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S19 Ep1
James Dean: Sense Memories
James Byron Dean was an American actor from Indiana. He is remembered as a cultural icon of teenage disillusionment and social estrangement, as expressed in the title of his most celebrated film, Rebel Without a Cause (1955), in which he starred as troubled teenager Jim Stark.
Premiered: 5/11/2005
S15 Ep4
Lucille Ball: Finding Lucy
Lucille Ball
For more than thirty years, Lucille Ball was one of the most recognized and loved entertainers in the world. Known to all simply as Lucy, she portrayed a scatterbrained housewife with the ability to turn simple chores into unparalleled fiascoes.
Premiered: 12/3/2000
S13 Ep5
Dashiell Hammett: Detective, Writer
In less than ten years he would be turning these experiences into some of the most popular detective stories of his time. Unlike the intellectualized mysteries of earlier detective novels, Hammett’s less-than-glamorous realism transformed the genre into a serious response to the urban culture of the times.
Premiered: 6/30/1999
S11 Ep5
Isamu Noguchi: Stones and Paper
Isamu Noguchi was a sculptor, designer, architect, and craftsman. Throughout his life he struggled to see, alter, and recreate his natural surroundings. His gardens and fountains were transformations meant to bring out the beauty their locations had always possessed.
Premiered: 6/25/1997
S10 Ep4
Buckminster Fuller: Thinking out Loud
There are few men who can justly claim to have revolutionized their discipline. R. Buckminster Fuller revolutionized many. “Bucky,” as he was known to most, was a designer, architect, poet, educator, engineer, philosopher, environmentalist, and, above all, humanitarian. Driven by the belief that humanity’s major problems were hunger and homelessness he dedicated his life to solving those problems
Premiered: 4/10/1996
S10 Ep3
Richard Avedon: Darkness and Light
What do Jean Genet, Jimmy Durante, Brigitte Bardot, Georgia O’Keeffe, Jacques Cousteau, Andy Warhol, and Lena Horne have in common? They were a few of the many personalities caught on film by photographer Richard Avedon. For more than fifty years, Richard Avedon’s portraits have filled the pages of the country’s finest magazines.
Premiered: 1/24/1996
S7 Ep3
D.W. Griffith: Father of Film
D.W. Griffith
Lillian Gish called him “the father of film” and Charlie Chaplin called him “the teacher of us all.” At the pinnacle of his worldwide prominence, D.W. Griffith screened his films for the urban working-class as well as for presidents at the White House. Griffith’s films became part of history in the making—unleashing the power of movies as a catalyst for social change.
Premiered: 3/24/1993
S6 Ep7
Robert Motherwell and the New York School
In 1940, a young painter named Robert Motherwell came to New York City and joined a group of artists — including Jackson Pollock, Willem de Kooning, Mark Rothko and Franz Kline — who set out to change the face of American painting. These painters renounced the prevalent American style, believing its realism depicted only the surface of American life.
Premiered: 8/26/1991
S5 Ep5
You’re the Top: The Cole Porter Story
Some of the cleverest, funniest, and most romantic songs ever written came from the pen of Cole Porter. He was unmatched as a tunesmith, and his Broadway musicals — from “Kiss Me Kate” and “Anything Goes” to “Silk Stockings” and “Can Can” — set the standards of style and wit to which today’s composers and lyricists aspire.
Premiered: 7/23/1990
S5 Ep1
Milos Forman: Portrait
Throughout his career, Czechoslovakian-born filmmaker Milos Forman has combined a unique sensitivity to American themes with the best of European cinematic sensibilities. His films include such successful American releases as ONE FLEW OVER THE CUCKOO’S NEST (1975), HAIR (1979), RAGTIME (1981), and AMADEUS (1983).
Premiered: 12/20/1989

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