
About this season
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.
Episodes (15)
1. 6 Apr. 1987
Aired 6 April 1987 • 60 min
2. Al Capone: Scarface
Aired 13 April 1987 • 60 min
3. Bob Hope: America's Entertainer
9.0Aired 20 April 1987 • 60 min
A profile of orator and abolitionist Frederick Douglass (1818-95), who campaigned against slavery, discrimination and other injustices directed against blacks. Douglass, a former slave himself, also helped run the Underground Railroad, a series of safe houses for escaped slaves.
4. Bugsy Siegel
Aired 27 April 1987 • 60 min
5. Dalai Lama: The Soul of Tibet
Aired 4 May 1987 • 60 min
6. King Arthur: His Life and Legends
Aired 11 May 1987 • 60 min
7. Lucky Luciano: Chairman of the Mob
Aired 18 May 1987 • 60 min
8. Nelson Mandela: Journey to Freedom
Aired 25 May 1987 • 60 min
9. Muhammad: The Prophet
Aired 1 June 1987 • 60 min
10. Napoleon Bonaparte: The Glory of France
Aired 8 June 1987 • 60 min
11. Bonnie & Clyde: The Story of Love & Death
10.0Aired 15 June 1987 • 60 min
12. Babe Ruth
Aired 22 June 1987 • 60 min
13. Frederick Douglass
Aired 29 June 1987 • 60 min
14. Lizzie Borden: A Woman Accused
10.0Aired 6 July 1987 • 60 min
15. Milton Hershey: The Chocolate King
Aired 13 July 1987 • 60 min