Ken Burns

Ken Burns, July 29, 1953 - Ken Burns was born in Brooklyn, New York on July 29, 1953 to Robert, a cultural anthropologist and Lyla Burns, a biotechnician. When Burns was still a baby, his parents moved to St, Veran, France, then to Newark, Delaware and then finally settling in Ann Arbor, Michigan. Burns was a voracious reader, who prefered history to fiction as a child. His mother died when he was eleven, instilling in him a deep and abiding sadness, but also a drive to prove himself and his worth. Burns attended the alternative campus of Hampshire College in Amherst Massachusetts, graduating with a degree in film making. After graduating from college, Burns began Florentine Films with a few of his friends, and began creating his first documentary, entitled "The Brooklyn Bridge." This film won an Academy Award in 1982. His most famous work is his "Civil War" series, which has won many various awards. Burns was the first film maker to be inducted into the Society of American Historians, an unprecedented honor.