FILM DIRECTOR

Ken Burns

1953 - Today

Photo of Ken Burns

Icon of person Ken Burns

Kenneth Lauren Burns (born July 29, 1953) is an American filmmaker known for his documentary films and television series, many of which chronicle American history and culture. His work is often produced in association with WETA-TV or the National Endowment for the Humanities and distributed by PBS. Burns's widely known documentary series include The Civil War (1990), Baseball (1994), Jazz (2001), The War (2007), The National Parks: America's Best Idea (2009), Prohibition (2011), The Roosevelts (2014), The Vietnam War (2017), and Country Music (2019). He was also executive producer of both The West (1996), and Cancer: The Emperor of All Maladies (2015). Read more on Wikipedia

Since 2007, the English Wikipedia page of Ken Burns has received more than 6,091,346 page views. His biography is available in 35 different languages on Wikipedia (up from 33 in 2019). Ken Burns is the 1,393rd most popular film director (down from 1,299th in 2019), the 9,548th most popular biography from United States (down from 9,150th in 2019) and the 368th most popular American Film Director.

Memorability Metrics

  • 6.1M

    Page Views (PV)

  • 44.19

    Historical Popularity Index (HPI)

  • 35

    Languages Editions (L)

  • 1.58

    Effective Languages (L*)

  • 5.25

    Coefficient of Variation (CV)

Among FILM DIRECTORS

Among film directors, Ken Burns ranks 1,393 out of 2,041. Before him are Edward Lachman, Lev Kulidzhanov, Flora Gomes, Hugh Wilson, James Gray, and François Dupeyron. After him are Michael Hoffman, Pierre Morel, Pál Gábor, Terry Zwigoff, Robert Lepage, and Geoffrey Unsworth.

Most Popular Film Directors in Wikipedia

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Contemporaries

Among people born in 1953, Ken Burns ranks 449. Before him are Don Dokken, Larry Miller, Gary Johnson, Brigitte Zypries, Teburoro Tito, and Deborah Raffin. After him are Mindy Sterling, Jan Davis, Yoshiharu Horii, Manouchehr Mottaki, Giannina Braschi, and Lesley Nicol.

Others Born in 1953

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In United States

Among people born in United States, Ken Burns ranks 9,548 out of 20,380. Before him are Ruben Santiago-Hudson (1956), Kevin Moore (1967), Brian Grazer (1951), Mary Eaton (1901), Karl Rove (1950), and Horatio Greenough (1805). After him are Mindy Sterling (1953), George Russell (1923), Norman Alden (1924), Arnold Denker (1914), Michael Wong (1965), and Randy Weston (1926).

Others born in United States

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Among FILM DIRECTORS In United States

Among film directors born in United States, Ken Burns ranks 368. Before him are Rich Moore (1963), Alfred E. Green (1889), James Young (1872), Edward Lachman (1948), Hugh Wilson (1943), and James Gray (1969). After him are Michael Hoffman (1956), Terry Zwigoff (1949), Paul Bartel (1938), Alan Rudolph (1943), Haskell Wexler (1922), and Albert Pyun (1953).

American born Film Directors

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Filmography

The Vietnam War
Director
An immersive 360-degree narrative telling the epic story of the Vietnam War as it has never before been told on film. Featuring testimony from nearly 80 witnesses, including many Americans who fought in the war and others who opposed it, as well as Vietnamese combatants and civilians from both the winning and losing sides.
8.244 / 10
The Central Park Five
Director
In 1989, five black and Latino teenagers from Harlem were arrested and later convicted of raping a white woman in New York City's Central Park. They spent between 6 and 13 years in prison before a serial rapist confessed that he alone had committed the crime, leading to their convictions being overturned. Set against a backdrop of a decaying city beset by violence and racial tension, this is the story of that horrific crime, the rush to judgment by the police, a media clamoring for sensational stories and an outraged public, and the five lives upended by this miscarriage of justice.
May 24o 20127 / 10
The Civil War
Director
A documentary on the American Civil War narrated by Ken Burns, covering the secession of the Confederacy to the assassination of Abraham Lincoln.
8.1 / 10