American Masters (PBS Series)

William Wyler (1902-1981) Director
Hell’s Heroes (1929), Wuthering Heights (1939), Roman Holiday (1953), Ben Hur (1959), Funny Girl (1968)

Alfred Hitchcock (1899-1990) Director
Rebecca (1940), Rear Window (1954), Vertigo (1958), North By Northwest (1959), Psycho (1960)

Gene Kelly (1912-1996) Dancer-Actor
Anchors Aweigh (1945), An American in Paris (1951), Singin’ in the Rain (1952)

Milos Forman (1932-) Director
Black Peter (1964), Taking Off (1971), One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest (1975), Amadeus (1984), Man on the Moon (1999)

George Stevens (1905-1975) Director
Swing Times (1936), Gunga Din (1939), A Place in the Sun (1951), Shane (1955), Giant (1956)

George Cukor (1899-1983) Director
David Copperfield (1935), The Philadelphia Story (1940), Gaslight (1944), A Star is Born (1954), My Fair Lady (1964)

Billy Wilder (1906-2002) Director-Producer-Writer
Double Indemnity (1944), The Lost Weekend (1945), Sunset Blvd (1950), The Seven Year Itch (1955), The Apartment (1960)

John Cassavetes (1929-1989) Director
Shadows (1959), Faces (1968), Gloria (1980), Big Trouble (1986), She’s So Lovely (1997)

Elia Kazan (1909-) Director
Gentleman’s Agreement (1947), A Streetcar Named Desire (1951), On the Waterfront (1954), East of Eden (1955)

Preston Sturges (1898-1977) Director-Writer
The Great McGinty (1940), Sullivan’s Travels (1941), The Lady Eve (1941), The Palm Beach Story (1942), Hail the Conquering Hero (1944)

D.W. Griffith (1875-1948) Director
Birth of a Nation (1915), Intolerance (1916), Broken Blossoms (1919), Way Down East (1920), The Struggle (1931)

George Lucas (1944-) Director
THX-1138 (1970), American Graffiti (1973), Star Wars (1977-2005), Indiana Jones (1981-1989), The Land Before Time (1988)

David O. Selznick (1902-1965) Producer
David Copperfield (1935), Anna Karenina (1935), Gone With the Wind (1939), Spellbound (1945), A Farewell to Arms (1957)

John Ford (1895-1973) and John Wayne (1907-1979) Director, Actor
Stagecoach (1939), The Searchers (1956), The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance (1962)

Charlie Chaplin (1899-1977) Producer-Actor-Director-Writer-Composer
The Kid (1921), The Gold Rush (1925), City Lights (1931), Modern Times (1936), The Great Dictator (1940)

Sam Goldwyn (1879-1974) Producer
Stella Dallas (1927), Wuthering Heights (1939), The Little Foxes (1941), The Best Years of Our Lives (1946), Porgy and Bess (1959)

Martin Scorsese (1942-) Producer-Actor-Writer-Director
Mean Streets (1973), Taxi Driver (1976), Raging Bull (1980), After Hours (1985), Goodfellas (1990), Casino (1996)

Buster Keaton ( ) Comedian-Actor-Director
Sherlock, Jr. (1924), Seven Chances (1925), The General (1926), Steamboat Bill, Jr. (1927), It’s a Mad Mad Mad Mad World (1963)

Sidney Poitier ( ) Actor-Director
No Way Out (1950), The Defiant Ones (1958), Lilies of the Field (1963), Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner (1967), In the Heat of the Night (1967)

Clint Eastwood (1930-) Actor-Director-Producer
A Fistfull of Dollars (1964), The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly (1966), Dirty Harry (1971), Pale Rider (1985), Unforgiven (1992)

Mike Nichols (1931-) Stage/Film Director
The Graduate (1967), Catch-22 (1970), Silkwood (1983), Regarding Harry (1991), Primary Colors (1998)

Harold Lloyd (1893-1971) Actor
A Sailor Made Man (1921), Safety Last (1923), The Freshman (1925), Movie Crazy (1932), The Milky Way (1936)

Cary Grant (1904-1986) Actor
Sylvia Scarlet (1935), Bringing Up Baby (1938), The Philadelphia Story (1940), Notorious (1946), North By Northwest (1959), Charade (1963)

Danny Kaye (1913-1987) Comedian
Up in Arms (1944), The Secret Life of Walter Mitty (1947), The Inspector General (1949), White Christmas (1954), The Court Jester (1956)

Lillian Gish (1893-1993) Actress
The Birth of the Nation (1915), Broken Blossoms (1919), Way Down East (1920), Remodeling Her Husband (1920), The Wind (1928)

Lon Chaney (1883-1930) Actor
The Penalty (1920), Oliver Twist (1922), Shadows (1922), Hunchback of Notre Dame (1923), Phantom of the Opera (1925)

Gregory Peck (1916-2003) Actor
Spellbound (1945), Roman Holiday (1953), Moby Dick (1956), To Kill a Mockingbird (1962), Other People’s Money (1991)

Lena Horne (1917-2) Singer-Actress
Stormy Weather (1943), Cabin in the Sky (1943), Broadway Rhythm (1944), Till the Clouds Roll By (1946), The Wiz (1978)

Marilyn Monroe (1926-1962) Actress
Gentlemen Prefer Blondes (1953), The Seven Year Itch (1955), Bus Stop (1956), Some Like it Hot (1959), The Misfits (1961)

Will Rogers (1879-1935) Humorist
Ziegfeld Follies (1914), A Connecticut Yankee (1931), State Fair (1933), Life Begins at Forty (1935), Doubting Thomas (1935)

Judy Garland (1922-1969) Actress-Singer
The Wizard of Oz (1939), Meet Me in St. Louis (1944), The Palace Concert (1951), A Star is Born (1954), Carnegie Hall (1961)

Lucille Ball (1911-1989) Actress-Producer
I Love Lucy (1951), The Lucy Show (1961)

Actor’s Studio
First American theatre group to teach and use the Stanislavski, and later on, the Strasberg systems of acting (method acting)

Ella Fitzgerald (1917-1996) Singer
The Cole Porter Songbook (1956), Ella and Louis (1956), Duke Ellington Songbook (1957), Harold Arlen Songbook (1961), Johnny Mercer Songbook (1965)

Billie Holliday (1915-1959) Jazz/Blues Singer
“Lover Man”, “Billie’s Blues”, “This Year’s Kisses”, “God Bless the Child”, “Strange Fruit”

Paul Robeson (1898-1976) Singer-Actor
The Emperor Jones (1924), Show Boat (1928), Basalik (1935), King Soloman’s Mines (1936), Othello (1943)

Charlie Parker (1920-1955) Jazz Musician
Lady Be Good (1940), Confessin’ the Blues (194) Groovin’ High (1945), Koko (1945), Orinthology (1947)

Duke Ellington (1899-1974) Jazz Musician
Mood Indigo (1930), It Don’t Mean a Thing If it Ain’t Got That Swing (1932), In a Sentimental Mood (1935), Take the “A” Train (1941)

Helen Hayes (1900-1993) Actress
The Sin of Madelon Claudet (1931), Mary of Scotland (1933), Victoria Regina (1935), Time Remembered (1957), Airport (1970)

Louis Armstrong (1900-1979) Singer
“When It’s Sleepy Time Down South” (1931), “Hello Dolly!” (1964), “What a Wonderful World” (1967)

Tony Bennett (1926-) Singer
“Because of You” (1951), “Firefly” (1958), “I Left My Heart in San Francisco” (1962), “The Good Life” (1963), MTV Unplugged (1994), Kennedy Center Honoree (2005),

Stella Adler

Vaudeville

Placido Domingo (1941-) Tenor
La Traviatta (1961), Turandot (1969), Otello (1979), Die Walkure (1992), Three Tenors – Paris (1998)

Sarah Vaughan (1924-1990) Singer
Lover (1945), If You Could See Me Now (1946), Sassy (1950), All of Me (1954), Broken Hearted Melody (1958)

Ray Charles (1930-2005) Pianist-Singer-Songwriter
I Got a Woman (1955), Georgia on My Mind (1960), Hit the Road Jack (1961), I Can’t Stop Loving You (1962), Crying Time (1966)

Nat King Cole ( ) Singer
Straighten Up and Fly Right (1945), Unforgettable (1951), Ramblin’ Rose (1962)

Benny Goodman (1909-1986) Clarinetist
King Porter Stomp, Sing Sing Sing, Let’s Dance, Smoke Gets In Your Eyes, Clarinet Concerto

Muddy Waters (1915-1983) Singer-Guitarist
I Can’t Be Satisfied (1948), Rollin’ Stone (1950), I Just Wanna Make Love (1954), Mannish Boy
(1955), She’s Nineteen Years Old (1958)

Aretha Franklin (1942-), Singer
I Never Loved a Man (The Way I Love You) (1967), Do Right Woman - Do Right Man (1967), Respect (1968), Think (1968)

Leonard Bernstein (1918-1990) Conductor-Composer
West Side Story (1957), New York Philharmonic Debut (1973), Mahler’s Symphony No. 9 with the Berlin Philharmonic (1979)

Willie Nelson (1933-)
“Crazy” (1961), Shotgun Willie (1973), Red Headed Stranger (1975), Stardust (1978), “On the Road Again” (1980)

Jack Paar (1918-) TV Personality
The Jack Paar Show – Radio (1947), Up to Paar –TV (1952), The Morning Show (1954), The Tonight Show (1957), The Jack Paar Show – TV (1962)

Walter Cronkite (1916-) TV Newscaster
JFK Assassination (1963), Vietnam Special Report (1965), Apollo Moon Landing (1969), Watergate Scandal (1972)

Don Hewitt

CBS Evening News with Walter Cronkite, Eyewitness to History, 60 Minutes

Rod Serling (1924-1975) Writer-TV Host
Patterns (1955), Requiem for a Heavyweight (1956), The Twilight Zone (1957), Night Gallery (1964), Planet of the Apes (1968)

Group Theatre
Roar China (1930), Success Story (1931), Men in White (1933), Waiting for Lefty (1935), My Hearts in the Highlands (1939)

Al Hirschfeld (1903-2003) Cartoonist
Show Business is No Business (1951), The World of Hirschfeld (1968), Hirschfeld by Hirschfeld (1979)

Richard Rodgers (1902-1979) Composer
Oklahoma! (1943), Carousel (1945), South Pacific (1949), The King and I (1951), The Sound of Music (1959)

Cole Porter (1891-1964) Songwriter
Paris (1928), The New Yorkers, Anything Goes (1934), Night and Day (1946), Kiss Me Kate (1949)

George Gershwin (1898-1837) Composer
Swanee (1919), Fascinatin’ Rhythm (1924), Rhapsody in Blue (1924), An American in Paris (1928), Porgy and Bess (1934-5)

Merce Cunningham (1919-) Choreographer
Credo in US (1942), Aeon (1961), Signals (1970), Square Game (1976), Crwdsper (1994)

Martha Graham (1894-1991) Choreographer
Lamentation (1927), Primitive Mysteries (1931), Appalachian Spring (1944), Episodes (1959), Rite of Spring (1984)

John Cage ( ) Composer
Imaginary Landscape No. 4 (1951), Sonatas and Interludes (1946-1948), Fontana Mix (1958), Roaratorio (1979)

George Ballanchine (1904-1983) Choreographer

John Hammond

Eugene O’Neill (1888-1953) Playwright
Beyond the Horizon (1920), Anna Christie (1922), The Iceman Cometh (1939), Long Day’s Journey Into Night (1941), A Touch of the Past (1942)

Tennessee Williams (1911-1983) Playwright
Battle of Angels (1945), The Glass Menagerie (1945), A Streetcar Named Desire (1947), American Blues (1948), Cat on a Hot Tin Roof (1955)

Arthur Miller (1925-2003) Playwright
All My Sons (1947), Death of a Salesman (1949), The Crucible (1953), After the Fall (1964), The Prince (1968)

Neil Simon (1927-) Playwright
The Odd Couple (1966), The Last of the Red Hot Lovers (1970), Chapter 2 (1977), Biloxi Blues (1985), Lost in Yonkers (1991)

Lillian Hellman (1905-1984) Playwright
The Children’s Hour (1934), Days to Come (1936), The Little Foxes (1939), Watch the Rhine (1941), Pentimento (1973)

Truman Capote (1924-1984) Novelist
Other Voices Other Room (1948), The Grass Harp (1951), Beat the Devil (1954), Breakfast at Tiffany’s (1958), In Cold Blood (1965)

Dashiell Hammett (1894-1961)
The Dain Curse (1929), The Red Harvest (1929), The Maltese Falcon (1930), The Glass Key (1930), The Thin Man (1934)

Ernest Hemingway (1899-1961) Novelist
In Our Time (1925), The Sun Also Rises (1926), A Farewell to Arms (1929), For Whom the Bell Tolls (1940), The Old Man and the Sea (1952)

F. Scott Fitzgerald (1896-1940) Novelist
This Side of Paradise (1921), The Great Gatsby (1926), Tender is the Night (1934), The Crack Up (1945)

Gore Vidal (1925-) Novelist
The City and the Pillar (1948), Julian (1964), Myra Breckinridge (1968), Burr (1973), Palimpsest (1995)

Katherine Anne Porter (1891-1980) Novelist
Flowering James (1930), Pale Horse, Pale Rider (1942), The Leaning Tower and Other Stone (1944), Ship of Fools (1962)

Edgar Allen Poe (1809-1849) Poet-Storyteller-Writer
The Narrative of Arthur Gordon Pym (1838), The Murders in the Rue Morgue (1843), The Raven and Other Poems (1845), Tales (1845)

Andy Warhol (1927-1987) Artist
Campell’s Soup Cans (1962), Marilyn (1962), Chelsea Girls (1966), Mao (1972), Last Supper (1986)

Georgia O’Keeffe (1887-1996) Painter
Blue and Green Music (1919), Black Iris (1926), Poppies (1927), Cow’s Skull with Calico Roses (1932), Pelvis I (Pelvis with Blue) (1944)

Norman Rockwell (1894-1978) Painter-Illustrator
Saturday Evening Post (1916-1963), Sunset (1926), Four Freedoms (1943), Bottom of the Sixth (1949), The Shiner (1953)

Diego Rivera (1886-1957) Painter
Creation (1922), Ministry of Education Building Mexico City (1923-6), California School of the Arts (1930), Detroit Institute of Fine Arts (1933), Palace of Fine Arts (1934)

Richard Avedon (1923-) Photographer
Observations (1959), Nothing Personal (1964), Portraits (1976), Evidence (1994)

Frank Gehry ( ) Architect
Vitra Design Museum (1989), Guggenheim Museum Bilbao (1997), Experience Music Project (1999), Walt Disney Concert Hall (2003)

Eugene Smith ( ) Photographer