Biography

TV Show · Documentary · 1987

Biography is a documentary television series. It was originally a half-hour filmed series produced for CBS by David Wolper from 1961 to 1964 and hosted by Mike Wallace. The A&E Network later re-ran it and has produced new episodes since 1987. The older version featured historical figures such as Helen Keller and Mark Twain, or long-dead entertainment figures such as Will Rogers or John Barrymore. The A&E series has placed the emphasis on such people as Marilyn Monroe, Elvis Presley, Plácido Domingo, Freddie Mercury, Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis, Eric Clapton, Pope John Paul II, Gene Tierney, Selena, Diego Rivera, Mao Zedong and Queen Elizabeth II, and fictional characters like The Phantom, Superman, Hamlet, Betty Boop, and Santa Claus. The program ended up profiling enough figures that in 1999, A&E spun it off into an entire network, The Biography Channel.

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Episodes — Season 1

Episode 1
6 Apr. 1987
Episode 2
Al Capone: Scarface
Episode 3
Bob Hope: America's Entertainer
A profile of orator and abolitionist Frederick Douglass (1818-95), who campaigned against slavery, discriminat...
Episode 4
Bugsy Siegel
Episode 5
Dalai Lama: The Soul of Tibet
Episode 6
King Arthur: His Life and Legends
Episode 7
Lucky Luciano: Chairman of the Mob
Episode 8
Nelson Mandela: Journey to Freedom
Episode 9
Muhammad: The Prophet
Episode 10
Napoleon Bonaparte: The Glory of France
Episode 11
Bonnie & Clyde: The Story of Love & Death
Episode 12
Babe Ruth
Episode 13
Frederick Douglass
Episode 14
Lizzie Borden: A Woman Accused
Episode 15
Milton Hershey: The Chocolate King

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