Ken Burns
Directing
Ken Burns (born 1953) is a highly celebrated American documentarian who gradually amassed a considerable reputation and a devoted audience with a series of reassuringly traditional meditations on Americana. Burns' works are treasure troves of archival materials; he skillfully utilizes period music and footage, photographs, periodicals and ordinary people's correspondence, the latter often movingly read by seasoned professional actors in a deliberate attempt to get away from a "Great Man" approach to history. Like most non-fiction filmmakers, Burns wears many hats on his projects, often serving as writer, cinematographer, editor and music director in addition to producing and directing. He achieved his apotheosis with The Civil War (1990), a phenomenally popular 11-hour documentary that won two Emmys and broke all previous ratings records for public TV. The series' companion coffee table book--priced at a hefty $50--sold more than 700,000 copies. The audio version, narrated by Burns, was also a major best-seller. In the final accounting, "The Civil War" became the first documentary to gross over $100 million. Not surprisingly, it has become perennial fund-raising programming for public TV stations around the country. Burns arrived upon the scene with the Oscar-nominated Brooklyn Bridge (1981), a nostalgic chronicle of the construction of the fabled edifice. The film was more widely seen when rebroadcast on PBS the following year. Though Burns has made other nonfiction films for theatrical release, notably an acclaimed and ambiguous portrait of Depression-era Louisiana governor Huey Long (1985), PBS would prove to be his true home. He cast a probing eye on such American subjects as The Statue of Liberty (1985), The Congress (1988) (PBS), painter Thomas Hart Benton (1988) (PBS) and early radio with Empire of the Air: The Men Who Made Radio (1991) (PBS). Burns returned to long-form documentary with his most ambitious project to date, an 18-hour history of Baseball (1994), which aired on PBS in the fall of 1994. He approached the national pastime as a template for understanding changes in modern American society. Ironically, this was the only baseball on the air at the time, as the players and owners were embroiled in a bitter strike.
Known for
Directing45
tvHenry David Thoreau
2026
Director
tvThe American Revolution
2025
Director
tvLeonardo da Vinci
2024
Director
tvThe American Buffalo
2023
Director
tvThe U.S. and the Holocaust
2022
Director
tvBenjamin Franklin
2022
Director
tvMuhammad Ali
2021
Director
tvHemingway
2021
Director
tvCountry Music
2019
Director
movieThe Mayo Clinic
2018
Director
tvThe Vietnam War
2017
Director
tvJackie Robinson
2016
Director
movieThe Address
2014
Director
tvThe Dust Bowl
2012
Director
movieThe Central Park Five
2012
Director
tvProhibition
2011
Director
tvBaseball: The Tenth Inning
2010
Director
tvThe War
2007
Director
movieMark Twain
2002
Director
tvMark Twain
2002
Director
tvJazz
2001
Director
tvFrank Lloyd Wright
1998
Director
tvThomas Jefferson
1997
Director
tvBaseball
1994
Director
tvThe Civil War
1990
Director
movieThomas Hart Benton
1989
Director
movieThe Congress
1989
Director
movieThe Statue of Liberty
1985
Director
movieHuey Long
1985
Director
movieBrooklyn Bridge
1981
Director
Production42
movieHenry David Thoreau
2026
Producer
tvHenry David Thoreau
2026
Producer
tvThe American Revolution
2025
Producer
tvLeonardo da Vinci
2024
Executive Producer
movieHomecoming
2023
Executive Producer
tvThe American Buffalo
2023
Producer, Executive Producer
tvThe U.S. and the Holocaust
2022
Producer
tvHiding in Plain Sight: Youth Mental Illness
2022
Executive Producer
tvBenjamin Franklin
2022
Producer
tvMuhammad Ali
2021
Executive Producer
tvHemingway
2021
Producer
movieEast Lake Meadows: A Public Housing Story
2020
Producer, Executive Producer
tvCollege Behind Bars
2019
Executive Producer
tvCountry Music
2019
Executive Producer
movieThe Mayo Clinic
2018
Executive Producer
movieWalden
2017
Executive Producer
tvThe Vietnam War
2017
Producer, Executive Producer
movieDefying the Nazis: The Sharps' War
2016
Executive Producer
movieYosemite — A Gathering of Spirit
2013
Executive Producer
tvThe Dust Bowl
2012
Producer
movieThe Central Park Five
2012
Producer
tvProhibition
2011
Executive Producer, Producer
tvBaseball: The Tenth Inning
2010
Producer, Executive Producer
tvThe War
2007
Executive Producer
movieMark Twain
2002
Producer
tvJazz
2001
Producer
tvFrank Lloyd Wright
1998
Producer
tvThe West
1996
Executive Producer
tvBaseball
1994
Producer, Executive Producer
movieEmpire of the Air: The Men Who Made Radio
1991
Producer, Executive Producer
movieLindbergh
1990
Producer
tvThe Civil War
1990
Executive Producer
movieThomas Hart Benton
1989
Producer
movieThe Statue of Liberty
1985
Producer
movieHuey Long
1985
Producer
Acting37
Henry Louis Gates Jr.: Uncovering America
2019
Self - Director and Producer
tvThe Late Show with Stephen Colbert
2015
Self - Guest / Self
tvDifficult People
2015
Ken Burns
tvThe Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon
2014
Self - Guest
movieYosemite — A Gathering of Spirit
2013
Narrator (Voice)
tvThe Mindy Project
2012
Ken Burns
tvMLB: Baseball's Seasons
2009
Self - Filmmaker
tvCraft in America
2007
Himself
tvThe Colbert Report
2005
Self / Self (uncredited)
tvThe View
1997
Self
tvLate Night with Conan O'Brien
1993
Self - Guest
tvLate Show with David Letterman
1993
Self - Guest
tvThe Simpsons
1989
Ken Burns (voice)
tv60 Minutes
1968
Self
tvToday
1952
Self
Writing10
Creator7
Crew7
tvLeonardo da Vinci
2024
Creator
movieInterstellar
2014
Thanks
movieYosemite — A Gathering of Spirit
2013
Cinematography
tvThomas Jefferson
1997
Creator
movieThe Statue of Liberty
1985
Cinematography
movieThe Shakers: Hands to Work, Hearts to God
1984
Cinematography
movieBrooklyn Bridge
1981
Cinematography
Camera6
tvBaseball: The Tenth Inning
2010
Director of Photography
movieMark Twain
2002
Director of Photography
tvBaseball
1994
Director of Photography
movieEmpire of the Air: The Men Who Made Radio
1991
Director of Photography
tvThe Civil War
1990
Director of Photography
movieBrooklyn Bridge
1981
Director of Photography
Sound1
movieEmpire of the Air: The Men Who Made Radio
1991
Music Director