American Masters

- Season 36

(2020)

The life and times of radio commentator and syndicated newspaper gossip columnist Walter Winchell, who reached an audience of 50 million at his peak.

The life and career of Michael Tilson Thomas, music director of the San Francisco Symphony, founder and artistic director of the New World Symphony and conductor laureate of the London Symphony Orchestra.

Between 1980-1990, Keith Haring became an art world celebrity and a pop culture icon with his distinctive and recognizable artwork style. We hear Haring's own words from previously unheard interviews recorded by John Gruen.

Laura Ingalls Wilder is celebrated for her autobiographical fiction that helped record the expansion of the American frontier into the Midwest. Laura was born in 1867 to Charles and Caroline Ingalls in a log cabin north of Pepin, Wisconsin in the woods that border the upper Mississippi River: their "Little House in the Big Woods". When she was two years old, she and her family moved to Indian country in the territory of Kansas, the setting for "Little House on the Prairie." They returned to Wisconsin before moving to a dugout dwelling "On the Banks of Plum Creek" near...

Explore the lives and trailblazing careers of six iconic African-American entertainers; Lena Horne, Abbey Lincoln, Nina Simone, Diahann Carroll, Cicely Tyson and Pam Grier; who changed American culture through their films, fashion, music and politics.

The life and work of author Flannery O'Connor, featuring archival footage, newly discovered journals and interviews with Mary Karr, Tommy Lee Jones and Hilton Als.

Twyla Moves will provide a first-hand glimpse into the legendary choreographer's storied career and famously rigorous creative process. A pioneer of both modern dance and ballet, Tharp will share intimate details behind her trailblazing dances (Fugue, Push Comes to Shove, Baker's Dozen), her cinematic partnership with Milos Forman (Hair, Amadeus, Ragtime) and her wildly successful Broadway career alongside such luminaries as Billy Joel, Frank Sinatra and David Byrne. Tracing her influential career, the film follows Tharp as she builds a high-profile work from the ...

The life and career of jazz trumpeter Doc Severinsen, leader of the band for "The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson," who continued a schedule of touring and performing into his 90's.

The life and work of neurologist and storyteller Oliver Sacks, whose work redefined people's understanding of the brain.

A look at the life and work of author Amy Tan.

Ballerina Boys celebrates the all-male dance company Les Ballets Trockadero de Monte Carlo, whose male ballerinas have for 45 years taken great risks to practice their dazzling version of ballet parody. While the film celebrates the Trocks' joyful artistry, it also asks viewers to face issues of gender, inclusion, and social justice. "Ballerina Boys" interweaves a tour of the Carolinas (center of efforts to walk back LGBTQ rights) with portraits of the dancers and the survival saga of the Company itself-a story that begins with the Stonewall Riots in 1969 and ...

American Masters presents the broadcast premiere of Buddy Guy: The Blues Chase the Blues Away, a documentary on living legend George "Buddy" Guy, a blues master who transcended his early years as a sharecropper in Lettsworth, Louisiana to become one of the most influential guitarists of all time. A Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductee and eight-time GRAMMY winner, Guy is a pioneer of Chicago's fabled West Side sound and a living link to the city's halcyon days of electric blues. This film features intimate, original interviews with Guy and archival and ...