She was ahead of her time, a genius. During an era when Jazz was the nation's popular music, Mary Lou Williams was one of its greatest innovators. As both a pianist and composer, she was a font of daring and creativity who helped shape the sound of 20th century America. And like the dynamic, turbulent nation in which she lived, Williams seemed to redefine herself with every passing decade. From child prodigy to "Boogie-Woogie Queen" to groundbreaking...

A colorful character who was not only ahead of her time but helped to define it, Peggy Guggenheim was an heiress to her family fortune who became a central figure in the modern art movement. As she moved through the cultural upheaval of the 20th century, she collected not only art, but artists. Her colorful personal history included such figures as Samuel Beckett, Max Ernst, Jackson Pollock, Alexander Calder, Marcel Duchamp as well as countless others....

From the award-winning director of COMIC BOOK CONFIDENTIAL and GRASS comes TALES OF THE RAT FINK, Ron Mann's wildly inventive bio about Renaissance man Ed "Big Daddy" Roth, who engineered a shift in mid-twentieth century culture with his customised cars, "monster" T-shirts and America's alternative rodent - "Rat Fink".

The Collector of Bedford Street is an Academy Award nominated short documentary that follows the filmmaker's 60 year old neighbor, Larry Selman, a community activist and fundraiser who has an intellectual disability. Every year, Larry collects thousands of dollars for charities while living at the poverty line. When Larry's primary caregiver becomes unable to care for him, his New York City neighborhood community rallies together to protect his independent...

Billie Jean King is the single most important female athlete of the 20th century, winner of 39 Grand Slam titles and a major force in changing and democratizing the cultural landscape. AMERICAN MASTERS looks back to the 12-year-old girl who played tennis on public courts, observed disparity and, as she soared athletically, never stopped trying to remedy inequality. Perhaps best remembered from "The Battle of the Sexes" match vs. Bobby Riggs on Sept....

Oh my! This award winning documentary features Star Trek legend, marriage equality advocate, and spokesperson for racial justice; superstar George Takei. Best known for his groundbreaking role of Hikaru Sulu on a certain epic starship and its multi-ethnic crew, Takei is one of the most visible Asian-American actors of all time, inspiring generations of fans. Following his Star Trek run, George's baritone voice later earned him work in animated series...

Historias, curiosidades y anécdotas que definen y nos muestran la evolución de un personaje totalmente poliédrico. Jeff Bezos es el padre de Amazon. Es el genio más grande que ha habido en los negocios desde Rockefeller. Un tipo con un talento desbordante y un ejemplo digno de emular o el peor CEO del mundo según los sindicatos. Bezos sueña con llevar un día a toda la humanidad fuera de este planeta llamado Tierra, tan «aburridamente agotado»....

Frank Lloyd Wright tells the story of the greatest of all American architects. Wright was an authentic American genius, a man who believed he was destined to redesign the world, creating everything anew. Over the course of his long career, he designed over eight hundred buildings, including such revolutionary structures as the Guggenheim Museum, the Johnson Wax Building, Fallingwater, Unity Temple and Taliesin. His buildings and his ideas changed...

Reinhold Niebuhr's Serenity Prayer remains one of the most quoted writings in American literature. Yet Niebuhr's impact was far greater, as presidents and civil rights leaders like Martin Luther King Jr. often turned to Niebuhr's writings for guidance and inspiration on the most volatile political and social issues of the 20th century. Niebuhr rose from a small Midwest church pulpit to become the nation's moral voice - an American conscience -during...

Surveys the 1960s from January 1960 to December 1969. Includes biographies of artists, architects, authors, statesmen, military leaders, and cinematic stars, concentrating on what each individual accomplished during the 1960s, with brief postscripts of their lives beyond the period.