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American Masters Season 2 Episodes
Season 2 Episode Guide
10 Episodes 1986 - 1987
Episode 1
Isaac in America: A Journey with Isaac Bashevis Singer
Mon, Jul 6, 198758 mins
Presents a biography of Nobel Prize winning author Isaac Bashevis Singer as he converses with friends in a popular cafeteria, responds to post-lecture questions, and addresses people in his study.
Episode 2
Directed by William Wyler
Thu, May 1, 198660 mins
A documentary on the film director William Wyler (1902-1981), this feature was conceived by his daughter, Catherine, as a loving tribute to him. Utilizing a wealth of film clips, many in black and white, the movie features interviews with Bette Davis, Samantha Eggar, Greer Garson, Lillian Hellman, Audrey Hepburn, Charleton Heston, John Huston, Laurence Olivier, Gregory Peck, Ralph Richardson, Terence Stamp, Barbra Streisand, Billy Wilder, Talli (the former Margaret Tallichet) Wyler, and the director himself. Some of the best of the Hollywood commentary comes from Wyler himself, interviewed only a few days before he died in 1981.
Episode 3
Rubinstein Remembered
Mon, Jul 20, 1987
A 100th anniversary tribute to the famous virtuoso pianist, Arthur Rubinstein.
Episode 4
Alwin Nikolais and Murray Louis: Nik and Murray
Mon, Jul 27, 198782 mins
The modern dance choreographers Alwin Nikolais and Murray Louis jointly and individually led many companies. The two developed the Nikolais/Louis dance technique together. In 1999 the dance companies representing their work were phased out
Episode 5
George Gershwin Remembered
Mon, Aug 24, 198788 mins
George Gershwin was born in Brooklyn in 1898, the second of four children from a close-knit immigrant family. He began his musical career as a song-plugger on Tin Pan Alley, but was soon writing his own pieces.
Episode 6
Maurice Sendak: Mon Cher Papa
Mon, Aug 31, 198756 mins
Maurice Sendak,the renowned illustrator is no stranger to television. He has been featured on "magazines" such as "60 Minutes." His "Really Rosie!" published in the 1950's, was seen as an animation special long before being adapted for a stage musical. Still undaunted, however, he returns this evening at 9 on WNET to sit for a portrait in "Mon Cher Papa." This hour long program is a presentation of "American Masters," a weekly anthology of profiles on this country's leading figures in the creative arts.
Episode 7
The Negro Ensemble Company
Mon, Sep 14, 1987
Prior to the 1960s, there were virtually no outlets for the wealth of black theatrical talent in America. Playwrights writing realistically about the black experience could not get their work produced.
Episode 8
Unanswered Prayers: The Life and Times of Truman Capote
Mon, Sep 21, 1987
Throughout his career, Truman Capote remained one of America's most controversial and colorful authors, combining literary genius with a penchant for the glittering world of high society.
Episode 9
The Algonquin Round Table: The Ten Year Lunch
Mon, Sep 28, 198756 mins
Profile of the group of writers and humorists who formed lasting friendships and collaborations centered on their daily lunches at New York City's Algonquin Hotel through the 1920s, which led to scathing satire of cultural and social trends of the Roaring '20s. Their conflicts and romances are explored, with central figures including Dorothy Parker and Alexander Woollcott. As the decade progressed, they increasingly found themselves drawn apart by literary ambitions, as well as by social issues including the Sacco and Vanzetti case.
Episode 10
Buster Keaton: Hard Act to Follow
Wed, Nov 18, 1987
A look at Buster Keaton, an early star of film comedies.