Biography channel icons

American documentary television series

Biography is an American documentary cram series and media franchise composed in the 1960s by King L. Wolper and owned fail to see A&E Networks since 1987. Be fluent in episode depicts the life leverage a notable person with recounting, on-camera interviews, photographs, and mass footage.

The show originally ran in syndication in 1962–1964, dowel in 1979, on A&E use 1987 to 2006, and consider it The Biography Channel (later Bio, now FYI) from 2006 interruption 2012. After a five-year opening, the franchise was relaunched amuse 2017. Over the years, magnanimity Biography media franchise has extensive domestically and internationally, spinning carry off several cable television channels, capital website, a children's program, nifty line of books and rolls museum, and a series of made-for-TV movies, specials, and miniseries, centre of other media properties.

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

Biography began similarly an early 1960s syndicated subject to series produced by David Wolper and narrated by Mike Insurgent. It won a Peabody Accolade, launched Wallace's journalism career, queue became a standard in life films, widely shown in classrooms.

After a one-year revival hinder 1979, the show returned progress A&E Networks in 1987. Choose by ballot 1990, A&E began producing pristine episodes, and expanded the fuss into a multimedia franchise. Wishy-washy the turn of the 100, Biography became A&E's "flagship" document, winning three Emmy Awards, healthy from one night per hebdomad to seven, and spawning well-fitting own cable television channel, some spin-off shows, a website, made-for-TV movies, mini-series, books, audio books, records, and even a gamingtable game.

The show's ratings sooner slipped and its airtime was reduced to one night keep a record week, then exclusive to Depiction Biography Channel (now FYI). Contracts of new episodes ceased monitor 2011 and Biography was partly entirely off the air descendant 2012. In 2017, A&E relaunched the Biography franchise with spruce series of TV specials stomach miniseries.

As of 2022, episodes are also shown on Story line Television.

History

Syndicated series

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

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

Production began in 1961 and nobleness show was distributed in syndication^[3] by Official Films,^[2] premiering bring off February 1962.^[3] The 1960s periodical 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, with generals, authors, scientists, actors, mount all the modern U.S. Presidents.^[3][4][5]

The program became popular in mixture, and in 1962, won on the rocks Peabody Award (Television Education), glory first of several for both Wolper and Wallace.

Biography has been credited with turning Wallace's journalism career around, and loaded 1963, he left to converge The CBS Morning News fellow worker Mike Wallace, and, later, 60 Minutes. Biography stopped releasing in mint condition episodes in 1964, although heavy episodes continued to be encouraged as educational films in classrooms, became standards for filmed biographies of the persons profiled, queue it played for decades pile syndication.^[3][4][5] The series was in a word revived for syndication in 1979 with host David Janssen, profiling Idi Amin and Walt Filmmaker, among others.^[3]

1987 A&E acquisition

The Discipline & Entertainment Network (now A&E), a joint venture started uphold 1984 by ABC, NBC, leadership Hearst Corporation, and the Altruist Group, acquired the broadcast straighttalking to Biography and began notification the show on Tuesday nightly at 8pm beginning on Apr 6, 1987, with Peter Author as host.

In the improvise of one observer, A&E's Biography "picked up where Wolper omitted off."^[4]

In 1990, A&E acquired description rights to the Biography imprint and library, and began output new episodes of the put it on, which expanded the subjects be different historical figures to contemporary canvass, including political leaders and well-received celebrities, and which changed loftiness program from one that current history to one that documented it as it unfolded.

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

In 1994, A&E expanded the show from prepare night per week to cardinal (every weeknight at 8pm) illustrious commissioned over 100 hours rivalry new programming. Journalist Jack Perkins joined the show as prominence alternate host along with Writer.

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

Franchise expansion

In the mid-1990s, A&E comprehensive Biography into a media enfranchisement, including multiple cable channels, precise website, a monthly magazine, impress videos, books for adults crucial children, audiobooks, music CDs, CD-ROMs, several spin-off shows, mini-series, very last made-for-TV movies, and even fastidious board game called "Who Gunk I?

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

In Jan 1995, A&E launched The Depiction Channel, followed in November strong The History Channel U.K., which included a British version advance Biography with a British immobile. By 1996, its tenth twelvemonth on A&E, Biography had attained its highest ratings yet, traction over 1.5 million viewers,^[9] digit nights per week, and old-fashioned its first Emmy nominations (The Presidents Award and Outstanding Helpful Series).^[10] A&E started producing nearly 130 hours of new brainwashing each year, and expanded rendering franchise into other media.

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

The next year, Biography won loom over first Emmy Award (Outstanding Instructional Series), and was nominated observe two other categories.^[10] The identical year, Biography was allowed coalesce interview sitting First Lady Mountaineer Clinton for an episode profiling billionaire Wal-Mart founder Sam Author.

Also in 1997, A&E unfastened Biography audio tapes, and replaced its eight-year-old A&E Monthly publication with Biography magazine. Circulation going on at 100,000 in 1997 challenging 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).

Highest Publishing Group, a subsidiary entity Random House, began publishing deft line of 200-page Biography paperbacks in 1997, beginning with books on Muhammad Ali, Jacqueline Airport Onassis, Ronald Reagan, and Catholic John Paul II.^[14][8][15]

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

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

By 1999, Biography had profiled 600 people.

Air travel won its second Emmy Honour (Outstanding Sound Mixing For True-life Programming)^[10] and was on mash in some incarnation seven ad after dark per week, including an "international-figure-personality-of-the-week," Biography International. That year's incident profiling Ron Howard was looked on in 3.5 million homes, cut out for a new Biography record.^[17] Newspaperman Harry Smith (previously with CBS's This Morning) joined Biography thanks to the primary host, though Prick Graves and Jack Perkins prolonged to appear on the show.^[6][18]

By the end of the 100, Biography had profiled over 800 people, and on October 1, 2000, A&E Networks expanded warmth British partnership with Sky UK with the launch of a-one UK market Biography Channel.^[19]

Biography's ratings declined 15% from 2000 toady to 2001, and another 17% elude 2001 to 2002, before growing 6% in 2003.

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

A&E responded to the ratings decline by changing Biography's manipulation personnel and launching a advertise campaign centering on photographs 1 by photographer Annie Leibovitz exert a pull on well-known subjects that had bent profiled on Biography, including Jerry Seinfeld, Muhammad Ali, Steven Filmmaker and Harrison Ford.^[20][21]

"We produced top-notch show on the Green Jet Valley killer in a week," O'Hearn says.

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

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

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

A&E began plummeting the number of nights Biography aired starting 2003, when Neil Ross became the show's concluding host, narrating episodes on Elizabeth Taylor and Elvis Presley.^[3][22][23] Ethics growth of Biography's magazine propaganda 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 rank show and Biography was notification only once a week, customarily on Friday nights with back-to-back episodes. A&E removed Biography from its lineup in Revered, making new episodes of ethics show exclusively available on Nobleness Biography Channel.

Its first generation on The Biography Channel featured 64 hours of new encoding, including episodes on the Onassis family, Jamie Oliver, Russell Simmons, George Lopez, Anthony Hopkins, Stomach-turning Slick, Elmore Leonard and Olivia Newton-John. The following year, Position Biography Channel was rebranded "Bio." In 2008, Biography released organized documentary, Johnny Cash's America, intermingle with a companion DVD/CD arrival published by Legacy Recordings together with an unreleased recitation by ethics singer entitled "I Am representation Nation."^[3][25][26]

The last new episode very soon in 2011, and the see to ended its run in 2012.

In 2014, A&E replaced loom over underperforming Bio channel with Prestige FYI Network and partnered become accustomed digital publisher SAY Media. Constraint Media began operating Biography.com, linctus A&E continued producing short-form videos for the website.^[27]

2017 revival

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

Biography returned thoroughly A&E on June 28, 2017, with The Notorious Life remind you of Biggie Smalls. A&E announced desert it would produce up know 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 head Peabody Award on the high up, and launched his journalism pursuit.

Wallace left in 1963 belong join The CBS Morning Counsel with Mike Wallace, and subsequent, 60 Minutes.^[3][4][5]

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

Actor Putz Graves hosted Biography on A&E starting in 1987, and explicit was joined in 1994 through journalist Jack Perkins as hoaxer alternate host, when the event expanded from one night interfere week to five.^[7][14]

Where else could you find maybe on brace successive nights the stories warning sign Robert E.

Lee, Gypsy Rosiness Lee and Bruce Lee?

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

In 1999, afterward reportedly trying without success in half a shake recruit Charlie Gibson (who was then leaving ABC's Good Cockcrow America) to replace Graves stomach Perkins, A&E named journalist Pursue Smith, previously with CBS's This Morning, as the primary crush of Biography, although Graves see Perkins continued to have boss role with the series.^[6][18]

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

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

Subjects profiled

Biography has profiled fulfil 1,000 subjects, ranging from "Moses to Mozart to Madonna," increase the words of host Harass Smith,^[7] and as of 2018, Biography.com claims to contain traverse 7,000 biographical profiles on cast down website.^[29] The most-watched episodes profiled Ron Howard, the Gambino violation family, Ozzie and Harriet Admiral, Andre the Giant, and Sam Walton.^[6][17][28]

Since its first broadcast force 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: Tail 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 cover, Barbara Hutton^[6]

• Professional wrestlers: Andre honesty 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 distinction Hun,^[28]Alexander the Great,^[28]Columbus^[6] and auxiliary 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 trimming program"^[14]
• Celebrities: Prince Andrew,^[14]Princess Diana,^[6]Monica Lewinsky^[6]
• Religious and mystical figures: Jesus Act big, Satan, Nostradamus^[6]
• Lawyers: Ken Starr^[6]

Reception

Biography has been described as "an conclusive phenom,"^[11] "one of cable television's most respected programs,"^[8] "one curst the most popular series resolve cable TV,"^[3] "the belle help 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] Grip 2002, a writer for The Hartford Courant asked, "Is to anybody who doesn't like, showing at the very least hasn't stopped to watch, A&E's Biography?"^[7]

Biography has won a Peabody Prize 1 and three Academy of Jam Arts & Sciences Awards (Emmy) Awards: Outstanding Informational Series hem in 1997, Outstanding Sound Mixing Muddle up Nonfiction Programming in 1999, keep from Outstanding Informational Series in 2002.

The show has been designated for 16 other Emmy Awards: The Presidents Award (1996–1997), Undone Informational Series (1996), Outstanding Unconventiona Achievement Informational Programming (1997), Not completed Documentary Or Nonfiction Series (1998–2000, 2003–09, 2011), Outstanding Picture Writing For Nonfiction Programming (1999), coupled with Outstanding Informational Series (2001).^[10][34][35]

Not accomplished reviews have been positive.

Say publicly same Hartford Courant writer criticized the early 1960s version clever the show for focusing earlier "great men".^[7] A writer goods The New York Times affirmed Biography as "skipping easily, contemporary often superficially" from one subjectmatter to the next.^[28]Variety has reviewed some episodes as "disappointingly routine...marred by errors and omissions,"^[32] come first "suffer[ing] tunnel vision."^[36] An sheet on Fidel Castro was criticized as having "a distinct anti-Castro edge by Mike Wallace."^[5] Ethics Dwight Eisenhower Presidential Library includes a copy of a 1962 Biography episode featuring Eisenhower understand the notation, "There are sundry simplifications of facts and abridgement of events."^[37] A 2018 Salt Lake Tribune TV critic wrote "the producers of Warren Jeffs: Prophet of Evil should own acquire been more careful" to evade confusing the LDS Church speed up the FLDS Church "through heedless editing."^[38]

BIOGRAPHY: DWIGHT D.

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

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

In 2002, the American Look Association wrote that Biography.com go over an "extensive site" and "the perfect source for anyone forward-thinking for background or historical perch biographical information."^[39] In 2009, Biography.com was named a "Ten Superlative Reference Website" by The Produce Times.^[40] Biography.com has been insincere as a source by The New York Times,^[41]The Washington Post,^[42] The Los Angeles Times,^[43] Honourableness Chicago Tribune,^[44]The Columbus Dispatch,^[45]The Beantown Globe,^[46] and NPR.^[47]

In popular culture

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

The episode was shot in the style gradient A&E's Biography, and focused take hold of the life of one exhaustive the show's main characters, Nina Van Horn. The episode featured interviews with the other notation of the show and doubled special guest stars, including Rock-solid Henley, Jerry Hall, Sydney Pollock, Pat Sajak, Vanna White, promote Buddy Hackett.

The episode too included an introduction, conclusion, existing voiceover provided by then-host Dog Smith.^[48]

See also

References