Episodes

In the wake of the turbulent 1960s, a new style of song and songwriter came to the fore - a style marked by vulnerable introspection and raw, naked emotion.

Called "the most natural and least self-conscious screen actor that has ever lived," this 2010 Oscar-winning best actor embodies traits far beyond brilliance as an actor. He is an exceptional musician, a photographer, an occasional vintner and a storyteller.

A profoundly enigmatic musical poet, there have been many documentaries about Glenn Gould, but they were typically sidetracked, focusing on the pills and fashions - missing the man, the magic and the message of music. American Masters pierces through the misconceptions in Genius Within: The Inner Life of Glenn Gould airing nationally, Monday, December 27 at 9pm on PBS (check local listings).

Composed of clips, stills, readings from Kazan's autobiography and his speech on directing (read by Elias Koteas), a videotaped interview done late in Kazan's life, and Scorsese's commentary on and offscreen, A Letter to Elia takes a close look at the life of art and its creation - the work, the distractions, the inspirations, the complications, the intersections between art and experience.

El bajista Israel “Cachao” López, ganador de múltiples premios Grammy, murió en Coral Gables, Florida en marzo de 2008, a la edad de casi 90 años. Un maestro legendario a nivel internacional y considerado uno de los músicos más grandes del género afro-cubano de todos los tiempos, él había hecho su hogar en los Estados Unidos durante las últimas cuatro décadas.

Hailed as "country music's Frank Sinatra" in a recent review of his latest release I AM WHAT I AM (Vanguard Records), American Masters celebrates this "Lonesome Fugitive" in Merle Haggard: Learning to Live with Myself premiering Wednesday, July 21 at 9 p.m. (ET) on PBS (check local listings.)

The creative chemistry of four brilliant artists – drummer John Densmore, guitarist Robby Krieger, keyboardist Ray Manzarek and singer Jim Morrison – made The Doors one of America’s most iconic, influential, and frightening rock bands.

'I.M. Pei: Building China Modern' follows the architect on a personal and architectural journey from west to east, where he was invited to design a museum to house the antiquities of his native Suzhou.

With extra scenes from the film, learn more about the story of Warner Bros, and the impact they left on the film industry.

From painting to photos to collage, lithographs and set design, it seems artist David Hockney has done it all. The AMERICAN MASTERS documentary David Hockney: The Colors of Music explores the painter’s set designs while the timeline below provides personal and career highlights.

More than most in the $5 billion-a-year global industry he helped build from scratch, Ahmet Ertegun loved the rhythm and the blues. He loved the rock and the roll, jump and swing, and all forms of jazz. More than anything, he loved the high life and the low.

Survey Marilyn Monroe’s life story through the many dazzling photographs of her. 8/9/2012

James Byron Dean was an American actor from Indiana. He is remembered as a cultural icon of teenage disillusionment and social estrangement, as expressed in the title of his most celebrated film, Rebel Without a Cause (1955), in which he starred as troubled teenager Jim Stark.

Watch as Judy Garland gets center stage all to herself.

The relationship between director Elia Kazan and playwright Arthur Miller ruptures after Kazan appears before the House of Un-American Activities Committee in 1952.