Biographies

LEE GRANT
Actor

Lee Grant received her first Academy Award nomination -- for her role in DETECTIVE STORY -- as a teenager. Though McCarthy's blacklist kept her from working for more than a decade, Grant managed to resume her career, becoming a prolific performer, director, and producer -- she won an Emmy in 1966 for PEYTON PLACE, an Oscar in 1976 for SHAMPOO, and numerous other prestigious honors. Her big screen credits include IN THE HEAT OF THE NIGHT, THE LANDLORD, VOYAGE OF THE DAMNED, DEFENDING YOUR LIFE, IT'S MY PARTY, THE AMATI GIRLS, MULHOLLAND DRIVE, and DR. T AND THE WOMEN. Grant's stage performance in "The Maids" earned her an Obie in 1964, and in 1984 she directed a production of Vaclav Havel's "A Private View" at New York's Public Theater, winning a New York Drama Critics Award.

In 1982, Grant and her husband, Joseph Feury, launched their own production company and have sinced produced a number of award-winning films, including five documentaries for HBO's AMERICA UNDERCOVER, the CBS film NOBODY'S CHILD, and NO PLACE LIKE HOME, which won the 1989 FIPA D'Argent at the Cannes International Television Festival.

In October 1997, Grant's documentary on breast cancer aired on Lifetime Television. She has directed more than 25 episodes of that network's INTIMATE PORTRAITS, and continues to work on the program.

Grant also garnered an Emmy for NEON CEILING, the Congressional Arts Caucus Award, the American Film Institute's first-ever Lifetime Achievement Award, a Gilda Award, and a Gracie Award.

MADELEINE SHERWOOD
Actor/Activist

Obie Award-winning actor Madeleine Sherwood has appeared in 18 original Broadway productions. Her credits include Arthur Miller's "The Crucible," in which she originated the role of Abigail; "Sister Woman"; Tennessee Williams' "Cat on a Hot Tin Roof" and "Miss Lucy"; "Sweet Bird of Youth," directed by Elia Kazan; and Edward Albee's "All Over," directed by Sir John Gielgud. She has also appeared in 11 films, including CAT ON A HOT TIN ROOF and SWEET BIRD OF YOUTH, and starred for four years as Mother Superior with Sally Field in the television series FLYING NUN. Sherwood has conducted acting workshops around the world and has been a member of The Actors Studio since 1958.

An outspoken activist since the 1950s, Sherwood has campaigned against anti-nuclear weapons and for women's and civil rights. She was jailed in Alabama for her work with Dr. Martin Luther King. A long-time member of the Quaker Community, she believes Gandhi said it best: "Planet Earth is our home, humanity is our family."

CHRISTOPHER TRUMBO
Playwright

Christopher Trumbo has worked as a writer in the motion picture and television industries and in the print media for more than 30 years. He is particularly proud of the television movie ISHI, THE LAST OF HIS TRIBE, on which he shares a credit with his father, Dalton Trumbo, who was one of the Hollywood Ten. Trumbo's play "Trumbo," based on his father's letters, will open off-Broadway on September 4th of this year, with Nathan Lane in the title role. Currently, Trumbo is writing a motion picture for Britt Allcroft Produtions based on Sam Kashner's novella SINATRALAND. Peter Bogdanovitch will direct.

MICHAEL EPSTEIN
Writer, Director, Producer

Michael Epstein is an Academy Award-nominated documentary producer, director, and writer. He is also the recipient of Peabody, Emmy and Writers Guild awards. In addition to AMERICAN MASTERS, he has worked for such acclaimed television series as AMERICAN EXPERIENCE, FRONTLINE, and A&E BIOGRAPHY. Epstein also produced, wrote, and directed a two-hour pilot for a new PBS series entitled THE AMERICAN NOVEL, a groundbreaking blend of historical documentary and fiction film techniques. He also serves as series producer.

In August 2000, Epstein's HITCHCOCK, SELZNICK, & THE END OF HOLLYWOOD was awarded the Primetime Emmy for Best Non-Fiction Series (representative program), and named Best Arts Documentary at the Banff International Television Festival. The film was also nominated for a Writers Guild Award and selected to compete in the 1999 Sundance Film Festival. In May 1999, The Museum of Modern Art invited the film to be part of a retrospective of Alfred Hitchcock's work, and it is now part of the museum's permanent collection.

Epstein's THE BATTLE OVER CITIZEN KANE, which he made with Thomas Lennon, was honored with a Peabody Award. It was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature, as well as an Emmy for Outstanding Informational Special. The film was also turned into a feature-length film, RKO 281, which aired on HBO in November 1999.

In 1993, Epstein received a Writers Guild Award for his work on the Frontline special THE CHOICE '92, which he co-wrote with Pulitzer Prize-winning author Richard Ben Cramer and Thomas Lennon. Epstein was also nominated by the Writers Guild in 1994 for his film THE HURRICANE OF '38. He was the coordinating producer on the Bill Moyers' 10-part series GENESIS: A LIVING CONVERSATION.

PRUDENCE GLASS
Series Producer

Prudence Glass joined the core staff at Thirteen/WNET New York in 2000 after writing and producing the AMERICAN MASTERS special SIDNEY POITIER: ONE BRIGHT LIGHT, which was directed by Lee Grant and aired nationally on PBS that year. Glass, who comes from a strong background in community-based work and political organizing, previously researched, wrote, and co-produced with Grant a series of social issue-themed documentaries including WHEN WOMEN KILL, which profiled women serving prison sentences for homicide convictions; WHAT SEX AM I?, exploring transvestite and transsexual lifestyles; the Academy Award-winning DOWN AND OUT IN AMERICA, examining homelessness across the United States; BATTERED, revealing myths about domestic violence; WOMEN ON TRIAL, exposing child custody battles; SAY IT! FIGHT IT! CURE IT!, about breast cancer; and BELLA, a biography of Bella Abzug.

Glass received a bachelor's degree in Literature from the New School and a master's degree in Community Studies from New York University. She left her teaching assistantship in the doctoral program there to work directly with the community -- providing mental health care, alternatives to incarceration, and homeless services. After 20 years as a social worker, she turned to documentary filmmaking and is currently a member of the Writers Guild of America, New York Women in Film, and the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences.

The 2003-2004 season of AMERICAN MASTERS marks the third that Glass has helped see to completion.

SUSAN LACY
Series Creator and Executive Producer

As creator and executive producer of AMERICAN MASTERS, which was awarded the Prime Time Emmy for Outstanding Non-Fiction Series in 1999, 2000, and 2001, Susan Lacy has been responsible for the production and national broadcast of more than 120 documentary biographies on artistic giants who have made a significant impact on American culture. Continuing its 18th season on PBS and distributed throughout the world, AMERICAN MASTERS has been recognized by the industry and television critics as "consistently excellent" and "the best biographical series ever to appear on American television." The series has been honored with an unprecedented number of awards, including many individual program Emmys and Peabodys, a Grammy, and an Oscar. In addition to her role as executive producer, Ms. Lacy is an award-winning filmmaker. She directed, wrote, and produced LEONARD BERNSTEIN: REACHING FOR THE NOTE, for which she received a prestigious Director's Guild Association nomination; PAUL SIMON: BORN AT THE RIGHT TIME, for which she won a Peabody; ROD SERLING: SUBMITTED FOR YOUR APPROVAL; LENA HORNE: IN HER OWN VOICE; and most recently, JONI MITCHELL: WOMAN OF HEART AND MIND.

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Thirteen/WNET New York is one of the key program providers for public television, bringing such acclaimed series as NATURE, GREAT PERFORMANCES, AMERICAN MASTERS, CHARLIE ROSE, RELIGION & ETHICS NEWSWEEKLY, WIDE ANGLE, STAGE ON SCREEN, EGG THE ARTS SHOW, and CYBERCHASE -- as well as the work of Bill Moyers -- to audiences nationwide. As the flagship public broadcaster in the New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut metro area, Thirteen reaches millions of viewers each week, airing the best of American public television along with its own local productions such as The Ethnic Heritage Specials, The New York Walking Tours, NEW YORK VOICES, REEL NEW YORK, and its MetroArts/Thirteen cable arts programming. With educational and community outreach projects that extend the impact of its television productions, Thirteen takes television "out of the box." And as broadcast and digital media converge, Thirteen is blazing trails in the creation of Web sites, enhanced television, CD-ROMs, DVD-ROMs, educational software, and other cutting-edge media products. More information about Thirteen can be found at: www.thirteen.org.