Douglas Brinkley

Acting

Douglas Brinkley

Born 1960-12-14 · Atlanta, Georgia, USA

Douglas Brinkley (born December 14, 1960) is an American author, Katherine Tsanoff Brown Chair in Humanities, and professor of history at Rice University. Brinkley is a history commentator for CNN, Presidential Historian for the New York Historical Society, and a contributing editor to the magazine Vanity Fair. He is a public spokesperson on conservation issues. He joined the faculty of Rice University as a professor of history in 2007. Brinkley joined the board of directors for the National Archives Foundation in 2023.

Acting credits

Rather poster
3.2

For decades, Dan Rather delivered the news with authenticity, integrity and courage. RATHER chronicles his rise to prominence, sudden and dramatic public downfall, and redemption and re-emergence as a voice of reason to a new generation.

Rather

2023

Disney Celebrates America: The Pursuit of Happiness poster
4.0

A coast-to-coast event exploring Disney Parks and attractions as a portal through which America's greatest stories, triumphs and traditions are celebrated.

Disney Celebrates America: The Pursuit of Happiness

2026

Public Trust poster
10.0

There are 640 million acres of public land in the United States. But there are powerful forces, both in government and in corporate America, eager to plunder this bounty. David Garrett Byars’s eye-opening documentary travels to Alaska, into the red rock canyons of southern Utah, and to Minnesota’s Boundary Waters, and exposes a land war going on under our very noses.

Public Trust

2020

Buy the Ticket, Take the Ride poster
7.2

A personal, intimate look at journalist Hunter S. Thompson with a special emphasis on his Hollywood relationships. It captures the legacy and "gonzo" spirit of one of this century's most notorious figures - a man whose life and work regularly intersected with some of the biggest names in the world of film, politics, journalism and sports.

Buy the Ticket, Take the Ride

2006

Fandango at the Wall poster
NR

Follow New York City maestro Arturo O’Farrill, Afro Latin Jazz Orchestra founder, to Veracruz, Mexico where he meets up with the masters of a 300-year-old folk music tradition called son jarocho and then joins them for a historical music festival called “Fandango Fronterizo” that takes place simultaneously on both sides of the United States-Mexico border transforming the wall from an object that divides to one that unites.

Fandango at the Wall

2020

Bayou Maharajah: The Tragic Genius of James Booker poster
7.1

Bayou Maharajah explores the life and music of New Orleans piano legend James Booker, the man Dr. John described as "the best black, gay, one-eyed junkie piano genius New Orleans has ever produced." A brilliant pianist, his eccentricities and showmanship belied a life of struggle, prejudice, and isolation. Illustrated with never-before-seen concert footage, rare personal photos and exclusive interviews, the film paints a portrait of this overlooked genius.

Bayou Maharajah: The Tragic Genius of James Booker

2013

Race poster
6.8

Can one recent local election in Louisiana tell us anything about the state of race relations in twenty-first century America? RACE is a story of high ground and low roads in post-Katrina New Orleans politics.

Race

2010

Soul of a People: Writing America's Story poster
NR

In the grip of the Great Depression, unemployed men and women joined an unlikely WPA program to document America in guidebooks and interviews. With the Federal Writers' Project, the government pitted young, untested talents against the problems of everyday Americans. From that experience, some of America's great writers found their own voices, and discovered the Soul of a People. — Spark Media

Soul of a People: Writing America's Story

2009

The Obama Years: The Power of Words poster
10.0

Barack Obama launched into our national consciousness at the 2004 Democratic National Convention and ever since, he's delivered messages of patriotism, unity, and hope through the power of words. But of all the speeches he's given, six in particular may define his legacy as, in historian Doris Kearns Goodwin's words, "one of the best writers and orators in the presidency." Interviews with eminent historians and key figures in his writing process give rare insights into these iconic speeches, as well as the Obama presidency and the man himself.

The Obama Years: The Power of Words

2017

Henry Ford poster
8.4

HENRY FORD paints a fascinating portrait of a farm boy who rose from obscurity to become the most influential American innovator of the 20th century.

Henry Ford

2013

Reagan: From Movie Star to President poster
NR

Drawing from the recent book, Reagan: The Life by best-selling biographer H.W. Brands, this Ronald Reagan biography dives deep into the pivotal events that shaped his life. Dramatic recreations reveal the untold, behind-the-scenes moments that shaped the trajectory of his career. Interviews and rare archival material illustrate his life through the Great Depression, WWII, Hollywood’s Golden Age, The Cold War, an assassination attempt (not unlike Bill O’Reilly’s book and recent Nat Geo movie, Killing Reagan), and public and personal heartache.

Reagan: From Movie Star to President

2016

Going Upriver: The Long War of John Kerry poster
7.3

A documentary on Senator John Kerry's Navy tour of duty in Vietnam, his contributions to the peace movement that followed, and the ultimate shape of his future political career.

Going Upriver: The Long War of John Kerry

2004

No artwork available
NR

Stewart Lee Udall was the most prominent and effective Secretary of the Interior in American history. Stewart Udall: The Politics of Beauty is a feature documentary that examines the trajectory of Udall’s life from his childhood through his Mormon mission, his World War II service, his student years at the University of Arizona, his time in Congress, and then, most significantly, his years as Secretary of the Interior and beyond.

Stewart Udall: The Politics of Beauty

2022

Theodore Roosevelt a Cowboys Ride to the White House poster
NR

No synopsis available yet.

Theodore Roosevelt a Cowboys Ride to the White House

2010

Behind the camera