Woody Guthrie

Acting

Woody Guthrie

Born — Died

1912-07-14 — 1967-10-03

Place of birth

Okemah, Oklahoma, USA

Known for

Acting

Credits

14 titles

Woodrow Wilson Guthrie (July 14, 1912 – October 3, 1967) was an American singer-songwriter and composer who was one of the most significant figures in American folk music. His work focused on themes of American socialism and anti-fascism. He inspired several generations both politically and musically with songs such as "This Land Is Your Land". Guthrie wrote hundreds of country, folk, and children's songs, along with ballads and improvised works. Dust Bowl Ballads, Guthrie's album of songs about the Dust Bowl period, was included on Mojo magazine's list of 100 Records That Changed The World, and many of his recorded songs are archived in the Library of Congress. Songwriters who have acknowl…

Known for

All You Need Is Love: The Story of Popular Music poster
6.5

A 17-part television documentary series on the history of modern pop music covering some of the many different genres that have fallen under the label of "popular music" between the mid-19th century and 1976, including folk, ragtime, Tin Pan Alley, vaudeville and music hall, musical theatre, country, swing, jazz, blues, R&B, rock 'n' roll and others.

All You Need Is Love: The Story of Popular Music

1977

Brother, Can You Spare a Dime? poster
6.3

Period music, film clips and newsreel footage combined into a visual exploration of the American entertainment industry during the Great Depression.

Brother, Can You Spare a Dime?

1975

Woody Guthrie: Ain't Got No Home poster
NR

Every American who has listened to the radio knows Guthrie's "This Land Is Your Land." The music of the folk singer/songwriter has been recorded by everyone from the Mormon Tabernacle Choir to U2. Originally blowing out of the Dust Bowl in Depression-era America, he blended vernacular, rural music and populism to give voice to millions of downtrodden citizens. Guthrie's music was politically leftist, uniquely patriotic and always inspirational.

Woody Guthrie: Ain't Got No Home

2006

No Direction Home: Bob Dylan poster
7.8

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.

No Direction Home: Bob Dylan

2005

No artwork available
6.5

The Fight for Life was documentary filmmaker Pare Lorentz' first "dramatic" film, utilizing the talents of several top New York stage actors. A tribute to the Chicago Maternity Center and its efforts to provide the best possible care for destitute mothers, the film is based on the book of the same name by Paul de Kruif. Myron McCormick plays the largest role as a dedicated intern, while others in the cast include such theatrical heavywrights as Will Geer, Dudley Digges and Dorothy Adams. The film's many vignettes range from the tragic (a mother dying in childbirth in the opening scene) to the exultant (another mother rescued from the brink of death in a disease-ridden tenement). Filmed in Chicago, Detroit and Cleveland, Fight for Life is a worthwhile effort, though Lorentz seems more comfortable with the "actuality" scenes than with the dramatized passages.

The Fight for Life

1940

Woody Guthrie: Hard Travelin' poster
6.5

A warmhearted memorial to the folk singer whose songs galvanized organizers and guitar-pickers across the United States. Part biography, part travelogue and part hootenanny, it follows the singer's son, Arlo Guthrie, as he retraces his father's steps and collects reminiscences from his father's family, friends and musical partners.

Woody Guthrie: Hard Travelin'

1984

Film credits

2000s · 5 titles

Woody Guthrie: Ain't Got No Home poster
NR

Every American who has listened to the radio knows Guthrie's "This Land Is Your Land." The music of the folk singer/songwriter has been recorded by everyone from the Mormon Tabernacle Choir to U2. Originally blowing out of the Dust Bowl in Depression-era America, he blended vernacular, rural music and populism to give voice to millions of downtrodden citizens. Guthrie's music was politically leftist, uniquely patriotic and always inspirational.

Woody Guthrie: Ain't Got No Home

2006

No Direction Home: Bob Dylan poster
7.8

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.

No Direction Home: Bob Dylan

2005

Billy Bragg & Wilco: Man in the Sand poster
8.0

"Man in the Sand" is a 1999 music documentary that chronicles the collaboration between Billy Bragg and Wilco, which involved the musicians creating new music to accompany lyrics that were written decades earlier by folk singer Woody Guthrie. The project, which was organized by Woody's daughter Nora, spawned two albums: "Mermaid Avenue," released in 1998, and "Mermaid Avenue Vol. II," released in 2000.

Billy Bragg & Wilco: Man in the Sand

2005

Down the Tracks: The Music That Influenced Bob Dylan poster
8.5

This fascinating program tells the story of the music and artists that have influenced Bob Dylan throughout his career. Although his reputation as a songwriter stands supreme, Dylan has often covered tracks from vintage blues, folk and country performers or incorporated elements from them into his own material. "Down The Tracks" explores the lives and work of many of these artists and how Dylan interacted with them through archive performance and interview footage alongside new interviews and documentary material.

Down the Tracks: The Music That Influenced Bob Dylan

2008

Brownie McGhee & Sonny Terry: Red River Blues 1948-1974 poster
3.8

For some 30 years, they embodied "country blues" for folk music audiences around the globe. Sonny Terry and Brownie McGhee were once ubiquitous, and as such tended to be taken for granted in the halcyon days of the 1960s blues rediscoveries. But nearly two decades have passed since the perennial team parted, and the 16 performances here remind us of this superb duo's complementary strengths.

Brownie McGhee & Sonny Terry: Red River Blues 1948-1974

2003

1940s · 2 titles

Series credits