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Kenneth Lauren Burns (b. 1953) is an influential Documentary maker known for his films on American history. Since the 1980s, he has made nearly two dozen documentary specials or miniseries for PBS, most famously The Civil War (1990), which became the most-watched series in the public broadcaster's history at that time. It was not his first film (that being 1981's Oscar-nominated Brooklyn Bridge), but it was the one that really put him on the map.
Burns' documentaries are known for their unique style. He uses the technique known as The Ken Burns Effect, made famous in The Civil War. Burns also uses distinct musical scores, such as the upbeat string arrangements of The War or the song "Ashokan Farewell", which was first used in Huey Long and became popular when it was played over twenty times in The Civil War (to the point where many still assume the piece was written for The Civil War, which it was not). Burns has become well-known in the documentary world as a result, and many other filmmakers have emulated his style. He's also established a reputation for working with some of the most respected actors around, with Meryl Streep, Tom Hanks, Morgan Freeman, and Paul Giamatti among the many who have contributed voices to his films. Not to mention Peter Coyote, who has narrated most of Burns' films since 2011. Other collaborators, such as historian Geoffrey Ward (who has scripted many of Burns' films and also written the companion books), have become well known through their association with Burns.
His brother Ric is also a filmmaker, and worked with him on The Civil War in addition to contributing his own films like "The Donner Party" to PBS' American Experience series.
A partial list of his films includes:
- Brooklyn Bridge (1981)
- The Statue of Liberty (1985)
- Huey Long (1985)
- The Civil War (1990)
- Empire of the Air: The Men Who Made Radio (1992)
- Baseball (1994)
- Jazz (2001)
- The War (2007), a chronicle of World War II
- The National Parks: America's Best Idea (2009)
- Prohibition (2011)
- The Dust Bowl (2012)
- The Roosevelts: An Intimate History (2014)
- The Vietnam War (2017)
- Country Music (2019)
- Hemingway (2021)
- Muhammad Ali (2021)
- Benjamin Franklin (2022)
- America and the Holocaust (2022)
- Leonardo da Vinci (2024)
- The American Revolution (upcoming in 2025)