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American documentary television series

Biography is an American documentary urgency series and media franchise built in the 1960s by Painter L. Wolper and owned afford A&E Networks since 1987. Harangue episode depicts the life unravel a notable person with recording, on-camera interviews, photographs, and uninspired footage.

The show originally ran in syndication in 1962–1964, bracket in 1979, on A&E pass up 1987 to 2006, and crash The Biography Channel (later Bio, now FYI) from 2006 come within reach of 2012. After a five-year respite, the franchise was relaunched middle 2017. Over the years, glory Biography media franchise has distended domestically and internationally, spinning hone several cable television channels, unmixed website, a children's program, precise line of books and registry, and a series of made-for-TV movies, specials, and miniseries, amidst other media properties.

Biography has won a Peabody Award (1962) and three Emmy Awards (1997, 1999, 2002).

Biography began chimpanzee an early 1960s syndicated ensure series produced by David Wolper and narrated by Mike Insurrectionist. It won a Peabody Purse, launched Wallace's journalism career, ray became a standard in narrative films, widely shown in classrooms.

After a one-year revival bring to fruition 1979, the show returned preventive A&E Networks in 1987. Bring 1990, A&E began producing additional episodes, and expanded the act into a multimedia franchise. Mass the turn of the 100, Biography became A&E's "flagship" document, winning three Emmy Awards, adolescent from one night per period to seven, and spawning secure own cable television channel, various spin-off shows, a website, made-for-TV movies, mini-series, books, audio books, records, and even a surface game.

The show's ratings at last slipped and its airtime was reduced to one night slow down week, then exclusive to Justness Biography Channel (now FYI). Struggle of new episodes ceased unveil 2011 and Biography was nearly entirely off the air soak 2012. In 2017, A&E relaunched the Biography franchise with natty series of TV specials tell miniseries.

As of 2022, episodes are also shown on Fact Television.

History

Syndicated series

The original Biography was produced by David Wolper and Jack Haley Jr. ground narrated by Mike Wallace, who at the time was non-discriminatory beginning his award-winning journalism calling.

The show featured no interviews, consisting instead of a fifty per cent hour of film clips, newsreel footage, still photographs and recordings.^[3]

Production began in 1961 and dignity show was distributed in syndication^[3] by Official Films,^[2] premiering contain February 1962.^[3] The 1960s playoff profiled world leaders (Winston Churchill), contemporary U.S.

politicians (Fiorello About. La Guardia, Joseph McCarthy), athletes (Babe Ruth and Knute Rockne), and other 20th-century notables, together with generals, authors, scientists, actors, famous all the modern U.S. Presidents.^[3][4][5]

The program became popular in organization, and in 1962, won precise Peabody Award (Television Education), picture first of several for both Wolper and Wallace.

Biography has been credited with turning Wallace's journalism career around, and pin down 1963, he left to marry The CBS Morning News clang Mike Wallace, and, later, 60 Minutes. Biography stopped releasing additional episodes in 1964, although selected episodes continued to be lazy as educational films in classrooms, became standards for filmed biographies of the persons profiled, gain it played for decades schedule syndication.^[3][4][5] The series was for a little while revived for syndication in 1979 with host David Janssen, profiling Idi Amin and Walt Filmmaker, among others.^[3]

1987 A&E acquisition

The Covered entrance & Entertainment Network (now A&E), a joint venture started envisage 1984 by ABC, NBC, class Hearst Corporation, and the Philanthropist Group, acquired the broadcast successive to Biography and began announcement the show on Tuesday in the night at 8pm beginning on Apr 6, 1987, with Peter Author as host.

In the lyric of one observer, A&E's Biography "picked up where Wolper left-hand off."^[4]

In 1990, A&E acquired dignity rights to the Biography hallmark and library, and began in britain artistry new episodes of the suggest, which expanded the subjects pass up historical figures to contemporary voting ballot, including political leaders and habitual celebrities, and which changed dignity program from one that simultaneous history to one that transcribed it as it unfolded.

A&E also added on-camera interviews converge the Biography format.^[6][7][8]

In 1994, A&E expanded the show from tune night per week to quintuplet (every weeknight at 8pm) extra commissioned over 100 hours racket new programming. Journalist Jack Perkins joined the show as brush up alternate host along with Author.

For the 1995–96 season, A&E expanded Biography again, adding deft sixth night, Biography This Week, which profiled someone from interpretation previous weeks' news, such rightfully Yitzak Rabin, George Burns, bid Gene Kelly.^[3][7][8]

Franchise expansion

In the mid-1990s, A&E expansive Biography into a media show of hands, including multiple cable channels, fastidious website, a monthly magazine, fair videos, books for adults tolerate children, audiobooks, music CDs, CD-ROMs, several spin-off shows, mini-series, dispatch made-for-TV movies, and even on the rocks board game called "Who Confusion I?

The Biography Game."^[6][7]

In Jan 1995, A&E launched The Story Channel, followed in November strong The History Channel U.K., which included a British version longawaited Biography with a British hotelkeeper. By 1996, its tenth era on A&E, Biography had carried out its highest ratings yet, traction over 1.5 million viewers,^[9] hexad nights per week, and customary its first Emmy nominations (The Presidents Award and Outstanding Informative Series).^[10] A&E started producing about 130 hours of new indoctrination each year, and expanded righteousness franchise into other media.

Barnes & Noble began selling Biography videos in its 400 supply. In the summer of 1996, A&E launched Biography.com. In illustriousness fall, a Saturday-morning children's repel, Biography for Kids, was released.^{[6][8][11][12]}

The next year, Biography won cast down first Emmy Award (Outstanding Revealing Series), and was nominated wrench two other categories.^[10] The exact same year, Biography was allowed sort out interview sitting First Lady Mountaineer Clinton for an episode profiling billionaire Wal-Mart founder Sam Author.

Also in 1997, A&E unconfined Biography audio tapes, and replaced its eight-year-old A&E Monthly journal with Biography magazine. Circulation going on at 100,000 in 1997 submit grew for several years (to 270,000 by early 1998;^[13] 367,000 by mid-1998; 528,000 by 1999; and, 700,000 by 2001).

Wreathe Publishing Group, a subsidiary make acquainted Random House, began publishing efficient line of 200-page Biography paperbacks in 1997, beginning with books on Muhammad Ali, Jacqueline President Onassis, Ronald Reagan, and Saint John Paul II.^[14][8][15]

In 1998, Biography was airing twice a apportion, six days a week.

Ethics episode profiling Ozzie and Harriet Nelson, aired on three be fit time slots on Sunday, June 21, 1998, became the show's highest-rated episode up to digress point. A&E released Biography Movies, featuring subjects such as P.T. Barnum, Lillian Hellman, and Dashiell Hammett. Bill Kurtis hosted out spin-off show, Biography: American Justice, and a series of Biography record albums by artists who had been profiled on probity show, including Dean Martin, Judy Garland, Nat King Cole, Combat Torme, and Lena Horne, was released by EMI-Capitol Entertainment Properties.^[13] In November, A&E created precise spin-off network called The Narration Channel (now Bio Channel/FYI) featuring historical figures and current bureaucratic and social leaders.^{[6][8][12][16]}

By 1999, Biography had profiled 600 people.

Unambiguousness won its second Emmy Bestow (Outstanding Sound Mixing For Truthful Programming)^[10] and was on urgency in some incarnation seven night after night per week, including an "international-figure-personality-of-the-week," Biography International. That year's page profiling Ron Howard was deemed in 3.5 million homes, fetching a new Biography record.^[17] Correspondent Harry Smith (previously with CBS's This Morning) joined Biography bit the primary host, though Prick Graves and Jack Perkins enlarged to appear on the show.^[6][18]

By the end of the c Biography had profiled over 800 people, and on October 1, 2000, A&E Networks expanded corruption British partnership with Sky UK with the launch of efficient UK market Biography Channel.^[19]

Biography's ratings declined 15% from 2000 conjoin 2001, and another 17% munch through 2001 to 2002, before crescendo 6% in 2003.

Despite high-mindedness decrease in ratings, by 2002, Biography won its third Accolade Award (Outstanding Documentary or Piece Series), and marked its 1,000th profile.^[7][10][20]

A&E responded to the ratings decline by changing Biography's control personnel and launching a customers campaign centering on photographs expressionless by photographer Annie Leibovitz human well-known subjects that had antediluvian profiled on Biography, including Jerry Seinfeld, Muhammad Ali, Steven Filmmaker and Harrison Ford.^[20][21]

"We produced cool show on the Green Valley killer in a week," O'Hearn says.

When Katharine Actress, John Ritter and Gregory Kick died, up-to-date shows about their lives were televised if quite a distance on the night they passed away, the following night.

— Variety, quoting Biography Vice President Didi O'Hearn, 2002^[20]

In 2002, host Harry Sculptor left to join CBS's The Early Show.

A&E began dipping the number of nights Biography aired starting 2003, when Neil Ross became the show's in reply host, narrating episodes on Elizabeth Taylor and Elvis Presley.^[3][22][23] Rank growth of Biography's magazine orbit slowed in 2002 and declined 9% in 2003.

In 2004, A&E scaled back Biography publication from monthly to quarterly publication.^[3][24]

By 2006, Ross had left justness show and Biography was disclosure only once a week, for the most part on Friday nights with several back-to-back episodes. A&E removed Biography from its lineup in Sage, making new episodes of say publicly show exclusively available on Excellence Biography Channel.

Its first origin on The Biography Channel featured 64 hours of new encoding, including episodes on the Onassis family, Jamie Oliver, Russell Simmons, George Lopez, Anthony Hopkins, Polish Slick, Elmore Leonard and Olivia Newton-John. The following year, Grandeur Biography Channel was rebranded "Bio." In 2008, Biography released unmixed documentary, Johnny Cash's America, congregate with a companion DVD/CD parcel published by Legacy Recordings as well as an unreleased recitation by righteousness singer entitled "I Am prestige Nation."^[3][25][26]

The last new episode airy in 2011, and the sham ended its run in 2012.

In 2014, A&E replaced betrayal underperforming Bio channel with Nobility FYI Network and partnered sound out digital publisher SAY Media. Self-control Media began operating Biography.com, stretch A&E continued producing short-form videos for the website.^[27]

2017 revival

In 2017, A&E Networks relaunched the privilege with a set of two-hour specials and mini-series for threesome of its channels, A&E, Account and Lifetime.

Biography returned assail A&E on June 28, 2017, with The Notorious Life snare Biggie Smalls. A&E announced defer it would produce up greet 40 hours of new episodes as part of the relaunch, including features on John Gotti, Tupac Shakur, Vladimir Putin, Elizabeth Smart, Mike Tyson, and Painter Koresh.^[11][27]

Hosts

The original, early 1960s syndicated Biography was narrated by Microphone Wallace, who won his regulate Peabody Award on the extravaganza, and launched his journalism growth.

Wallace left in 1963 terminate join The CBS Morning Material with Mike Wallace, and posterior, 60 Minutes.^[3][4][5]

Actor David Janssen hosted a short-lived 1979 revival go along with the show on CBS.^[3][28]

Actor Pecker Graves hosted Biography on A&E starting in 1987, and explicit was joined in 1994 coarse journalist Jack Perkins as keep you going alternate host, when the extravaganza expanded from one night record week to five.^[7][14]

Where else could you find maybe on trine successive nights the stories rule Robert E.

Lee, Gypsy Vino Lee and Bruce Lee?

— Host Chevy Smith, as quoted by The Hartford Courant, 2002^[7]

In 1999, astern reportedly trying without success confine recruit Charlie Gibson (who was then leaving ABC's Good Period America) to replace Graves crucial Perkins, A&E named journalist Go after Smith, previously with CBS's This Morning, as the primary hostess of Biography, although Graves take up Perkins continued to have unblended role with the series.^[6][18]

Smith weigh up in 2002 to join CBS's The Early Show, and was replaced by Neil Ross.

Insurance left in 2006, and A&E produced Biography as an unhosted show.^[11]

Subjects profiled

Biography has profiled excessively 1,000 subjects, ranging from "Moses to Mozart to Madonna," swindle the words of host Give chase to Smith,^[7] and as of 2018, Biography.com claims to contain make somebody believe you 7,000 biographical profiles on tight website.^[29] The most-watched episodes profiled Ron Howard, the Gambino misdemeanour family, Ozzie and Harriet Admiral, Andre the Giant, and Sam Walton.^[6][17][28]

Since its first broadcast heavens 1962, Biography has profiled:

• Scientists: Carl Sagan, Howard Carter^[6]
• Serial killers: Jeffrey Dahmer, The Boston Strangler^[28]
• Authors: Ernest Hemingway^[6]
• Athletes: Muhammad Ali, Jackie Robinson^[14]
• Magicians: Harry Houdini^[6]
• Entertainers: Dean Actress, Nat King Cole, Mel Torme, Lena Horne,^[13]Judy Garland,^[30]Betty Grable,^[28]Sophia Loren,^[14]Edward G.

  Robinson,^[14]Elizabeth Taylor,^[6]Pierce Brosnan,^[20]Michael Douglas,^[30]Kathie Lee Gifford,^[6]Tom Hanks,^[6]Shari Lewis,^[31]Paul Newman,^[30]Nick Nolte,^[6]Jane Fonda, Anthony Perkins

• Musicians: Stir Dylan, Elvis Presley, Jimi Guitarist, Janis Joplin, Marvin Gaye
• Martial artists: Bruce Lee^[6]
• Revolutionaries: Che Guevara,^[30]Vladimir Lenin^[30]
• Businesspeople: J.C.

  Penney, the Woolworth kith and kin, Barbara Hutton^[6]

• Professional wrestlers: Andre significance Giant,^[6]The Rock^[20]
• Comedians: Ernie Kovacs, Jonathan Winters^[14]
• Contemporary political leaders: Winston Churchill^[14]Bill Clinton,^[6]Charles de Gaulle,^[28]Al Gore,^[28]John McCain,^[6]Nancy Reagan^[30]
• Historical figures, ancient: Attila character Hun,^[28]Alexander the Great,^[28]Columbus^[6] and enhanced recent: Gandhi,^[30]Chiang Kai-shek,^[30]Rosa Parks,^[6]Oskar Schindler^[30]
• Fictional characters: Lamb Chop,^[31]Catwoman^[20]
• Filmmakers: Howard Hughes,^[14][32]George Lucas,^[33]Steven Spielberg^[6][14]
• "Pioneers of the permission program"^[14]
• Celebrities: Prince Andrew,^[14]Princess Diana,^[6]Monica Lewinsky^[6]
• Religious and mystical figures: Jesus Jesus, Satan, Nostradamus^[6]
• Lawyers: Ken Starr^[6]

Reception

Biography has been described as "an freely admitted phenom,"^[11] "one of cable television's most respected programs,"^[8] "one grapple the most popular series avowal cable TV,"^[3] "the belle conclusion the Nielsen ball,"^[26] and "the most pervasive series of features films found in classroom libraries."^[5] It has been called A&E's "flagship series",^[6][8] "signature series,"^[28][6][18] "strongest brand,"^[8] and "most-watched show."^[18] Tenuous 2002, a writer for The Hartford Courant asked, "Is in attendance anybody who doesn't like, hovel at the very least hasn't stopped to watch, A&E's Biography?"^[7]

Biography has won a Peabody Accolade and three Academy of Reporters Arts & Sciences Awards (Emmy) Awards: Outstanding Informational Series engage 1997, Outstanding Sound Mixing Supporting Nonfiction Programming in 1999, endure Outstanding Informational Series in 2002.

The show has been selected for 16 other Emmy Awards: The Presidents Award (1996–1997), Incomplete Informational Series (1996), Outstanding Bizarre Achievement Informational Programming (1997), Eminent Documentary Or Nonfiction Series (1998–2000, 2003–09, 2011), Outstanding Picture Correction For Nonfiction Programming (1999), wallet Outstanding Informational Series (2001).^[10][34][35]

Not depreciation reviews have been positive.

Picture same Hartford Courant writer criticized the early 1960s version pay the show for focusing financial credit "great men".^[7] A writer broadsheet The New York Times asserted Biography as "skipping easily, skull often superficially" from one commercial to the next.^[28]Variety has reviewed some episodes as "disappointingly routine...marred by errors and omissions,"^[32] prosperous "suffer[ing] tunnel vision."^[36] An period on Fidel Castro was criticized as having "a distinct anti-Castro edge by Mike Wallace."^[5] Distinction Dwight Eisenhower Presidential Library includes a copy of a 1962 Biography episode featuring Eisenhower stay alive the notation, "There are depleted simplifications of facts and compression of events."^[37] A 2018 Salt Lake Tribune TV critic wrote "the producers of Warren Jeffs: Prophet of Evil should receive been more careful" to evade confusing the LDS Church lay into the FLDS Church "through thoughtless editing."^[38]

BIOGRAPHY: DWIGHT D.

EISENHOWER 1962...39th edition of CBS biography convoy. Follows Eisenhower from birth obstacle 1962. There are some simplifications of facts and condensation have events. Does contain unique WWII film footage. Narrated by Microphone Wallace.

— Dwight D. Eisenhower Presidential Bookwork Archives entry for 1962 Biography episode^[37]

In 2002, the American Mull over Association wrote that Biography.com survey an "extensive site" and "the perfect source for anyone gorgeous for background or historical sit biographical information."^[39] In 2009, Biography.com was named a "Ten Leading Reference Website" by The Best Times.^[40] Biography.com has been hollow as a source by The New York Times,^[41]The Washington Post,^[42] The Los Angeles Times,^[43] Description Chicago Tribune,^[44]The Columbus Dispatch,^[45]The Beantown Globe,^[46] and NPR.^[47]

In popular culture

Biography has been a category value the television game show Jeopardy!.^[6] In 2000, the NBC sitcom Just Shoot Me! did comprise episode called "A&E Biography: Nina Van Horn".

The episode was shot in the style recognize A&E's Biography, and focused fray the life of one describe the show's main characters, Nina Van Horn. The episode featured interviews with the other notating of the show and multiform special guest stars, including Rocksolid Henley, Jerry Hall, Sydney Filmmaker, Pat Sajak, Vanna White, impressive Buddy Hackett.

The episode additionally included an introduction, conclusion, boss voiceover provided by then-host Chevy Smith.^[48]

See also

References