Benjamin Franklin (miniseries)

1974 American TV series or program

Benjamin Franklin

Also known as| The Lives of Benjamin Franklin
Genre| Biography
Drama
History
Written by| Loring Mandel
Howard Fast
Loring Mandel
Directed by| Glenn Jordan
Starring| Willie Aames
Eddie Albert
Beau Bridges>br>Lloyd Bridges
Melvyn Douglas
Richard Widmark
Theme music composer| Billy Goldenberg
Country of origin| United States
Original language| English
No. of episodes| 4
Production
Executive producer| Lewis Freedman
Producers| Glenn Jordan
George Lefferts
Running time| 360 minutes
Original release
Network| CBS
Release| November 21, 1974 (1974-11-21) –
January 28, 1975 (1975-01-28)

The Lives of Benjamin Franklin is a 1974 American television miniseries that chronicles the life of Benjamin Franklin.

The series was broadcast by CBS and won five Emmy Awards, including the award for Outstanding Limited Series.[1] Howard Fast won the Emmy for Outstanding Writing for a Drama Series for the first installment (The Ambassador). Glenn Jordan was also nominated for Outstanding Directing for a Drama Series for The Ambassador episode, and Loring Mandel was nominated for Outstanding Writing for a Drama Series for the episode "The Whirlwind".[2]

The four 90-minute episodes[3] debuted on November 21 and December 17, 1974, and January 9 and 28, 1975.[4][5][6][7][8]

## Cast

[edit]

* Willie Aames as Franklin at age 12
* Beau Bridges as Franklin the young man
* Richard Widmark as Franklin the rebel
* Eddie Albert  as Franklin at age 72
* Lloyd Bridges as Franklin the diplomat
* Melvyn Douglas as Franklin the elder statesman
* Susan Sarandon as younger Deborah Franklin
* Sheree North as older Deborah Franklin

## See also

[edit]

* List of films about the American Revolution
* List of television series and miniseries about the American Revolution
* Benjamin Franklin, 2002 TV series
* Benjamin Franklin, 2022 documentary film
* Franklin, 2024 miniseries

## References

[edit]

1. ^ Scott, Vernon (20 May 1975). Mary's show most popular, Desert Sun, p. A-2 (UPI content)
2. ^ Emmys.com listings, emmys.com, Retrieved 14 September 2020
3. ^ (1 September 1974). Specials for the season, San Bernardino Sun
4. ^ O'Connor, John J. (21 November 1974). TV: Sly, Amusing Benjamin Franklin, The New York Times, p. 95.
5. ^ O'Connor, John J. (17 December 1974). TV: CBS Dramas on Ben Franklin Going Smoothly, The New York Times, p, 75.
6. ^ O'Connor, John J. (28 January 1975). TV: Enlightening Study of Franklin Ends Tonight, The New York Times, p. 67.
7. ^ Gardella, Kay (21 November 1974). Ben Franklin Star of Bicentennial Series, New York Daily News, p. 59.
8. ^ *31 July 1974). Get a Line on the Real Ben, Indianapolis News (details of upcoming series; incorrectly reports that Franklin had 13 illegitimate children, a common false tale)

## External links

[edit]

* The Lives of Benjamin Franklin at IMDb
* Charles Lisanby on designing the sets for the miniseries Benjamin Franklin (video), televisionacademy.com

* v
* t
* e

Benjamin Franklin

* President of Pennsylvania (1785–1788)
* Ambassador to France (1779–1785)
* Second Continental Congress (1775–1776)

Founding of the
United States|

* Join, or Die. (1754 political cartoon)
* Albany Plan of Union
* Albany Congress
* Hutchinson letters affair
* Committee of Secret Correspondence
* Committee of Five
* "...to be self-evident"
* Declaration of Independence
* Model Treaty
* Franco-American alliance
* Treaty of Amity and Commerce
* Treaty of Alliance
* Staten Island Peace Conference
* 1776 Pennsylvania Constitution
* Libertas Americana
* Treaty of Paris, 1783
* Delegate, 1787 Constitutional Convention
* Pennsylvania Provincial Assembly
* Postmaster General
* Founding Fathers

Inventions,
other events|

* Franklin's electrostatic machine
* Bifocals
* Franklin stove
* Glass armonica
* Flexible urninary catheter
* Gulf Stream exploration, naming, and chart
* Lightning rod
* Kite experiment
* Pay it forward
* Associators
* 111th Infantry Regiment
* Junto club
* American Philosophical Society
* Library Company of Philadelphia
* Pennsylvania Hospital
* Academy and College of Philadelphia
* University of Pennsylvania
* Philadelphia Contributionship
* Union Fire Company
* Early American currency
* Continental Currency dollar coin
* Fugio cent
* United States Postal Service
* Street lighting
* President, Pennsylvania Abolition Society
* Master, Les Neuf Sœurs
* Gravesite

Writings|

* The Papers of Benjamin Franklin
* Founders Online
* Silence Dogood letters (1722)
* A Dissertation on Liberty and Necessity, Pleasure and Pain (1725)
* The Busy-Body columns (1729)
* The Pennsylvania Gazette (1729–1790)
* Early American publishers and printers
* Poor Richard's Almanack (1732–1758)
* The Drinker's Dictionary (1737)
* "Advice to a Friend on Choosing a Mistress" (1745)
* "The Speech of Polly Baker" (1747)
* Observations Concerning the Increase of Mankind, Peopling of Countries, etc. (1751)
* Experiments and Observations on Electricity (1751)
* Birch letters (1755)
* The Way to Wealth (1758)
* Pennsylvania Chronicle (1767)
* Rules by Which a Great Empire May Be Reduced to a Small One (1773)
* Proposed alliance with the Iroquois (1775)
* A Letter to a Royal Academy (1781)
* Remarks Concerning the Savages of North America (1784)
* "The Morals of Chess" (1786)
* An Address to the Public (1789)
* A Plan for Improving the Condition of the Free Blacks (1789)
* The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin (1771–1790, pub. 1791)
* Bagatelles and Satires (pub. 1845)
* Franklin as a journalist
* Franklin's phonetic alphabet

Legacy|

* Bibliography
* Franklin Court
* Benjamin Franklin House
* Benjamin Franklin Institute of Technology
* Benjamin Franklin Parkway
* Benjamin Franklin National Memorial
* Franklin Institute
* awards
* medal
* Benjamin Franklin Medal
* Royal Society of Arts medal
* Depicted in The Apotheosis of Washington
* Memorial to the 56 Signers of the Declaration of Independence
* Treaty of Paris (1783 painting)
* Benjamin Franklin Drawing Electricity from the Sky (1816 painting)
* Revolutionary War Door
* Boston statue
* Chicago statue
* Columbus, Ohio, statue
* University of Pennsylvania statue
* Portland, Oregon, statue
* San Francisco statue
* Stanford University statue
* Washington D.C. statue
* Jefferson Memorial pediment
* Refunding Certificate
* Franklin half dollar
* One-hundred-dollar bill
* Franklin silver dollar
* Washington–Franklin stamps
* other stamps
* Cities, counties, schools named for Franklin
* Benjamin Franklin College
* Franklin Field
* Franklin Tree
* Mount Franklin
* State of Franklin
* Sons of Ben (Philadelphia Union)
* Ships named USS Franklin
* Ben Franklin effect

In popular culture|

* Declaration of Independence (1938 film)
* Ben and Me (1953 short)
* Ben Franklin in Paris (1964 musical play)
* 1776 (1969 musical
* 1972 film)
* Benjamin Franklin (miniseries) (1972)
* A More Perfect Union (1989 film)
* Liberty! (1997 documentary series)
* Liberty's Kids (2002 animated series)
* Benjamin Franklin (2002 documentary series)
* John Adams (2008 miniseries)
* Sons of Liberty (2015 miniseries)
* Benjamin Franklin (2022 documentary)
* Franklin (2024 miniseries)

Related|

* Age of Enlightenment
* American Enlightenment
* The New-England Courant
* The American Museum magazine
* American Revolution
* patriots
* Syng inkstand

Family|

* Deborah Read (wife)
* William Franklin (son)
* Francis Franklin (son)
* Sarah Franklin Bache (daughter)
* William Franklin (grandson)
* Benjamin F. Bache (grandson)
* Louis F. Bache (grandson)
* Richard Bache Jr. (grandson)
* Andrew Harwood (great-grandson)
* Alexander Bache (great-grandson)
* Josiah Franklin (father)
* James Franklin (brother)
* Jane Mecom (sister)
* Mary Morrell Folger (grandmother)
* Peter Folger (grandfather)
* Richard Bache (son-in-law)
* Ann Smith Franklin (sister-in-law)

* Category

* v
* t
* e

Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Limited or Anthology Series

1970s|

* Tom Brown's Schooldays (1973)
* Columbo (season 3) (1974)
* Benjamin Franklin (1975)
* Upstairs, Downstairs (season 4) (1976)
* Roots (1977)
* Holocaust (1978)
* Roots: The Next Generations (1979)

1980s|

* Edward & Mrs. Simpson (1980)
* Shōgun (1981)
* Marco Polo (1982)
* The Life and Adventures of Nicholas Nickleby (1983)
* Concealed Enemies (1984)
* The Jewel in the Crown (1985)
* Peter the Great (1986)
* A Year in the Life (1987)
* The Murder of Mary Phagan (1988)
* War and Remembrance (1989)

1990s|

* Drug Wars: The Camarena Story (1990)
* Separate but Equal (1991)
* A Woman Named Jackie (1992)
* Prime Suspect II (1993)
* Prime Suspect III (1994)
* Joseph (1995)
* Gulliver's Travels (1996)
* Prime Suspect: Errors of Judgement (1997)
* From the Earth to the Moon (1998)
* Hornblower ("The Even Chance" / "The Examination for Lieutenant" / "The Duchess and the Devil" / "The Frogs and the Lobsters") (1999)

2000s|

* The Corner (2000)
* Anne Frank: The Whole Story (2001)
* Band of Brothers (2002)
* Taken (2003)
* Angels in America (2004)
* The Lost Prince (2005)
* Elizabeth I (2006)
* Broken Trail (2007)
* John Adams (2008)
* Little Dorrit (2009)

2010s|

* The Pacific (2010)
* Downton Abbey (season 1) (2011)
* Game Change (TV Movie) (2012)
* Behind the Candelabra (TV Movie) (2013)
* Fargo (season 1) (2014)
* Olive Kitteridge (2015)
* The People v. O. J. Simpson: American Crime Story (2016)
* Big Little Lies (season 1) (2017)
* The Assassination of Gianni Versace: American Crime Story (2018)
* Chernobyl (2019)

2020s|

* Watchmen (2020)
* The Queen's Gambit (2021)
* The White Lotus (season 1) (2022)
* Beef (2023)
* Baby Reindeer (2024)

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