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Biography
Genre	Documentary
Created by	David L. Wolper
Presented by	Mike Wallace (1961–1963) David Janssen (1979) Peter Graves (1987–1999) Jack Perkins (1994–1999) Harry Smith (1999–2013)
Country of origin	United States
Original language	English
Production
Running time	30/60/120 minutes
Production companies	Wolper Productions (1961-1963, 1979) Actuality Productions Atlas Media Corp. Foxstar Productions Prometheus Entertainment Robert Small Entertainment Greystone Communications Van Ness Films, Inc.
Original release
Network	Syndication A&E (1987-2006) Bio Channel/FYI (2006-2013) A&E (as franchise) (2017-)
Release	Original series: 1961-1963 Revived series: 1979 1990-2013

Biography is a documentary television series that aired on CBS, A&E, and the Biography Channel. Each episode depicts the life of a specific person with narration, on-camera interviews, photographs, and stock footage. The show originally ran from 1961 to 1963 in syndication on CBS, which briefly revived it in 1979. In 1987, the series was revived again on A&E. It aired on the network until 2006 when it was moved to A&E's Biography Channel (now known as FYI) where it aired until 2013. In 2017, Biography was expanded into a franchise, employing the previously used logotype for multiple mini-series and the Biography Movies on A&E Networks.

History

Biography began as a syndicated television series in the early 1960s, without interviews, narrated by Mike Wallace. An attempted revival in 1979 lasted only one year, but the show gained popularity following its purchase and re-airing by A&E Networks in 1987. In 1990, A&E began producing new episodes, and expanded the show into a multimedia franchise. By the turn of the century, Biography became A&E's "flagship" program, growing from one night per week to seven, and spawning its own cable television channel, several spin-off shows, a website, made-for-TV movies, mini-series, books, audio books, records, and even a board game. The show's ratings eventually slipped and its airtime was reduced to one night per week, then limited to broadcasting on The Biography Channel only. Production of new episodes ceased in 2011 and Biography was almost entirely off the air by 2012. In 2017, A&E revived the Biography franchise with a series of TV specials and mini-series.

Early years

The original Biography was produced by David Wolper and narrated by Mike Wallace, running from the 1961–62 through the 1963-64 television seasons, when Wallace left to join CBS's 60 Minutes. The show featured half-hour segments, without interviews, profiling male 20th century figures in politics, sports, science, the arts, and other fields, such as Winston Churchill, Fiorello H. La Guardia, and Babe Ruth.

CBS briefly revived the series in 1979 with host David Janssen.

Acquisition by A&E

The Arts & Entertainment Network (now A&E), a joint venture started in 1984 by ABC, NBC, the Hearst Corporation, and the Rockefeller Group, acquired the broadcast rights to Biography and began re-airing the show as a once-a-week series on April 6, 1987, with Peter Graves as host. Over the course of the next decade, as A&E's revenues and Nielsen ratings continued to grow, Biography would become A&E's "flagship series," garnering three Emmy Awards, and becoming A&E's strongest franchise brand.

In 1990, A&E acquired the rights to the Biography trademark and library, and began producing new episodes of the show, which expanded the subjects from historical figures to contemporary figures, including political leaders and popular celebrities, and which changed the program from one that reported history to one that recorded it as it unfolded. In a departure from previous incarnations of Biography, A&E added on-camera interviews to the format.

In 1994, A&E expanded the show from one night per week to five (every weeknight at 8pm) and commissioned over 100 hours of new programming. Journalist Jack Perkins joined the show as an alternate host along with Graves. For the 1995–96 season, A&E expanded Biography again, adding a sixth night, Biography This Week, which profiled someone from the previous weeks' news, such as Yitzak Rabin, George Burns, and Gene Kelly.

Franchise expansion

In the mid-1990s, A&E expanded Biography into a media franchise, spinning off multiple cable channels, a website, a monthly magazine, home videos, books for adults and children, audiobooks, music CDs, CD-ROMs, several spin-off shows, mini-series, and made-for-TV movies, and and even a board game called "Who Am I? The Biography Game."

The initial expansion came in 1995. In January, A&E had launched The History Channel, and followed it in November by The History Channel U.K., which included a British version of Biography with a British host, focusing on British personalities.

By 1996, its tenth year on A&E, Biography had achieved its highest ratings yet, drawing over 1.5 million viewers, six nights per week, and received its first Emmy nominations (The Presidents Award and Outstanding Informational Series). A&E started commissioning about 130 hours of new programming per season, and expanded the franchise into other media. Barnes and Noble began selling Biography videos in its 400 stores. In the summer of 1996, A&E launched the Biography website, which has since grown to contain over 7,000 biographies. In the fall, a Saturday-morning children's version of the Biography series, entitled Biography for Kids, was released.

The next year, Biography won its first Emmy Award (Outstanding Informational Series), and was nominated in two other categories. Biography would ultimately receive 16 nominations and three awards over the ensuing 12 years. The same year, Biography was allowed to interview sitting First Lady Hillary Clinton for an episode profiling billionaire Wal-Mart founder Sam Walton. Also in 1997, A&E released Biography audio tapes, and replaced its eight-year-old A&E Monthly magazine with Biography magazine. Circulation started at 100,000 in 1997 and grew for several years (to 270,000 by early 1998; 367,000 by mid-1998; 528,000 by 1999; and, 700,000 by 2001). Crown Publishing Group, a subsidiary of Random House, began publishing a line of 200-page Biography paperbacks in 1997, beginning with books on Muhammad Ali, Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis, Ronald Reagan, and Pope John Paul II.

In 1998, A&E released Biography Movies, featuring subjects such as P.T. Barnum, Lillian Hellman, and Dashiell Hammett. Bill Kurtis hosted a spin-off show, Biography: American Justice, and a series of Biography record albums by artists who had been profiled on the show, including Dean Martin, Judy Garland, Nat King Cole, Mel Torme, and Lena Horne, was released by EMI-Capitol Entertainment Properties. In November, A&E created a spin-off network called The Biography Channel (now Bio Channel/FYI) featuring historical figures and current political and social leaders. The 1998 episode on Ozzie and Harriet Nelson became the show's highest-rated episode up to that point.

By 1999, Biography had profiled 600 people. It won its second Emmy Award (Outstanding Sound Mixing For Nonfiction Programming) and was on television in some incarnation seven nights per week, including an "international-figure-personality-of-the-week," Biography International. That year's episode profiling Ron Howard was viewed in 3.5 million homes, becoming a new Biography record. Journalist Harry Smith (previously with CBS's This Morning) joined Biography as the primary host, though Peter Graves and Jack Perkins continued to appear on the show.

By the end of the century, Biography had profiled over 800 people, and on October 1, 2000, A&E Networks expanded its British partnership with British Sky Broadcasting with the launch of a UK market Biography Channel.

Decline and reboot

Biography's ratings declined 15% from 2000 to 2001, and another 17% from 2001 to 2002, before increasing 6% in 2003. Despite the decrease in ratings, by 2002, Biography won its third Emmy Award (Outstanding Documentary or Nonfiction Series), and marked its 1,000th profile.

A&E responded to the ratings decline by changing Biography's management personnel and launching a marketing campaign centering on photographs taken by photographer Annie Leibovitz of well-known subjects that had been profiled on Biography, including Jerry Seinfeld, Muhammad Ali, Steven Spielberg and Harrison Ford.

'We produced a show on the Green River Valley killer in a week,' O’Hearn says. When Katharine Hepburn, John Ritter and Gregory Peck died, up-to-date shows about their lives were televised if not on the night they passed away, the following night.

— Variety, quoting Biography Vice President Didi O'Hearn, 2002

The growth of Biography's magazine circulation slowed in 2002 and declined 9% in 2003. In 2004, A&E scaled back Biography magazine from monthly to quarterly publication.

By April 2006, Biography was airing only once a week, usually on Friday nights with three back-to-back episodes. A&E removed Biography from its lineup in August 2006, making new episodes of the show exclusively available on The Biography Channel. Its first year on The Biography Channel featured 64 hours of new programming, including episodes on the Onassis family, Jamie Oliver, Russell Simmons, George Lopez, Anthony Hopkins, Grace Slick, Elmore Leonard and Olivia Newton-John. The following year, The Biography Channel was rebranded "Bio." In 2008, Biography released a documentary, Johnny Cash's America, together with a companion DVD/CD package published by Legacy Recordings containing an unreleased recitation by the singer entitled "I Am The Nation."

The last new episode aired in 2011, and the show ended its run in 2012. In 2014, A&E replaced its underperforming Bio channel with The FYI Network and partnered with digital publisher SAY Media. SAY Media began operating Biography.com, while A&E continued producing short-form videos for the website.

In 2017, A&E Networks relaunched the franchise with a set of two-hour specials and mini-series for three of its channels, A&E, History and Lifetime. Biography returned to A&E on June 28, 2017 with The Notorious Life of Biggie Smalls. A&E announced that it would produce up to 40 hours of new episodes as part of the relaunch, including features on John Gotti, Tupac Shakur, Vladimir Putin, Elizabeth Smart, Mike Tyson, and David Koresh.

Hosts

The original, early 1960s syndicated Biography was narrated by Mike Wallace, who left in 1963 to join CBS's 60 Minutes.

Actor David Janssen hosted a short-lived 1979 revival of the show on CBS.

Where else could you find maybe on three successive nights the stories of Robert E. Lee, Gypsy Rose Lee and Bruce Lee?

— Host Harry Smith, as quoted by The Hartford Courant, 2002

Actor Peter Graves hosted Biography on A&E starting in 1987, and he was joined in 1994 by journalist Jack Perkins as an alternate host, when the show expanded from one night per week to five.

In 1999, after reportedly trying without success to recruit Charlie Gibson (who was then leaving ABC's Good Morning America) to replace Graves and Perkins, A&E named journalist Harry Smith, previously with CBS's This Morning, as the primary host of Biography, although Graves and Perkins continued to have a role with the series.

A&E later produced Biography as an unhosted show.

Subjects

Biography has profiled over 1,000 subjects, from "Moses to Mozart to Madonna," in the words of host Harry Smith, and as of 2018, Biography.com contains over 7,000 profiles on its website. The most-watched episodes profiled the Gambino crime family, Ozzie and Harriet Nelson, Andre the Giant, and Sam Walton.

A wide variety of people have been featured, including serial killers (Jeffrey Dahmer, The Boston Strangler), authors (Ernest Hemingway), musicians (Dean Martin, Nat King Cole, Mel Torme, Lena Horne), scientists (Carl Sagan, Howard Carter), athletes (Muhammad Ali, Jackie Robinson), professional wrestlers (Andre the Giant, The Rock), business figures (J.C. Penney, the Woolworth family, Barbara Hutton), historical figures, both ancient (Attila the Hun, Alexander the Great, Columbus) and more recent (Gandhi, Parks, Schindler, "pioneers of the space program"), heads of state (de Gaulle, Churchill), revolutionaries (Che,, Kai-Shek,, Lenin), contemporary political leaders (Nancy Reagan, Bill Clinton, Al Gore, John McCain), celebrities (Prince Andrew, Princess Diana, Ken Starr, Monica Lewinsky), religious or mystical figures (Jesus Christ, Satan, Nostradamus), comedians (Ernie Kovacs, Jonathan Winters), magicians (Harry Houdini), martial artists (Bruce Lee), fictional characters (Lamb Chop, Catwoman) filmmakers (Howard Hughes, Steven Spielberg), and many actors, old (Judy Garland, Betty Grable, Sophia Loren, Edward G. Robinson, Elizabeth Taylor) and new (Pierce Brosnan, Michael Douglas, Kathie Lee Gifford, Tom Hanks, Shari Lewis, Paul Newman, Nick Nolte).

Reception and impact

Biography has been described as: A&E's "flagship series", "signature series," "strongest brand," and "most-watched show;" "an undisputed phenom;" "one of cable television's most respected programs;" and, "the belle of the Nielsen ball." In 2002, a writer for The Hartford Courant asked, "Is there anybody who doesn't like, or at the very least hasn't stopped to watch, A&E's Biography?"

Not all reviews were positive. A New York Times writer described Biography as "skipping easily, and often superficially" from one subject to the next. Variety has reviewed some episodes as "disappointingly routine," "marred by errors and omissions," and "suffer tunnel vision."

Biography has won three Academy of Television Arts & Sciences Awards (Emmy) Awards: Outstanding Informational Series in 1997, Outstanding Sound Mixing For Nonfiction Programming in 1999, and Outstanding Informational Series in 2002. The show has been nominated for 16 other Emmy Awards: The Presidents Award (1996-1997), Outstanding Informational Series (1996), Outstanding Individual Achievement Informational Programming (1997), Outstanding Documentary Or Nonfiction Series (1998–2000, 2003–09, 2011), Outstanding Picture Editing For Nonfiction Programming (1999), and Outstanding Informational Series (2001).

In 2002, the American Library Association wrote that Biography.com is an "extensive site" and "the perfect source for anyone looking for background or historical and biographical information." In 2009, Biography was named a "Ten Best Reference Website" by The Sunday Times.

Biography.com has been cited as a source by The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Los Angeles Times, The Chicago Tribune, The Columbus Dispatch, Boston Globe Magazine, and National Public Radio.

In popular culture

Biography has been a category on the television game show Jeopardy!.

In 2000, the NBC sitcom, Just Shoot Me!, did an episode called "A&E Biography: Nina Van Horn." The episode was shot in the style A&E's Biography, and focused on the life of one of the show's main characters, Nina Van Horn. The episode featured interviews with the other characters of the show and multiple special guest stars, including Don Henley, Jerry Hall, Sydney Pollack, Pat Sajak, Vanna White, and Buddy Hackett. The episode also included an introduction, conclusion, and voice over provided by then-host, Harry Smith.

See also

• Behind The Music
• E! True Hollywood Story

References

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External links

• Biography (1961–64) at IMDb
• Biography (1979) at IMDb
• Biography (1987–present) at IMDb
• Official site on A&E
• The Biography Channel
• Biography.com website
• Ranker.com's list of Biography episodes

• Misplaced Pages articles needing copy edit from May 2018
• The Biography Channel shows
• 1961 American television series debuts
• 1963 American television series endings
• 1987 American television series debuts
• 2003 American television series endings
• 1980s American television series
• 1990s American television series
• 2000s American television series
• 2010s American television series
• American documentary television series
• A&E (TV channel) shows
• English-language television programs
• Peabody Award-winning television programs