Best Biographies
by tamaralanderson | created - 10 May 2020 | updated - 8 months ago | PublicA peek into someone else's way of being.
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1. Masters of Sex (2013–2016)
TV-MA | 60 min | Drama, Romance
Drama about the pioneers of the science of human sexuality whose research touched off the sexual revolution.
Stars: Michael Sheen, Lizzy Caplan, Caitlin FitzGerald, Teddy Sears
Votes: 38,526
2. Hidden Figures (2016)
PG | 127 min | Biography, Drama, History
The story of a team of female African-American mathematicians who served a vital role in NASA during the early years of the U.S. space program.
Director: Theodore Melfi | Stars: Taraji P. Henson, Octavia Spencer, Janelle Monáe, Kevin Costner
Votes: 255,399 | Gross: $169.61M
3. The Imitation Game (2014)
PG-13 | 114 min | Biography, Drama, Thriller
During World War II, the English mathematical genius Alan Turing tries to crack the German Enigma code with help from fellow mathematicians while attempting to come to terms with his troubled private life.
Director: Morten Tyldum | Stars: Benedict Cumberbatch, Keira Knightley, Matthew Goode, Allen Leech
Votes: 825,356 | Gross: $91.13M
4. On the Road (2012)
R | 124 min | Adventure, Drama, Romance
Young writer Sal Paradise has his life shaken by the arrival of free-spirited Dean Moriarty and his girl, Marylou. As they travel across the country, they encounter a mix of people who each impact their journey indelibly.
Director: Walter Salles | Stars: Sam Riley, Garrett Hedlund, Kristen Stewart, Amy Adams
Votes: 43,302 | Gross: $0.72M
5. La Vie En Rose (2007)
PG-13 | 140 min | Biography, Drama, Music
Biopic of the iconic French singer Édith Piaf. Raised by her grandmother in a brothel, she was discovered while singing on a street corner at the age of 19. Despite her success, Piaf's life was filled with tragedy.
Director: Olivier Dahan | Stars: Marion Cotillard, Sylvie Testud, Pascal Greggory, Emmanuelle Seigner
Votes: 90,764 | Gross: $10.30M
6. Vita & Virginia (2018)
Unrated | 110 min | Biography, Drama, Romance
The fascinating true story of the love affair between socialite and popular author Vita Sackville-West and literary icon Virginia Woolf.
Director: Chanya Button | Stars: Gemma Arterton, Elizabeth Debicki, Isabella Rossellini, Rupert Penry-Jones
Votes: 4,854 | Gross: $0.04M
7.
American Masters (1985– )
Episode:
No Direction Home: Bob Dylan
(2005)
Not Rated | 208 min | Documentary, Biography, History
A chronicle of Bob Dylan's strange evolution between 1961 and 1966 from folk singer to protest singer to "voice of a generation" to rock star.
Director: Martin Scorsese | Stars: Bob Dylan, B.J. Rolfzen, Dick Kangas, Liam Clancy
Votes: 12,111
8. Amadeus (1984)
R | 160 min | Biography, Drama, Music
The life, success and troubles of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, as told by Antonio Salieri, the contemporaneous composer who was deeply jealous of Mozart's talent and claimed to have murdered him.
Director: Milos Forman | Stars: F. Murray Abraham, Tom Hulce, Elizabeth Berridge, Roy Dotrice
Votes: 428,268 | Gross: $51.97M
9. Tolkien (2019)
PG-13 | 112 min | Biography, Drama, Romance
Tolkien's novels were inspired by his mom's storytelling, falling in love with another orphan, Edith, forming a brotherhood with 3 other misfits at school, the trench war of WWI and later telling stories to his own kids.
Director: Dome Karukoski | Stars: Nicholas Hoult, Lily Collins, Colm Meaney, Derek Jacobi
Votes: 46,633 | Gross: $4.54M
10. Henry & June (1990)
NC-17 | 136 min | Biography, Drama
Anaïs Nin meets American writer Henry Miller in Paris in 1931. She keeps a diary of her sexual awakening, which includes Henry and his wife June.
Director: Philip Kaufman | Stars: Fred Ward, Uma Thurman, Maria de Medeiros, Richard E. Grant
Votes: 14,196 | Gross: $11.57M
11. On the Basis of Sex (2018)
PG-13 | 120 min | Biography, Drama
The true story of Ruth Bader Ginsburg, her struggles for equal rights, and the early cases of a historic career that lead to her nomination and confirmation as U.S. Supreme Court Associate Justice.
Director: Mimi Leder | Stars: Felicity Jones, Armie Hammer, Justin Theroux, Sam Waterston
Votes: 38,352 | Gross: $24.62M
12. Frida (2002)
R | 123 min | Biography, Drama, Romance
A biography of artist Frida Kahlo, who channeled the pain of a crippling injury and her tempestuous marriage into her work.
Director: Julie Taymor | Stars: Salma Hayek, Alfred Molina, Geoffrey Rush, Mía Maestro
Votes: 95,358 | Gross: $25.89M
13. Man on Wire (2008)
PG-13 | 94 min | Documentary, Biography, Crime
A look at tightrope walker Philippe Petit's daring, but illegal, high-wire routine performed between New York City's World Trade Center's twin towers in 1974, what some consider, "the artistic crime of the century".
Director: James Marsh | Stars: Philippe Petit, Jean François Heckel, Jean-Louis Blondeau, Annie Allix
Votes: 58,685 | Gross: $2.96M
14. Queen of the Desert (2015)
PG-13 | 128 min | Adventure, Biography, Drama
A chronicle of Gertrude Bell's life, a traveler, writer, archaeologist, explorer, cartographer, and political attaché for the British Empire at the dawn of the twentieth century.
Director: Werner Herzog | Stars: Nicole Kidman, James Franco, Robert Pattinson, Damian Lewis
Votes: 12,584
15. Radioactive (2019)
PG-13 | 109 min | Biography, Drama, Romance
The incredible true story of Marie Sklodowska-Curie and her Nobel Prize-winning work that changed the world.
Director: Marjane Satrapi | Stars: Rosamund Pike, Yvette Feuer, Mirjam Novak, Ralph Berkin
Votes: 21,742
16. Julia (2022–2023)
TV-MA | 45 min | Biography, Drama
Inspired by Julia Child's extraordinary life and her show The French Chef, which essentially invented food television.
Stars: Sarah Lancashire, David Hyde Pierce, Bebe Neuwirth, Fran Kranz
Votes: 13,143
17. Nomad: In the Footsteps of Bruce Chatwin (2019)
Not Rated | 85 min | Documentary, Biography
A journey where the viewer can see Werner Herzog's creative and personal vision which was shared with iconic travel writer Bruce Chatwin, the prolific author of 'In Patagonia' and a champion of the nomadic life.
Director: Werner Herzog | Stars: Werner Herzog, Bruce Chatwin, Karin Eberhard, Nicholas Shakespeare
Votes: 1,296
18. Respect (2021)
PG-13 | 145 min | Biography, Drama, Music
Following the rise of Aretha Franklin's career from a child singing in her father's church's choir to her international superstardom, RESPECT is the remarkable true story of the music icon's journey to find her voice.
Director: Liesl Tommy | Stars: Jennifer Hudson, Forest Whitaker, Marlon Wayans, Tituss Burgess
Votes: 17,848
19. The Theory of Everything (2014)
PG-13 | 123 min | Biography, Drama, Romance
Stephen Hawking gets unprecedented success in the field of physics despite being diagnosed with motor neuron disease at the age of 21. He defeats awful odds as his first wife Jane aids him loyally.
Director: James Marsh | Stars: Eddie Redmayne, Felicity Jones, Tom Prior, Sophie Perry
Votes: 482,261 | Gross: $35.89M
20. Fire of Love (2022)
PG | 98 min | Documentary, Biography
Intrepid scientists and lovers Katia and Maurice Krafft died in a volcanic explosion doing the very thing that brought them together: unraveling the mysteries of volcanoes by capturing the most explosive imagery ever recorded.
Director: Sara Dosa | Stars: Katia Krafft, Maurice Krafft, Miranda July, Alka Balbir
Votes: 14,438
21. Vigée Le Brun: The Queens Painter (2015 TV Movie)
94 min | Documentary, Drama, History
A renowned painter and a free-thinker, Elisabeth Louise Vigée Le Brun is still considered ahead of her time. Follow the artist's adventures over the course of her nearly 90-year life in this captivating docudrama.
Director: Arnaud Xainte | Stars: Stéphane Ronchewski, Xavier Salmon, Katharine Baetjer, Joseph Baillio
Votes: 67
22. Twenty Feet from Stardom (2013)
PG-13 | 91 min | Documentary, Biography, History
Backup singers live in a world that lies just beyond the spotlight. Their voices bring harmony to the biggest bands in popular music, but we've had no idea who these singers are or what lives they lead, until now.
Director: Morgan Neville | Stars: Darlene Love, Merry Clayton, Lisa Fischer, Judith Hill
Votes: 13,956 | Gross: $4.95M
23. Rolling Thunder Revue (2019)
TV-MA | 142 min | Documentary, Biography, History
In an alchemic mix of fact and fantasy, Martin Scorsese looks back at Bob Dylan's 1975 Rolling Thunder Revue tour and a country ripe for reinvention.
Director: Martin Scorsese | Stars: Bob Dylan, Allen Ginsberg, Patti Smith, Martin von Haselberg
Votes: 7,712
24. I'm Not There (2007)
R | 135 min | Biography, Drama, Music
Ruminations on the life of Bob Dylan, where six characters embody a different aspect of the musician's life and work.
Director: Todd Haynes | Stars: Christian Bale, Cate Blanchett, Heath Ledger, Ben Whishaw
Votes: 61,195 | Gross: $4.02M
25. RBG (2018)
PG | 98 min | Documentary, Biography
The exceptional life and career of U.S. Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, who has developed a breathtaking legal legacy while becoming an unexpected pop culture icon.
Directors: Julie Cohen, Betsy West | Stars: Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Ann Kittner, Harryette Helsel, Nina Totenberg
Votes: 15,067 | Gross: $14.02M
26. Jane (II) (2017)
PG | 90 min | Documentary, Biography
The life and work of the renowned primatology scientist, Jane Goodall, especially on her research about chimpanzees.
Director: Brett Morgen | Stars: Jane Goodall, Hugo Van Lawick, Hugo Eric Louis van Lawick
Votes: 5,667 | Gross: $1.72M
27. Gorillas in the Mist (1988)
PG-13 | 129 min | Biography, Drama
The story of Dian Fossey, a scientist who came to Africa to study the vanishing mountain gorillas, and later fought to protect them.
Director: Michael Apted | Stars: Sigourney Weaver, Bryan Brown, Julie Harris, John Omirah Miluwi
Votes: 29,201 | Gross: $24.72M
28. Finding Vivian Maier (2013)
Not Rated | 83 min | Documentary, Biography, Mystery
A documentary on the late Vivian Maier, a nanny whose previously unknown cache of 100,000 photographs earned her a posthumous reputation as one of the most accomplished street photographers.
Directors: John Maloof, Charlie Siskel | Stars: Vivian Maier, John Maloof, Daniel Arnaud, Simon Amédé
Votes: 15,087 | Gross: $1.51M
29. Wild Nights with Emily (2018)
PG-13 | 84 min | Comedy, History
Dramatization of the little known side of the writer Emily Dickinson's life, in particular, her relationship with another woman.
Director: Madeleine Olnek | Stars: Molly Shannon, Susan Ziegler, Amy Seimetz, Brett Gelman
Votes: 1,436 | Gross: $0.52M
30. The Swimmers (2022)
PG-13 | 134 min | Biography, Drama, Sport
From war-torn Syria to the 2016 Rio Olympics, two young sisters embark on a harrowing journey as refugees, putting both their hearts and champion swimming skills to heroic use.
Director: Sally El Hosaini | Stars: Matthias Schweighöfer, Ali Suliman, James Krishna Floyd, Alfredo Tavares
Votes: 36,135
31. How Sweet the Sound (2009 TV Movie)
Not Rated | 84 min | Documentary
The Bio of Joan Baez, her life, her Country Music.
Directors: Mary Wharton, Joe Berlinger | Stars: Joan Baez, David Crosby, Bob Dylan, Gabriel Harris
Votes: 39
32. The Glorias (2020)
R | 147 min | Biography, Drama, History
The story of feminist icon Gloria Steinem's itinerant childhood and its influence on her life as a writer, activist and organizer for women's rights worldwide.
Director: Julie Taymor | Stars: Julianne Moore, Alicia Vikander, Janelle Monáe, Ryan Kiera Armstrong
Votes: 3,790
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