

  • 4x8

    W. eugene smith: photography made difficult

  • 4x9

    Harold lloyd: the third genius

  • 4x10

    Milos forman: portrait

Episodes season 5

  • 5x1

    Preston sturges: the rise and fall of an american dreamer

  • 5x2

    John cassavetes

  • 5x3

    Martin scorsese directs

  • 5x4

    You're the top: the cole porter story

  • 5x5

    Edward r. murrow: this reporter

  • 5x6

    John hammond: from bessie smith to bruce springsteen

  • 5x7

    Sanford meisner: the american theatre's best kept secret

  • 5x8

    John cage: i have nothing to say and i am saying it

Episodes season 6

  • 6x1

    Helen hayes: first lady of the american theatre

  • 6x2

    Miracle on 44th street: a portrait of the actor's studio

  • 6x3

    A. einstein: how i see the world

  • 6x4

    Sarah vaughan: the divine one

  • 6x5

    Frederic remington: the truth of other days

  • 6x6

    Menuhin: a family portrait

  • 6x7

    Robert motherwell and the new york school

  • 6x8

    Ray charles: the genius of soul

  • 6x9

    Waldo salt: a screenwriter's journey

Episodes season 7

  • 7x1

    Paul simon: born at the right time

  • 7x2

    George lucas: heroes, myths & magic

  • 7x3

    D.w. griffith: father of film

Episodes season 8

  • 8x1

    Benny goodman: adventures in the kingdom of swing

  • 8x2

    Martha graham: the dancer revealed

Episodes season 9

  • 9x1

    Rediscovering will rogers

  • 9x2

    Tennessee williams: orpheus of the american stage

  • 9x3

    Placido domingo: a musical life

  • 9x4

    Edgar allan poe: terror of the soul

Episodes season 10

  • 10x1

    Rod serling: submitted for your approval

  • 10x2

    William styron: the way of the writer

  • 10x3

    Richard avedon: darkness and light

  • 10x4

    Buckminster fuller: thinking out loud

  • 10x5

    Nichols and may: take two

Episodes season 11

  • 11x1

    Lena horne: in her own voice

  • 11x2

    Danny kaye: a legacy of laughter

  • 11x3

    Man ray: prophet of the avant-garde

  • 11x4

    Jack paar: as i was saying

  • 11x5

    Isamu noguchi: stones and paper

Episodes season 12

  • 12x1

    The life and times of allen ginsberg

  • 12x2

    Vaudeville

  • 12x3

    Billy wilder: the human comedy

  • 12x4

    Lou reed: rock and roll heart

  • 12x5

    Don hewitt: 90 minutes on 60 minutes

  • 12x6

    Alexander calder

Episodes season 13

  • 13x1

    Leonard bernstein: reaching for the note

  • 13x2

    The line king: al hirschfeld

  • 13x3

    Paul robeson: here i stand

  • 13x4

    Robert rauschenberg: inventive genius

  • 13x5

    The lives of lillian hellman

  • 13x6

    Dashiell hammett: detective, writer

  • 13x7

    Yours for a song: the women of tin pan alley

Episodes season 14

  • 14x1

    Hitchcock, selznick and the end of hollywood

  • 14x2

    Norman rockwell: painting america

  • 14x3

    Ella fitzgerald: something to live for

  • 14x4

    Paul taylor: dancemaker

  • 14x5

    Sidney poitier: one bright light

  • 14x6

    Isaac stern: life's virtuoso

  • 14x7

    The source: the story of the beats and the beat generation

Episodes season 15

  • 15x1

    Clint eastwood: out of the shadows

  • 15x2

    Mailer on mailer

  • 15x3

    On cukor

  • 15x4

    Lucille ball: finding lucy

  • 15x5

    Bob marley: rebel music

  • 15x6

    A conversation with gregory peck

  • 15x7

    Alfred stieglitz: the eloquent eye

  • 15x8

    Coming to light: edward s. curtis and the north american indians

Episodes season 16

  • 16x1

    Goldwyn: the man and his movies

  • 16x2

    F. scott fitzgerald: winter dreams

  • 16x3

    Richard rodgers: the sweetest sounds

  • 16x4

    Quincy jones: in the pocket

  • 16x5

    Good rockin' tonight: the legacy of sun records

  • 16x6

    Merce cunningham: a lifetime of dance

  • 16x7

    Ralph ellison: an american journey

  • 16x8

    Gene kelly: anatomy of a dancer

Episodes season 17

  • 17x1

    Willie nelson: still is still moving

  • 17x2

    Lon chaney: a thousand faces

  • 17x3

    Juilliard

  • 17x4

    Alice waters and her delicious revolution

  • 17x5

    Joni mitchell: a woman of heart and mind

  • 17x6

    Muddy waters: can't be satisfied

  • 17x7

    Robert capa: in love and war

  • 17x8

    The education of gore vidal

Episodes season 18

  • 18x1

    Arthur miller, elia kazan and the blacklist

  • 18x2

    James brown: soul survivor

  • 18x3

    Cary grant: a class apart

  • 18x4

    Balanchine

  • 18x5

    Judy garland: by myself

  • 18x6

    Henry luce and time-life's america: a vision of empire

  • 18x7

    Hank williams: honky tonk blues

  • 18x8

    Julia! america's favorite chef

Episodes season 19

  • 19x1

    James dean: sense memories

  • 19x2

    Sweet honey in the rock: raise your voice

  • 19x3

    George stevens: a filmmaker's journey

  • 19x4

    Bob newhart: unbuttoned

  • 19x5

    Willa cather: the road is all

  • 19x6

    Ernest hemingway: rivers to the sea

  • 19x7

    Bob dylan: no direction home (1)

  • 19x8

    Bob dylan: no direction home (2)

Episodes season 20

  • 20x1

    John ford/john wayne: the filmmaker and the legend

  • 20x2

    The world of nat king cole

  • 20x3

    Woodie guthrie: ain't got no home

  • 20x4

    Marilyn monroe: still life

  • 20x5

    Walter cronkite: witness to history

  • 20x6

    Andy warhol: a documentary (part 1)

  • 20x7

    Andy warhol: a documentary (part 2)

  • 20x8

    Sketches of frank gehry

  • 20x9

    Annie leibovitz: life through a lens

Episodes season 21

  • 21x1

    Novel reflections on the american dream

  • 21x2

    Atlantic records: the house that ahmet built

  • 21x3

    Les paul: chasing sound

  • 21x4

    David hockney: the colors of music

  • 21x5

    John james audubon: drawn from nature

  • 21x6

    Tony bennett: the music never ends

  • 21x7

    Orozco: man of fire

  • 21x8

    Good ol' charles schulz

  • 21x9

    Carol burnett: a woman of character

Episodes season 22

  • 22x1

    Pete seeger: the power of song

  • 22x2

    Zora neale hurston: jump at the sun

  • 22x3

    Marvin gaye: what's going on

  • 22x4

    You must remember this: the warner bros. story: you ain't heard nothin' yet (1923-1935)

  • 22x5

    You must remember this: the warner bros. story: good war, uneasy peace (1935-1950)

  • 22x6

    You must remember this: the warner bros. story: a new reality (1950-1970)

  • 22x7

    You must remember this: the warner bros. story: woodstock notions (1970-1989)

  • 22x8

    You must remember this: the warner bros. story: the big tent (1980-present)

  • 22x9

    The brothers warner

Episodes season 23

  • 23x1

    Jerome robbins: something to dance about

  • 23x2

    Glass: a portrait of philip in twelve parts

  • 23x3

    Hollywood chinese

  • 23x4

    Neil young: don't be denied

  • 23x5

    Garrison keillor: the man on the radio in the red shoes

  • 23x6

    Trumbo

  • 23x7

    Joan baez: how sweet the sound

  • 23x8

    Louisa may alcott: the woman behind 'little women'

Episodes season 24

  • 24x1

    Sam cooke: crossing over

  • 24x2

    I.m. pei: building china modern

  • 24x3

    The doors: when you're strange

  • 24x4

    Merle haggard: learning to live with myself

  • 24x5

    Cachao: uno más

  • 24x6

    A letter to elia

  • 24x7

    Lennon nyc

  • 24x8

    Genius within: the inner life of glenn gould

Episodes season 25

  • 25x1

    Jeff bridges: the dude abides

  • 25x2

    Troubadors: carole king/james taylor & the rise of the singer-songwriter

  • 25x3

    John muir in the new world

  • 25x4

    James levine: america's maestro

  • 25x5

    Pearl jam twenty

  • 25x6

    Bill t. jones: a good man

  • 25x7

    Woody allen: a documentary (1)

  • 25x8

    Woody allen: a documentary (2)

  • 25x9

    Charles & ray eames: the architect and the painter

Episodes season 26

  • 26x1

    Phil ochs: there but for fortune

  • 26x2

    Cab calloway: sketches

  • 26x3

    Margaret mitchell: american rebel

  • 26x4

    Harper lee: hey, boo

  • 26x5

    Johnny carson: king of late night

  • 26x6

    The day carl sandburg died

  • 26x7

    Inventing david geffen

  • 26x8

    Joffrey: mavericks of american dance

Episodes season 27

  • 27x1

    Sister rosetta tharpe: the godmother of rock & roll

  • 27x2

    Philip roth: unmasked

  • 27x3

    Mel brooks: make a noise

  • 27x4

    Billie jean king

  • 27x5

    Jimi hendrix: hear my train a comin'

Episodes season 28

  • 28x1

    Marvin hamlisch: what he did for love

  • 28x2

    Salinger

  • 28x3

    Alice walker: beauty in truth

  • 28x4

    A fierce green fire

  • 28x5

    Plimpton! starring george plimpton as himself

  • 28x6

    Tanaquil le clercq: afternoon of a faun

  • 28x7

    Dorothea lange: grab a hunk of lightning

  • 28x8

    Joan rivers: a piece of work

  • 28x9

    The boomer list

  • 28x10

    Bing crosby rediscovered

Episodes season 29

  • 29x1

    Ricky jay: deceptive practice

  • 29x2

    August wilson: the ground on which i stand

  • 29x3

    Jascha heifetz: god's fiddler

  • 29x4

    American ballet theatre: a history

  • 29x5

    Harper lee

  • 29x6

    Althea

  • 29x7

    Pedro e. guerrero: a photographer's journey

  • 29x8

    The women's list

Episodes season 30

  • 30x1

    Mike nichols

  • 30x2

    B.b. king: the life of riley

  • 30x3

    Carole king: natural woman

  • 30x4

    Fats domino and the birth of rock 'n' roll

  • 30x5

    Loretta lynn: still a mountain girl

  • 30x6

    Janis: little girl blue

  • 30x7

    The highwaymen: friends till the end

  • 30x8

    Norman lear: just another version of you

  • 30x9

    Eero saarinen: the architect who saw the future

Episodes season 31

  • 31x1

    By sidney lumet

  • 31x2

    Maya angelou: and still i rise

  • 31x3

    Patsy cline

  • 31x4

    James beard: america’s first foodie

  • 31x5

    Jacques pépin: the art of craft

  • 31x6

    Richard linklater: dream is destiny

  • 31x7

    Tyrus

  • 31x8

    Edgar allan poe: buried alive

  • 31x9

    Inspiring woman web series

  • 31x10

    This is bob hope

Episodes season 32

  • 32x1

    Lorraine hansberry: sighted eyes/feeling heart

  • 32x2

    Bombshell: the hedy lamarr story

  • 32x3

    Ted williams: “the greatest hitter who ever lived”

  • 32x4

    Artists flight: eva hesse

  • 32x5

    Artists flight: everybody knows…elizabeth murray

  • 32x6

    Andrew wyeth

  • 32x7

    Basquiat: rage to riches

  • 32x8

    Itzhak perlman

Episodes season 33

  • 33x1

    Decoding watson

  • 33x2

    Sammy davis, jr.: i’ve gotta be me

  • 33x3

    Charley pride

  • 33x4

    Holly near: singing for our lives

  • 33x5

    Joseph pulitzer: voice of the people

  • 33x6

    Garry winogrand: all things are photographable

  • 33x7

    Terrence mcnally: every act of life

  • 33x8

    Robert shaw -- man of many voices

  • 33x9

    Worlds of ursula k. le guin

  • 33x10

    Raúl juliá: the world’s a stage

  • 33x11

    Rothko: pictures must be miraculous

  • 33x12

    N. scott momaday: words from a bear

Episodes season 34

  • 34x1

    Miles davis birth of the cool

  • 34x2

    Mae west: dirty blonde

  • 34x3

    Toni morrison: the pieces i am

  • 34x4

    Unladylike2020: the changemakers

  • 34x5

    Walter winchell: the power of gossip

  • 34x6

    Michael tilson thomas: where now is

  • 34x7

    Keith haring: street art boy

  • 34x8

    Laura ingalls wilder: prairie to page

Episodes season 35

  • 35x1

    How it feels to be free

  • 35x2

    Flannery

  • 35x3

    Twyla moves

  • 35x4

    Never too late: the doc severinsen story

  • 35x5

    Oliver sacks: his own life

  • 35x6

    Amy tan: unintended memoir

  • 35x7

    Ballerina boys

  • 35x8

    Buddy guy: the blues chase the blues away

  • 35x9

    Rita moreno: just a girl who decided to go for it

  • 35x10

    Becoming helen keller

Episodes season 36

  • 36x1

    Ailey

  • 36x2

    Marian anderson: the whole world in her hands

  • 36x3

    Waterman – duke: ambassador of aloha

  • 36x4

    Joe papp in five acts

  • 36x5

    Brian wilson: long promised road

  • 36x6

    Buffy sainte-marie: carry it on

  • 36x7

    The adventures of saul bellow

  • 36x8

    Groucho & cavett

Episodes season 37

  • 37x1

    Roberta flack

  • 37x2

    Dr. tony fauci

  • 37x3

    In the making

  • 37x4

    Nam june paik: moon is the oldest tv

  • 37x5

    Little richard: king and queen of rock 'n' roll

  • 37x6

    Jerry brown: the disrupter

  • 37x7

    Floyd abrams: speaking freely

  • 37x8

    A song for cesar

  • 37x9

    Max roach: the drum also waltzes

Episodes season 38

  • 38x1

    Hopper: an american love story

  • 38x2

    Moynihan

  • 38x3

    The incomparable mr. buckley

  • 38x4

    Blake edwards: a love story in 24 frames

  • 38x5

    Julia alvarez: a life reimagined

  • 38x6

    Renegades: daniel k. inouye

  • 38x7

    Brenda lee: rockin' around

Episodes season 39

  • 39x1

    The disappearance of miss scott

  • 39x2

    Liza: a truly terrific absolutely true story

  • 39x3

    Art spiegelman: disaster is my muse

  • 39x4

    Janis ian: breaking silence
    2025-06-20

  • 39x5

    Hannah arendt: facing tyranny
    2025-06-27

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