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.
Showing Season 7 of 27
Season 7
1998
1998
01. David Berkowitz: Son of Sam
1998-03-23
For over a year, he held a city hostage to fear. When he was finally caught, the nation was shocked to discover that the "face of terror" was a cherubic postal worker who smiled sweetly for the camera. David Berkowitz claimed the lives of six people in a killing spree that resulted in the largest manhunt in the history of New York. Once apprehended, he confessed to all the crimes and asked the judge to put him away forever so he would not kill again. In this comprehensive portrait, reporters and detectives who worked on the case, the parents of victims, a prosecutor and a former FBI profiler relive the case that galvanized a nation. Psychologists explore the many frustrations and disappointments that led Berkowitz to kill, and in a gripping interview, Berkowitz himself talks about his crimes and jailhouse transformation into the "Son of Hope." Today, he ministers to other prisoners and born-again Christians all over the world in hopes of restoring some meaning to his shattered life. From the dark streets of a shaken city to the jailhouse reformation, BIOGRAPHY examines the "Son of Sam."
02. Mao Tse Tung: China's Peasant Emperor
1998-03-30
“For 25 years Mao Zedong ruled one quarter of the world’s population. This is the extraordinary story of a farmer’s son who became a God in his life time but in private never shook off his peasant roots; a man who presided over one of the most radical experiments in social reform ever seen in human history but who will be remembered as one of the bloodiest dictators of the twentieth century. This program–told through the accounts of those who have met and studied him, loved and loathed him–includes archive film and pictures going back to the very earliest days of Mao’s life, as well as unique film of China at the turn of the century and during key episodes in Mao’s communist revolution. It includes harrowing and eye-witness accounts of such momentous events as the cultural revolution, the Great Leap Forward and the most severe man-made famine ever recorded.”
03. Amelia Earhart: Queen of the Air
1998-04-06
No overview available.
04. Angela Lansbury: A Balancing Act
1998-04-13
No overview available.
05. Anne Frank: The Life of a Young Girl
1998-04-20
No overview available.
06. Beethoven: The Sound and the Fury
1998-04-27
No overview available.
07. Colonel Sanders: America's Chicken King
1998-05-04
No overview available.
08. Dwight D. Eisenhower: Commander-in-Chief
1998-05-11
No overview available.
09. Ernest Hemingway: Wrestling With Life
1998-05-18
No overview available.
10. Evel Knievel: Hell on Wheels
1998-05-25
No overview available.
11. Howard Carter: Triumph and Treasure
1998-06-01
No overview available.
12. Jackie Kennedy Onassis: In a Class of Her Own
1998-06-08
No overview available.
13. Jim Jones: Journey into Madness
1998-06-15
No overview available.
14. John Wayne: American Legend
1998-06-22
No overview available.
15. P.T. Barnum: The Greatest Showman on Earth
1998-06-29
No overview available.
16. Ray Kroc: Fast Food McMillionaire
1998-07-06
No overview available.
17. Satan: Prince of Darkness
1998-07-13
Examining the story of Satan's fall from grace and his efforts against the human race.
18. Vincent Van Gogh: A Stroke of Genius
1998-07-20
No overview available.
19. Charles Lindbergh: Against the Wind
1999-01-07
No overview available.
20. Fred Gwynne: More than a Munster
1999-01-18
No overview available.
21. John Wayne Gacy: A Monster in Disguise
1999-01-25
No overview available.
22. Nicolae Ceausescu: The Unrepentant Tyrant
1999-02-01
No overview available.
23. The Tiffanys: Mark of Excellence
1999-02-08
No overview available.
44. Dean Martin: Everybody Loves Somebody
1995-09-04
No overview available.
63. Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid
1995-10-20
Their incredible exploits earned them a place in American legend. Their true fate remains one of the great mysteries of the Old west.
67. Nostradamus: Prophet of Doom
1995-11-06
Explore the incredible life of Nostradamus, the enigmatic man known as the Prophet of Doom.
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