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American Masters Season 29 Episodes
Season 29 Episode Guide
8 Episodes 2015 - 2015
Episode 1
Ricky Jay: Deceptive Practice
Fri, Jan 23, 2015
Ricky Jay is a world-renowned magician, author, historian and actor (often a mischievous presence in the films of David Mamet and Paul Thomas Anderson) -- and a performer who regularly provokes astonishment from even the most jaded audiences. Deceptive Practice traces Jay's achievements and influences, from his apprenticeship at age 4 with his grandfather, to such now-forgotten legends as Al Flosso, Slydini, Cardini and his primary mentors, Dai Vernon and Charlie Miller. Featuring rare footage from his 1970s TV appearances (doing 3-card Monte with Steve Martin on The Dinah Shore Show) and told in Jay's inimitable voice, this is a remarkable journey inside the secretive world of magic and the small circle of eccentrics who are its perpetual devotees.
Episode 2
August Wilson: The Ground on Which I Stand
Fri, Feb 20, 201586 mins
Explore the life and legacy of August Wilson, the playwright some call America's Shakespeare, who chronicled the 20th-century black experience. Features James Earl Jones, Phylicia Rashad, Laurence Fishburne, Viola Davis, new dramatic readings and rare footage.
Episode 3
Jascha Heifetz: God's Fiddler
Thu, Apr 16, 2015
The artistry of violin virtuoso Jascha Heifetz is examined with help from Itzhak Perlman, students, archival performances and home movies.
Episode 4
American Ballet Theatre: A History
Fri, May 15, 2015107 mins
Delve into the rich, 75-year history of one of the world's preeminent ballet companies. Ric Burns' documentary combines intimate rehearsal footage, virtuoso performances and interviews with American Ballet Theatre's key figures. Combined with hundreds of carefully curated stills and rare footage of ballet icons Alonso, Jerome Robbins, Agnes de Mille, Antony Tudor, Nora Kaye and Mikhail Baryshnikov, the film provides a comprehensive inside look at American Ballet Theatre and the world of professional ballet for both seasoned aficionados and those who never have seen a ballet.
Episode 5
Harper Lee: American Masters
Fri, Jul 10, 2015
One of the biggest American bestsellers of all time, To Kill a Mockingbird (1960), was thought to be the only novel by Harper Lee. However, on July 14, 2015, Go Set a Watchman was released, featuring characters from Lee's Pulitzer Prize-winning novel. To mark the publication of Lee's new novel, this newly updated version of Mary McDonagh Murphy's 2012 documentary, Harper Lee: Hey, Boo, aired July 10 on PBS.
Episode 6
Althea
Fri, Sep 4, 201590 mins
Althea Gibson, a truant from the rough streets of Harlem, emerged as a most unlikely queen of the highly segregated tennis world of the 1950's. Say the name Althea Gibson to most people and you'll met a blank stare. However, no player overcame more obstacles to become a champion, the first African-American to play and win at Wimbledon and Forest Hills, a decade before the great Arthur Ashe, only to be shunned by the Tennis Establishment. He roots as a sharecropper's daughter, her family's migration north to Harlem, her mentoring from Sugar Ray Robinson, David Dinkins and others, her fame that thrust her unwillingly into the glare of the early Civil Rights movement, all bring the story into a much broader realm of African-American History.
Episode 7
Pedro E. Guerrero: A Photographer's Journey
Fri, Sep 18, 201563 mins
Through His Lens captures the remarkable life and work of Pedro E. Guerrero. Guerrero left behind thousands of photographs and nearly 15 hours of interviews beautifully shot in 2011. This film tells, in his own words, the story of a Mexican American photographer born and raised in segregated Mesa, Arizona in the early years of the 20th Century who goes on to a remarkable international career. Through His Lens explores Pedro's unique perspective on life, art, architecture and the artists he encountered. Guerrero used his outsider's eye to produce insightful and iconic portraits of Frank Lloyd Wright, Alexander Calder and Louise Nevelson as well as important images of modernist architecture, yet his story is largely unknown.
Episode 9
The Women's List
Fri, Sep 25, 2015
Director Timothy Greenfield-Sanders spotlights 15 women who define contemporary American culture; included are Madeleine Albright, Margaret Cho, Edie Falco, Betsey Johnson, Alicia Keys, Nancy Pelosi, Rosie Perez and Wendy Williams.