Lives on Parade: The Bio-pic

The Bio-pic, short for biographical picture, has been one of Hollywood’s staples from the very beginning of the motion picture industry and thousands of such films have been made. Eager to learn about the lives of great (and not so great) men and women who have entered the public consciousness, we have always flocked to local movie palaces to get the “inside story” of fascinating individuals. The first known “biopic” was made in 1899 and continues to this very day. These films cover the gamut of human experience including well known figures from the realms of science, religion, the military, sports, politics, and, in a bit of artistic cannibalism, films about film stars. But Hollywood is in the entertainment business and thus the biopics they produce are as likely to contribute to mythmaking as they are to inform. Our sessions will examine the history of the biopic and some of the more notable examples from early to recent times.