Biography — Season 20

200545 episodes6.7/10 (35 votes)

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 (45)

1. Chuck Norris

Aired 23 September 2005 • 60 min

A look at the actor who parlayed his martial arts skills into a successful acting career. We visit Chuck on the set of his new TV movie, Walker, Texas Ranger, giving Chuck the opportunity to return to the Cordell Walker role he played on TV for eight years. Chuck talks about his difficult childhood, his brother's death in Vietnam, his rise to the top of the karate world and friendship with Bruce Lee, and his divorce and remarriage.

2. General Douglas MacArthur: The Return of a Legend

Aired 30 September 2005 • 60 min

He was one of America's greatest commanders, a warrior so tough and determined that he helped win World War II with a simple promise: "I shall return." Douglas MacArthur was a soldier's soldier the son of an officer, the star of West Point, the Army's youngest-ever full general.

3. Albert Einstein

Aired 7 October 2005 • 60 min

4. Ben & Jerry's

Aired 14 October 2005 • 60 min

5. Bill Clinton: Hope, Charisma & Controversy

Aired 21 October 2005 • 60 min

6. Catherine the Great

Aired 28 October 2005 • 60 min

7. Charles Darwin: Evolution's Voice

Aired 4 November 2005 • 60 min

8. J. Pierpont Morgan: Emperor of Wall Street

Aired 11 November 2005 • 60 min

9. Mussolini: Italy's Nightmare

Aired 18 November 2005 • 60 min

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10. Peter

Aired 25 November 2005 • 60 min

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11. Peter the Great: The Tyrant Reformer

Aired 2 December 2005 • 60 min

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12. Pocahontas: Ambassador of the New World

Aired 9 December 2005 • 60 min

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13. Pontius Pilate

Aired 16 December 2005 • 60 min

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14. Rasputin: The Mad Monk

Aired 23 December 2005 • 60 min

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15. Saint Paul

Aired 30 December 2005 • 60 min

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16. Solomon

Aired 6 January 2006 • 60 min

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17. The Hiltons

Aired 13 January 2006 • 60 min

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18. The Kellogg Brothers: Corn Flake Kings

Aired 20 January 2006 • 60 min

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19. William Shatner: Captain's Log

Aired 27 January 2006 • 60 min

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20. Al Qaeda

Aired 3 February 2006 • 60 min

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21. Frank Serpico: Honor Bound

Aired 10 February 2006 • 60 min

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22. Gerald R. Ford: Healing the Presidency

Aired 17 February 2006 • 60 min

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23. Jane Austen

Aired 24 February 2006 • 60 min

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24. The Brontë Sisters

Aired 3 March 2006 • 60 min

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25. The Home Depot

Aired 10 March 2006 • 60 min

Founded in 1978 in Atlanta, Georgia, The Home Depot is today the largest home-improvement retailer in the world, with stores in all 50 states, as well as in Canada and Mexico. In this captivating BIOGRAPHY, interviews with some of the store's first employees and co-founders Bernie Marcus and Arthur Blank highlight the secrets behind the triumph of this innovative "do-it-yourself" giant.

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