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{{Short description|American documentarian and filmmaker (born 1953)}}
{{for-multi|the English football referee|Ken Burns (referee)|other people named Kenneth Burns|Kenneth Burns (disambiguation)}}
{{Use American English|date=November 2025}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=December 2017}}
{{Infobox person
| name               = Ken Burns
| image              = 2018KenBurns.jpg
| caption            = Burns in 2018
| birth_name         = Kenneth Lauren Burns
| birth_date         = {{Birth date and age|1953|07|29|mf=y}}
| birth_place        = [[Brooklyn]], New York, U.S.
| alma_mater         = [[Hampshire College]] ([[Bachelor of Arts|BA]])
| occupation         = Filmmaker
| years_active       = 1970–present
| notable_works      = {{ubl | ''[[The Civil War (miniseries)|The Civil War]]'' (1990) | ''[[Baseball (TV series)|Baseball]]'' (1994) | ''[[Jazz (miniseries)|Jazz]]'' (2001) | ''[[The National Parks: America's Best Idea|The National Parks]]'' (2009) | ''[[The Roosevelts (miniseries)|The Roosevelts]]'' (2014) | ''[[The Vietnam War (TV series)|The Vietnam War]]'' (2017) | ''[[Country Music (miniseries)|Country Music]]'' (2019)}}
| spouse             = {{ubl | {{marriage|[[Amy Stechler Burns]]|1982|1993|end=div}} | {{marriage|Julie Deborah Brown|2003}}}}
| children           = 4, including [[Sarah Burns (writer filmmaker)|Sarah]] and [[Lilly Burns]]
| relatives          = [[Ric Burns]] (brother)
| website            = {{URL|kenburns.com}}
}}

'''Kenneth Lauren Burns''' (born July 29, 1953) is an American filmmaker known for his documentary films and television series, many of which chronicle United States [[History of the United States|history]] and [[Culture of the United States|culture]]. His work is often produced in association with [[WETA-TV]] or the [[National Endowment for the Humanities]] and distributed by [[PBS]]. Burns lives in the small town of [[Walpole, New Hampshire]].

Burns's widely known documentary series include ''[[The Civil War (miniseries)|The Civil War]]'' (1990), ''[[Baseball (TV series)|Baseball]]'' (1994), ''[[Jazz (TV series)|Jazz]]'' (2001), ''[[The War (miniseries)|The War]]'' (2007), ''[[The National Parks: America's Best Idea]]'' (2009), ''[[Prohibition (miniseries)|Prohibition]]'' (2011), ''[[The Roosevelts (miniseries)|The Roosevelts]]'' (2014), ''[[The Vietnam War (TV series)|The Vietnam War]]'' (2017), and ''[[Country Music (miniseries)|Country Music]]'' (2019). He was also executive producer of both ''[[The West (miniseries)|The West]]'' (1996), and ''[[Cancer (film)|Cancer: The Emperor of All Maladies]]'' (2015).<ref name="NYT-20150327">{{cite news|last=Genzlinger|first=Neil|title=Review: In 'Cancer: The Emperor of All Maladies,' Battling an Opportunistic Killer|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2015/03/28/arts/television/review-in-cancer-the-emperor-of-all-maladies-battling-an-opportunistic-killer.html|date=March 27, 2015|work=[[The New York Times]]|access-date=March 31, 2015}}</ref> Burns's documentaries have earned two [[Academy Awards|Academy Award]] nominations (for 1981's ''[[Brooklyn Bridge (film)|Brooklyn Bridge]]'' and 1985's ''[[The Statue of Liberty (film)|The Statue of Liberty]]'') and have won several [[Emmy Award]]s, among other honors.

==Early life and education==
Kenneth Lauren Burns was born on July 29, 1953, in [[Brooklyn]], New York.<ref>{{cite web|url = https://www.neh.gov/about/awards/jefferson-lecture/ken-burns-biography|title = Ken Burns|website = [[National Endowment for the Humanities]]|accessdate = September 16, 2025}}</ref> His parents were Lyla Smith (née Tupper) Burns,<ref name=worldencyc>{{cite book|url=http://www.bookrags.com/biography/ken-burns/|title=Ken Burns|publisher=Encyclopedia of World Biography via BookRags.com|date=n.d.}}</ref> a biotechnician,<ref name=kqed>{{cite web|url=http://www.online-communicator.com/kenburns.html|title=Good Eye. The Interview With Ken Burns: The renowned filmmaker of 'The Civil War' turns his eye from the nation's past to our national pastime |first=Joan|last=Walsh|work=San Francisco Focus|publisher=[[KQED (TV)|KQED]] via Online-Communicator.com|date=1994 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120327000654/http://www.online-communicator.com/kenburns.html|archive-date=March 27, 2012|url-status=live}}</ref> and Robert Kyle Burns Jr., who at the time of Ken's birth was a graduate student in cultural anthropology at [[Columbia University]].<ref name=worldencyc /> The documentary filmmaker [[Ric Burns]] is his younger brother.<ref name=official>{{cite web|url=http://www.florentinefilms.com/ffpages/KB-frameset.html|archive-url=http://arquivo.pt/wayback/20160517082302/http://www.florentinefilms.com/ffpages/KB-frameset.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=May 17, 2016|title=Ken Burns|publisher=biography at FlorentineFilms.com|date=n.d.}}</ref><ref name=NYT-brothers>{{cite news|last=Wadler|first=Joyce|date=November 17, 1999|title=PUBLIC LIVES; No Civil War, but a Brotherly Indifference|newspaper=[[The New York Times]]|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1999/11/17/nyregion/public-lives-no-civil-war-but-a-brotherly-indifference.html|access-date=November 4, 2016}}</ref>

Burns' academic family moved frequently, including to [[Saint-Véran]], France; [[Newark, Delaware|Newark]], Delaware; and [[Ann Arbor, Michigan|Ann Arbor]], Michigan; where his father taught at the [[University of Michigan]].<ref name="kqed" /> Burns describes growing up as "hippies" in Ann Arbor.<ref name=":2">{{Cite web |title=Interview with Ken Burns |url=https://www.maxraskin.com/interviews/ken-burns |access-date=2024-10-20 |website=Interviews with Max Raskin |language=en-US}}</ref>

[[File:Ken-burns-by-bill-cramer.jpg|thumb|261px|Ken Burns in 2010]]

Burns' mother was diagnosed with breast cancer when he was three, and she died when he was 11,<ref name="kqed" /> a circumstance that he said helped shape his career; he credited his psychologist father-in-law, Gerald Stechler,<ref>{{cite web |title=GERALD STECHLER OBITUARY |url=https://www.legacy.com/us/obituaries/nytimes/name/gerald-stechler-obituary?id=23733039 |work=[[The New York Times]] |access-date=29 August 2022 |date=19 December 2013}}</ref> with a significant insight: "He told me that my whole work was an attempt to make people long gone come back alive."<ref name="kqed" /> He recalls: <blockquote> a searing memory of the summer of 1962, when I was almost 9, joining our family dinner on a hot, sweltering day in a tract house in a development in Newark, Delaware, and seeing my mother crying. She had just learned, and my brother and I had just been told, that she would be dead of cancer within six months. But that’s not what was causing her tears. Our inadequate health insurance had practically bankrupted us, and our neighbors – equally struggling working people – had taken up a collection and presented my parents with six crisp $20 bills – $120 in total – enough to keep us solvent for more than a month. In that moment, I understood something about community and courage, about constant struggle and little victories. That hot June evening was a victory. And I have spent my entire professional life trying to resurrect small moments within the larger sweep of American history, trying to find our better angels in the most difficult of circumstances, trying to wake the dead, to hear ''their'' stories.<ref name=Stanford/></blockquote> Well-read as a child, he engrossed himself in the family encyclopedia, preferring history to fiction.

Upon receiving an [[8 mm film]] movie camera for his 17th birthday, he shot a documentary about an Ann Arbor factory. He graduated from [[Pioneer High School (Ann Arbor, Michigan)|Pioneer High School]] in Ann Arbor in 1971.<ref>Ann Arbor Public Schools Educational Foundation, [https://web.archive.org/web/20161013073950/http://annarboralumni.org/?sitePage=custom&pageURL=school_files%2Fannarboralumni%2Fpages%2Fnotable_alumni.html] (accessed October 29, 2013, recovered from Internet Archive).</ref> Declining reduced tuition to attend the University of Michigan, he instead attended [[Hampshire College]] in Amherst,  Massachusetts, where students are graded through narrative evaluations rather than letter grades, and where students create self-directed academic concentrations instead of choosing a traditional major.<ref name=kqed />

Burns worked in a record store to help pay his tuition. He lived on as little as $2,500 in two years in [[Walpole, New Hampshire]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.online-communicator.com/kenburns.html|title=The Online Communicator: Ken Burns|website=Online-communicator.com|access-date=2019-05-06|archive-date=April 8, 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120408164010/http://www.online-communicator.com/kenburns.html|url-status=dead}}</ref> Burns studied under photographers [[Jerome Liebling]], [[Elaine Mayes]], and others. He describes Liebling as his "principal mentor."<ref name=":2" /> He earned his Bachelor of Arts degree in film studies and design<ref name="mobc">{{cite web|url=http://www.museum.tv/eotvsection.php?entrycode=burnsken|title=Burns, Ken: U.S. Documentary Film Maker|publisher=[[The Museum of Broadcast Communications]]|date=n.d.|first=Gary|last=Edgerton|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110629014442/http://www.museum.tv/eotvsection.php?entrycode=burnsken|archive-date=June 29, 2011|url-status=live}}</ref> in 1975.<ref name=kqed /><!--uncited claim: graduated from [[Ann Arbor Pioneer High School|Pioneer High School]] in [[Ann Arbor, Michigan]] in 1971.-->

{{Anchor|Florentine Films}}

==Florentine Films==
In 1976, Burns, Elaine Mayes, and college classmate [[Roger Sherman (filmmaker)|Roger Sherman]] founded a production company named Florentine Films in Walpole, New Hampshire. The company's name was borrowed from Mayes's hometown of [[Florence, Massachusetts|Florence]], Massachusetts. Another Hampshire College student, Buddy Squires, was invited to succeed Mayes as a founding member one year later.<ref name=":0">{{Cite news |url=http://www.documentary.org/magazine/florentine-four-ken-burns-and-partners-look-back-30-years-documentary-production |title=The Florentine Four: Ken Burns and Partners Look Back on 30 Years of Documentary Production |publisher=International Documentary Association |access-date=September 19, 2017 |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |url=http://www.documentary.org/magazine/outstanding-documentary-achievement-cinematography-award-visual-poet-buddy-squires|title=Outstanding Documentary Achievement in Cinematography Award: The Visual Poet: Buddy Squires |publisher=International Documentary Association |access-date=September 19, 2017 |language=en}}</ref> The trio were later joined by a fourth member, [[Lawrence Hott|Lawrence "Larry" Hott]]. Hott did not actually matriculate at Hampshire, but worked on films there. Hott had begun his career as an attorney, having attended nearby [[Western New England Law School]].<ref name=":0" />

Each member works independently, but releases content under the shared name of Florentine Films.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.florentinefilms.com/ |title=Florentine Films – Burns, Hott, Sherman & Squires |website=Florentinefilms.com|access-date=September 18, 2017}}</ref> As such, their individual "subsidiary" companies include ''Ken Burns Media'', ''Sherman Pictures'', and ''Hott Productions''. Burns's oldest child, [[Sarah Burns (writer filmmaker)|Sarah]], is also an employee of the company as of 2020.<ref>{{Cite news |url=http://kenburns.com/the-filmmakers/ |title=The Filmmakers – Ken Burns |publisher=kenburns.com |access-date=September 19, 2017 |language=en-US}}</ref>

==Career==
[[File:Ken Burns (48980694488) (cropped).jpg|thumb|upright|Burns speaks at the [[Library of Congress]] in 2019]]

Burns initially worked as a [[cinematographer]] for the [[BBC]], Italian television, and others. In 1977, having completed some documentary [[short films]], he began work on adapting [[David McCullough]]'s book ''The Great Bridge'', about the construction of the [[Brooklyn Bridge]].<ref name=mobc /> Developing a signature style of documentary filmmaking in which he "adopted the technique of cutting rapidly from one still picture to another in a fluid, linear fashion [and] then pepped up the visuals with 'first hand' narration gleaned from contemporary writings and recited by top stage and screen actors",<ref name=allmediaguide /> Burns made the feature documentary ''[[Brooklyn Bridge (film)|Brooklyn Bridge]]'' (1981),<ref name=":1">{{Cite press release |url=https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/academy-award-nominated-and-emmy-winner-ken-burns-joins-masterclass-to-teach-documentary-filmmaking-300694893.html |title=Academy Award Nominated and Emmy Winner Ken Burns Joins MasterClass to Teach Documentary Filmmaking |last=MasterClass |publisher=PR Newswire |language=en|access-date=2019-12-05}}</ref> which was narrated by David McCullough, earned an [[Academy Award]] nomination for Best Documentary and ran on [[PBS]] in the United States.

Following another documentary, ''[[The Shakers: Hands to Work, Hearts to God]]'' (1984), Burns was nominated again for an Oscar for ''[[The Statue of Liberty (film)|The Statue of Liberty]]'' (1985). Burns frequently collaborates with author and historian [[Geoffrey C. Ward]], notably on documentaries such as ''[[The Civil War (TV series)|The Civil War]]'', ''[[Jazz (TV series)|Jazz]]'', ''[[Baseball (TV series)|Baseball]]'', and the 10-part TV series ''[[The Vietnam War (film)|The Vietnam War]]'' (aired September 2017).

Burns has built a long, successful career producing and directing well-received television documentaries and documentary [[miniseries]], mostly on different aspects of United States history. His body of work covers diverse subjects, including art (''[[Thomas Hart Benton (painter)|Thomas Hart Benton]]'', 1988), mass media (''[[Empire of the Air: The Men Who Made Radio]]'', 1991), sports (''[[Baseball (TV series)|Baseball]]'', 1994, updated with ''[[Baseball (TV series)#The Tenth Inning|10th Inning]]'', 2010), political history (''[[Thomas Jefferson (documentary)|Thomas Jefferson]]'', 1997), music (''[[Jazz (TV series)|Jazz]]'', 2001; ''[[Country Music (miniseries)|Country Music]]'', 2019), literature (''[[Mark Twain (documentary)|Mark Twain]]'', 2001; ''[[Hemingway (film)|Hemingway]]'', 2021), environmentalism (''[[The National Parks: America's Best Idea|The National Parks]]'', 2009), and war (the 15-hour [[World War II]] documentary ''[[The War (documentary)|The War]]'', 2007; and the 11-hour ''[[The Civil War (TV series)|The Civil War]]'', 1990, which [[All Media Guide]] says "many consider his 'chef d'oeuvre{{'"}}).<ref name=allmediaguide>{{cite news|url=https://movies.nytimes.com/person/83608/Ken-Burns/biography |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071029155713/http://movies.nytimes.com/person/83608/Ken-Burns/biography |url-status=dead |archive-date=October 29, 2007 |title=Ken Burns biography |first=Hal |last=Erickson |department=Movies & TV Dept. |work=[[The New York Times]] |author-link=Hal Erickson (author)|date=2007|access-date=September 22, 2011}} This single source gives two birthplaces. Under the header list, it reads "Birthplace: Ann Arbor, Michigan, USA." In the prose biography, it reads "Brooklyn-born Ken Burns..."</ref> "It's the most important event in American history, [...] I think the Civil War is an unbelievable guide to who we are" he says in interviews.<ref name=":3" />

In 2007, Burns concluded an agreement with PBS to produce work for the network well into the next decade.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.britannica.com/biography/Ken-Burns |title=Ken Burns {{!}} Biography, Documentaries, & Facts |website=Encyclopedia Britannica|language=en|access-date=2019-08-08}}</ref> According to a 2017 piece in ''[[The New Yorker]]'', Burns and his company, Florentine Films, have selected topics for documentaries slated for release by 2030. These topics include [[country music]], the [[Mayo Clinic]], [[Muhammad Ali]], [[Ernest Hemingway]], the [[American Revolution]], [[Lyndon B. Johnson]], [[Barack Obama]], [[Winston Churchill]], the U.S. criminal justice system, and [[African-American history]] from the Civil War to the [[Great Migration (African American)|Great Migration]].<ref name="iparker">{{cite magazine |last1=Parker|first1=Ian|title=Ken Burns's American Canon |url=https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2017/09/04/ken-burns-american-canon |access-date=October 5, 2017 |magazine=[[The New Yorker]]|date=September 4, 2017}}</ref> On April 5, 2021, ''Hemingway'', a three-episode, six-hour documentary, a recapitulation of Hemingway's life, labors, and loves, debuted on the [[Public Broadcasting System]], co-produced and directed by Burns and [[Lynn Novick]].<ref>[https://www.newsobserver.com/entertainment/tv/warm-tv-blog/article250418076.html What to "Watch on Monday: The start of Ken Burns' 'Hemingway' documentary"], ''[[News & Observer]]'', Brooke Cain, April 5, 2021. Retrieved April 8, 2021.</ref>

In April 2025, Burns, renowned for his explorations of U.S. history, presented a two-part documentary on [[Leonardo da Vinci]], broadcast on [[Arte]] : ''Art and Experience'',  followed by ''The Quest for Beauty''. This project marked a rare foray beyond the U.S. context, highlighting the [[polymath]] genius of the [[Italian Renaissance]]. During a visit to Paris, Burns shared his approach and drew parallels between his narrative style and Leonardo's working method, both driven by insatiable curiosity and a quest to understand the world. The documentary applied the [[Ken Burns effect]] to a landmark figure of art and science, offering a fresh perspective on Leonardo da Vinci.<ref>[https://www.lemonde.fr/culture/article/2025/04/19/ken-burns-documentariste-de-l-amerique-sur-les-pas-de-leonard-de-vinci_6597819_3246.html Ken Burns, documentariste de l’Amérique, sur les pas de Léonard de Vinci], Catherine Pacary, ''[[Le Monde]]'' (in French), April 19, 2025.</ref><ref>[https://www.arte.tv/fr/videos/RC-026468/leonard-de-vinci/ Léonard de Vinci], program broadcast on [[Arte]].</ref>

==Personal life==
In 1979, Burns moved from [[Manhattan]], New York City, to [[Walpole, New Hampshire]], where he rented a house that he eventually bought. The original reason for the move was that his rent in Manhattan rose from US$275 to $325 (from US${{Inflation|US|275|1979|fmt=c}} to ${{Inflation|US|325|1979|fmt=c}} in {{Inflation/year|US}} dollars). He has credited the move to the small town with ultimately jump-starting his later success, and he still resides there to this day. <ref name="callimachi2024">{{cite web |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2024/11/27/realestate/ken-burns-new-hampshire-home.html |title=The Land That Allowed Ken Burns to Raise the Dead |quote=The award-winning filmmaker has slept in the same bedroom for over four decades. He credits his home with allowing him to make the films everyone said he couldn't. |first=Rukmini |last=Callimachi |date=2024-12-02 |work=The New York Times |accessdate=2024-12-03 }}</ref> 

In 1982, Burns married Amy Stechler. The couple had two daughters, [[Sarah Burns (writer filmmaker)|Sarah]] and [[Lilly Burns|Lilly]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.imdb.com/name/nm3951003/|title=Lilly Burns|website=IMDb.com|access-date=2019-07-09}}</ref><ref name=mobc /> Their marriage ended in divorce in 1993.<ref>{{Cite news |date=2022-09-01 |title=Amy Stechler, Documentarian Who Helped Define a Style, Dies at 67 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2022/09/01/arts/television/amy-stechler-dead.html |archive-url=http://web.archive.org/web/20250616031720/https://www.nytimes.com/2022/09/01/arts/television/amy-stechler-dead.html |archive-date=2025-06-16 |access-date=2025-12-25 |language=en}}</ref>

On October 18, 2003, Burns married for a second time to Julie Deborah Brown, daughter of Leslie Mundjer and the [[Morgan Stanley Wealth Management|Smith Barney]] senior vice president Richard Brown. Julie Deborah Brown founded Room to Grow, a non-profit organization providing aid to children separated from their families.<ref name="New Wife">{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2003/10/19/style/weddings-celebrations-julie-brown-ken-burns.html|title=Weddings/Celebrations; Julie Brown, Ken Burns|work=[[The New York Times]]|date=2003-10-19 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111005162223/http://www.nytimes.com/2003/10/19/style/weddings-celebrations-julie-brown-ken-burns.html|archive-date=2011-10-05 |url-status=live}}</ref> They have two daughters.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Parker |first=Ian |date=2017-08-28 |title=Ken Burns’s American Canon |url=https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2017/09/04/ken-burns-american-canon |access-date=2025-12-25 |work=The New Yorker |language=en-US |issn=0028-792X}}</ref>

Burns is a descendant of [[Johannes de Peyster Sr.]] through Gerardus Clarkson, an [[American Revolutionary War]] physician from [[Philadelphia]], and he is a distant relative of Scottish poet [[Robert Burns]].<ref>Stated on ''[[Finding Your Roots]]'', PBS, October 7, 2014</ref><ref name="ancestor">{{Cite web|url=https://www.pri.org/programs/studio-360/nerding-out-ken-burns-rebranding-marijuana|title=Nerding Out with Ken Burns & Rebranding Marijuana|website=Public Radio International|access-date=August 13, 2019|archive-date=August 13, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190813123552/https://www.pri.org/programs/studio-360/nerding-out-ken-burns-rebranding-marijuana|url-status=dead}}</ref> In 2014, Burns appeared in [[Henry Louis Gates Jr.|Henry Louis Gates]]'s ''[[Finding Your Roots]]'' where he discovered that he is a descendant of a [[slave owner]] from the [[Deep South]], in addition to having a lineage which traces back to Colonial Americans of [[Loyalist]] allegiance during the [[American Revolution]].<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.detroitnews.com/story/entertainment/television/2014/09/22/gates-pbs-genealogy-vance-stephen-king/16073071/|title=Henry Louis Gates probes celebs' origins on PBS|first=Susan|last=Whitall|date=2014-09-23 |access-date=2015-08-26 |newspaper=The Detroit News}}</ref>

Burns is an avid [[quilt]] collector. About one-third of the quilts from his personal collection were displayed at the [[International Quilt Museum]] at the [[University of Nebraska–Lincoln]] from January 19 to May 13, 2018.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.quiltstudy.org/exhibitions/nowshowing/kenburns/uncovered.html|title='Uncovered: The Ken Burns Collection' Opens|date=2018-01-08|access-date=2019-02-17|publisher=International Quilt Study Center & Museum|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180503153249/http://www.quiltstudy.org/exhibitions/nowshowing/kenburns/uncovered.html|archive-date=2018-05-03 |url-status=dead}}</ref>

When asked if he would ever make a film regarding his mother Lyla, Burns responded: "All of my films are about her. I don't think I could do it directly, because of how intensely painful it is."<ref name="kqed" />

Burns has recounted his devotion to the [[The New York Times crossword|''New York Times'' crossword puzzle]], saying in 2022, "There has not been a day since [appearing in the documentary ''[[Wordplay (film)|Wordplay]]''] when I haven't done the New York Times crossword puzzle."<ref name=":2" />

On episode #2336 of ''[[The Joe Rogan Experience]]'', Burns was interviewed by podcaster [[Joe Rogan]] about his life and filmography.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2025-06-11 |title=Joe Rogan Experience #2336 - Ken Burns |url=https://www.jrepodcast.com/episode/joe-rogan-experience-2336-ken-burns/ |access-date=2025-06-12 |website=JRE Podcast |language=en-US}}</ref>

===Politics===
Burns is a longtime supporter of the [[Democratic Party (United States)|Democratic Party]], describing himself as a “[[yellow-dog Democrat]]” and contributing almost $40,000 in political donations.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.newsmeat.com/celebrity_political_donations/Ken_Burns.php|title=Ken Burns's Federal Campaign Contribution Report|publisher=Newsmeat|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110815003542/http://www.newsmeat.com/celebrity_political_donations/Ken_Burns.php|archive-date=August 15, 2011}}</ref> In 2008, the [[Democratic National Committee]] chose Burns to produce the introductory video for Senator [[Ted Kennedy]]'s August 2008 speech to the [[Democratic National Convention]], a video described by ''[[Politico]]'' as a "Burns-crafted tribute casting him [Kennedy] as the modern [[Odysseus|Ulysses]] bringing his party home to port."<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.rockymountainnews.com/news/2008/aug/24/filmmaker-ken-burns-behind-documentary-tribute-sen/|title=Filmmaker Ken Burns behind documentary tribute to Sen. Ted Kennedy|date=August 24, 2008|author=[[M.E. Sprengelmeyer]]|newspaper=Rocky Mountain News|access-date=August 26, 2009|archive-url=https://archive.today/20130208174034/http://www.rockymountainnews.com/news/2008/aug/24/filmmaker-ken-burns-behind-documentary-tribute-sen/|archive-date=February 8, 2013|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|last=Rogers|first=David|title=Ailing Kennedy: 'The dream lives on'|url=https://www.politico.com/story/2008/08/ailing-kennedy-the-dream-lives-on-012826|access-date=June 19, 2011|newspaper=Politico|date=August 26, 2008}}</ref>

In August 2009, Kennedy died, and Burns produced a short eulogy video at his funeral. In endorsing [[Barack Obama]] for the U.S. presidency in December 2007, Burns compared Obama to [[Abraham Lincoln]].<ref>{{cite news|last=MacGillis|first=Alec|title=Ken Burns Compares Obama to Lincoln|url=http://voices.washingtonpost.com/44/2007/12/18/ken_burns_compares_obama_to_li.html|archive-url=https://archive.today/20120716010014/http://voices.washingtonpost.com/44/2007/12/18/ken_burns_compares_obama_to_li.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=July 16, 2012|access-date=June 19, 2011|newspaper=The Washington Post|date=December 18, 2007}}</ref> He said he had planned to be a regular contributor to ''[[Countdown with Keith Olbermann]]'' on [[Current TV]].<ref>{{cite news|last=Guthrie|first=Marisa|title=Michael Moore to Be a Contributor on Keith Olbermann's New Show|url=http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/michael-moore-be-a-contributor-187483|access-date=June 19, 2011|work=[[The Hollywood Reporter]]|date=May 11, 2011}}</ref> In 2016, he also delivered a commencement speech at [[Stanford University]] criticizing [[Donald Trump]]. He also criticized the media for devoting so much airtime to him and failing to give him scrutiny: "Many of our media institutions have largely failed to expose this charlatan, torn between a nagging responsibility to good journalism and the big ratings a media circus always delivers. In fact, they have given him the abundant airtime he so desperately craves, so much so that it has actually worn down our natural human revulsion to this kind of behavior. Hey, he’s rich; he must be doing something right. He is not. [[Edward R. Murrow]] would have exposed this naked emperor months ago."<ref name=Stanford>{{cite news|last=Gladnick|first=P. J.|url=https://news.stanford.edu/2016/06/12/prepared-text-2016-stanford-commencement-address-ken-burns/|title=Prepared text of the 2016 Stanford Commencement address by Ken Burns|work=Stanford News|date=June 12, 2016|access-date=July 19, 2018}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=Filmmaker Ken Burns destroys Donald Trump during Stanford Speech |url=https://filmindustry.network/filmmaker-ken-burns-destroys-donald-trump-stanford-speech/31359 |publisher=Film Industry Network |date=June 13, 2016}}</ref>

In 2023, a 2013 photograph of Ken Burns and [[Clarence Thomas]] at a [[Koch Brothers]] fundraising event was made public in a [[Pro Publica]] article about Justice Thomas' connections to right-wing activists.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Kaplan |first1=Joshua |last2=Elliot |first2=Justin |last3=Mierjeski |first3=Alex |title=Clarence Thomas Secretly Participated in Koch Network Donor Events |url=https://www.propublica.org/article/clarence-thomas-secretly-attended-koch-brothers-donor-events-scotus |website=Pro Publica |date=September 22, 2023 |access-date=23 September 2023}}</ref> Burns stated that the encounter was a brief social encounter resulting from [[Charles Koch]]'s support of [[PBS]] programming.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Huston |first1=Kaitlin |title=Ken Burns Distances Himself From Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas After Photo |url=https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/general-news/ken-burns-justice-clarence-thomas-photo-1235597073/ |website=Variety |date=September 22, 2023 |access-date=23 September 2023}}</ref>

==Awards and honors==
[[File:Ken Burns 2014.jpg|thumb|upright|Burns with the [[Peabody Award]] for ''[[The Central Park Five (documentary film)|The Central Park Five]]'' in 2014]]
Altogether, Burns's work has garnered several awards, including two Oscar nominations, two Grammy Awards and 15 Emmy Awards.<ref name=":1" /><ref name="PBS">{{cite web|url=https://www.pbs.org/kenburns/about-the-filmmakers/ken-burns|website=Pbs.org|title=About the filmmakers|access-date=July 12, 2017|archive-date=July 15, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170715163831/http://www.pbs.org/kenburns/about-the-filmmakers/ken-burns|url-status=dead}}</ref>
* 1982 nomination, [[Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature#1980s|Academy Award for Documentary Feature]]: ''[[Brooklyn Bridge (film)|Brooklyn Bridge]]'' (1981);<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.oscars.org/oscars/ceremonies/1982|title=The 54th Academy Awards &#124; 1982|website=Oscars.org &#124; Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences}}</ref>
* 1986 nomination, Academy Award for Documentary Feature: ''[[The Statue of Liberty (film)|The Statue of Liberty]]'' (1985);<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.oscars.org/oscars/ceremonies/1986|title=The 58th Academy Awards &#124; 1986|website=Oscars.org &#124; Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences}}</ref>
* 1995 [[Emmy Award]] for Outstanding Informational Series: ''[[Baseball (TV series)|Baseball]]'' (1994);
* 2010 Emmy Award for Outstanding Non-fiction Series: ''[[The National Parks: America's Best Idea]]'' (2009).

''The Civil War'' received more than 40 major film and television awards, including two [[Emmy Award]]s, two [[Grammy Award]]s (one for [[Best Traditional Folk Album]]), the Producer of the Year Award from the [[Producers Guild of America]], a [[People's Choice Award]], a [[Peabody Award]], a [[duPont-Columbia Award]], a [[D.&nbsp;W. Griffith Award]], and the $50,000 [[Lincoln Prize]].<ref>{{Citation|title=The Civil War|url=https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0098769/awards|access-date=September 19, 2017}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.nonesuch.com/albums/the-civil-war|title=Nonesuch Records The Civil War [Soundtrack]|website=Nonesuch.com|date=November 30, 1990 |language=en|access-date=September 19, 2017}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.pbs.org/kenburns/civil-war/about/about-overview/#/|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150902004636/http://www.pbs.org/kenburns/civil-war/about/about-overview/#/|url-status=dead|archive-date=September 2, 2015|title=About the Series {{!}} The Civil War|website=Pbs.org|access-date=September 19, 2017}}</ref>

In 1991, Burns received the [[National Humanities Medal]], then called the [[Charles Frankel]] Prize in the Humanities.

In 1991, Burns received the Golden Plate Award of the [[Academy of Achievement|American Academy of Achievement]].<ref>{{cite web|title= Golden Plate Awardees of the American Academy of Achievement |website=www.achievement.org|publisher=[[American Academy of Achievement]]|url=https://achievement.org/our-history/golden-plate-awards/}}</ref>

In 2004, Burns received the S. Roger Horchow Award for Greatest Public Service by a Private Citizen, an award given out annually by [[Jefferson Awards for Public Service|Jefferson Awards]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.jeffersonawards.org/pastwinners/national|title=National Winners &#124; public service awards|publisher=Jefferson Awards.org|access-date=December 25, 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101124043935/http://jeffersonawards.org/pastwinners/national|archive-date=November 24, 2010|url-status=dead}}</ref>

In 2008 Burns was honored by the [[Academy of Television Arts & Sciences]] with a [[List of lifetime achievement awards|Lifetime Achievement Award]].<ref name=":1" />

In 2008 Burns received The Lincoln Forum's [[Richard Nelson Current]] Award of Achievement.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.thelincolnforum.org/richard-nelson-current-award-of-achievement |title=The Richard Nelson Current Award of Achievement |year=2008 |work=The Lincoln Forum |access-date=November 27, 2024}}</ref>

In 2010, the [[National Parks Conservation Association]] honored him and [[Dayton Duncan]] with the Robin W. Winks Award for Enhancing Public Understanding of National Parks. The award recognizes an individual or organization that has effectively communicated the values of the National Park System to the American public.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.npca.org/resources/3286-awards-and-recognition|title=Awards and Recognition|website=National Parks Conservation Association}}</ref>
{{as of|2010}}, there is a Ken Burns Wing at the Jerome Liebling Center for Film, Photography and Video at Hampshire College.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://kuhnriddle.com/portfolio/educational/liebling-center/|publisher=Kuhn Riddle Architects|title=Hampshire College – The Ken Burns Wing|year=2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120402192616/http://kuhnriddle.com/portfolio/educational/liebling-center/|archive-date=April 2, 2012|url-status=dead|df=mdy-all}}</ref>

Burns was elected to the [[American Philosophical Society]] in 2011.<ref>{{Cite web|title=APS Member History|url=https://search.amphilsoc.org/memhist/search?creator=ken+burns&title=&subject=&subdiv=&mem=&year=&year-max=&dead=&keyword=&smode=advanced|access-date=2021-04-02|website=search.amphilsoc.org}}</ref>

In 2012, Burns received the [[Washington University in St. Louis|Washington University]] International Humanities Medal.<ref>[https://magazine.wustl.edu/2013/February/Pages/Ken-Burns-Wash-U-Humanities-Medal.aspx "Ken Burns Recognized for Epic Contributions to the Humanities"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160616154541/https://magazine.wustl.edu/2013/February/Pages/Ken-Burns-Wash-U-Humanities-Medal.aspx |date=June 16, 2016 }}, ''Washington Magazine'', February 2013.</ref> The medal, awarded biennially and accompanied by a cash prize of $25,000, is given to honor a person whose humanistic endeavors in scholarship, journalism, literature, or the arts have made a difference in the world. Past winners include Turkish novelist [[Orhan Pamuk]] in 2006, journalist [[Michael Pollan]] in 2008, and novelist and nonfiction writer [[Francine Prose]] in 2010.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://pages.wustl.edu/figure/humanities-medal-jan-2014|title=Washington University's International Humanities Medal &#124; the Figure in the Carpet|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150930172215/https://pages.wustl.edu/figure/humanities-medal-jan-2014|archive-date=September 30, 2015|df=mdy-all}}</ref>

In 2013, Burns received the [[John Steinbeck Award]], an award presented annually by Steinbeck's eldest son, Thomas, in collaboration with the John Steinbeck Family Foundation, [[San Jose State University]], and the [[Martha Heasley Cox Center for Steinbeck Studies]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://blogs.sjsu.edu/today/2013/ken-burns-to-receive-steinbeck-award/|title=Ken Burns to Receive Steinbeck Award|publisher=SJSU News|access-date=December 25, 2013}}</ref>

In May 2015, Burns gave the commencement address at [[Washington University in St. Louis]] and received an honorary doctorate of humanities.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2015-05-15 |title=Ken Burns' 2015 Commencement address at Washington University in St. Louis - The Source - Washington University in St. Louis |url=https://source.wustl.edu/2015/05/ken-burns-2015-commencement-address-at-washington-university-in-st-louis/ |access-date=2022-06-12 |website=The Source |language=en-US}}</ref>

Burns was the [[Grand Marshal]] for the 2016 [[Pasadena Tournament of Roses]]' [[Rose Parade]] on New Year's Day in [[Pasadena, California|Pasadena]], California.<ref>{{cite news|last=Cormaci|first=Carol|url=http://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-ln-ken-burns-grand-marshal-20151110-story.html|title=Documentary filmmaker Ken Burns named 2016 Rose Parade grand marshal|work=[[Los Angeles Times]]|date=November 10, 2015|access-date=March 12, 2016 }}</ref> The [[National Endowment for the Humanities]] selected Burns to deliver the 2016 [[Jefferson Lecture]], the U.S. federal government's highest honor for achievement in the [[humanities]], on the topic of race in America.<ref>{{cite news|last=Manly|first=Lorne|url=http://artsbeat.blogs.nytimes.com/2016/01/18/ken-burns-to-discuss-race-in-jefferson-lecture/|title=Ken Burns to Discuss Race in Jefferson Lecture|work=[[The New York Times]]|date=January 18, 2016|access-date=March 12, 2016 }}</ref> He was the 2017 recipient of [[The Nichols-Chancellor's Medal]] at [[Vanderbilt University]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://news.vanderbilt.edu/2017/05/11/ken-burns-follow-the-better-angels-of-their-nature-grads-are-told/|title=Follow the better angels of their nature, grads are told|first=Jim|last=Patterson|website=Vanderbilt University}}</ref>

In 2019, he received an honorary degree from [[Brown University]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.providencejournal.com/news/20190423/ken-burns-john-krasinski-to-get-honorary-degrees-from-brown-university|title=Ken Burns, John Krasinski to get honorary degrees from Brown University|website=providencejournal.com}}</ref>

In 2022 he served as the commencement speaker at the [[University of Pennsylvania]] and received an Honorary Doctor of Arts.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://almanac.upenn.edu/articles/penns-2022-commencement-speaker-and-honorary-degree-recipients#:~:text=Penn's%202022%20Commencement%20Speaker%20and%20Honorary%20Degree%20Recipients,-March%201%2C%202022&text=Award%2Dwinning%20documentary%20filmmaker%20Ken,an%20honorary%20degree%20from%20Penn.|title=Penn's 2022 Commencement Speaker and Honorary Degree Recipients|website=University of Pennsylvania Alamanac}}</ref>

In 2025, he received the Critics Choice Documentary Awards IMPACT Award. The prestigious award recognizes documentarians whose work has "illuminated our shared story, made complex issues accessible to broad audiences, and sparked meaningful dialogue that inspires reflection and action. Ken Burns exemplifies this impact through a career that has brought the American experience vividly to life and deepened the nation’s understanding of itself." It was presented at the 10th Annual Critics Choice Documentary Awards on November 9 at the Edison Ballroom, New York City.

==Style==
Burns frequently incorporates simple musical leitmotifs or melodies. For example, ''The Civil War'' features a distinctive violin melody throughout, "[[Ashokan Farewell]]", which was performed for the film by its composer, fiddler [[Jay Ungar]]. One critic noted, "One of the most memorable things about ''The Civil War'' was its haunting, repeated violin melody, whose thin, yearning notes seemed somehow to sum up all the pathos of that great struggle."<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.salon.com/weekly/west2960909.html|title=Shame and Glory: ''The West'' holds a mirror before the double face of a nation|first=Gary|last=Kamiya|work=[[Salon.com]]|date=n.d.|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090413131926/http://www.salon.com/weekly/west2960909.html|archive-date=April 13, 2009}}</ref>

[[File:Ken Burns effect.ogv|thumb|[[Ken Burns effect]]]]
Burns often gives life to still photographs by slowly zooming out subjects of interest and panning from one subject to another. It has long been used in film production where it is known as the "[[rostrum camera]]". This technique, possible in many professional and home software applications, is now termed the "[[Ken Burns effect]]" in [[Apple Inc.|Apple]]'s [[iPhoto]], [[iMovie]], and [[Final Cut Pro X]] software applications.
Burns stated in a 2009 interview that he initially declined to have his name associated with the software because of his stance to refuse commercial endorsements. However, Apple chief Steve Jobs negotiated to give Burns Apple equipment, which Burns donated to nonprofit organizations.<ref name=Nelson>{{cite web|last=Allen|first=Austin|title=Big Think Interview with Ken Burns|date=December 10, 2009|url=http://bigthink.com/videos/big-think-interview-with-ken-burns|publisher=Big Think|access-date=April 23, 2014}}</ref>

As a museum retrospective noted, "His [[PBS]] specials [are] strikingly out of step with the visual pyrotechnics and frenetic pacing of most reality-based TV programming, relying instead on techniques that are literally decades old, although Burns reintegrates these constituent elements into a wholly new and highly complex textual arrangement."<ref name=mobc />

In a 2011 interview, Burns stated that he admires and is influenced by filmmaker [[Errol Morris]].<ref>{{cite journal|url=http://reason.com/blog/2011/10/03/ken-burns-on-pbs-funding-being|title=Ken Burns on PBS Funding, Being a 'Yellow-Dog Democrat,' & Missing Walter Cronkite|first1=Meredith|last1=Bragg|first2= Nick|last2=Gillespie|date=October 3, 2011|journal=[[Reason (magazine)|Reason]]|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120503155636/http://reason.com/blog/2011/10/03/ken-burns-on-pbs-funding-being|archive-date=May 3, 2012|url-status=live}}</ref>

==Filmography==
[[File:"The Vietnam War" Preview and Conversation with Ken Burns.webm|thumb|Conversation with Ken Burns about ''[[The Vietnam War (film)|The Vietnam War]]''. Video by the LBJ Library]]
* ''[[Brooklyn Bridge (film)|Brooklyn Bridge]]'' (1981)<ref group="lower-alpha" name="name">Listed as "Kenneth Lauren Burns"</ref>
* ''[[The Shakers: Hands to Work, Hearts to God]]'' (1984)<ref name="name" group="lower-alpha" />
* ''[[The Statue of Liberty (film)|The Statue of Liberty]]'' (1985)<ref name="name" group="lower-alpha" />
* ''[[Huey Long (film)|Huey Long]]'' (1985)<ref name="name" group="lower-alpha" />
* ''[[Thomas Hart Benton (film)|Thomas Hart Benton]]'' (1988)<ref name="name" group="lower-alpha" />
* ''[[The Congress (1988 film)|The Congress]]'' (1988)<ref name="name" group="lower-alpha" />
* ''[[The Civil War (TV series)|The Civil War]]'' (1990; 9 episodes)<ref name="name" group="lower-alpha" />
* ''[[Empire of the Air: The Men Who Made Radio]]'' (1992)
* ''[[Baseball (TV series)|Baseball]]'' (1994; 9 episodes – updated with ''[[Baseball (TV series)#The Tenth Inning|The Tenth Inning]]'' in 2010, with [[Lynn Novick]])
* ''[[Thomas Jefferson (film)|Thomas Jefferson]]'' (1997; 2 episodes)
* ''[[Lewis & Clark: The Journey of the Corps of Discovery]]'' (1997)
* ''[[Frank Lloyd Wright]]'' (1998, with [[Lynn Novick]])<ref>{{Citation|title=Frank Lloyd Wright|url=http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0144937/|access-date=2019-12-05}}</ref>
* ''[[Not for Ourselves Alone|Not for Ourselves Alone: The Story of Elizabeth Cady Stanton & Susan B. Anthony]]'' (1999)<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.albany.edu/jmmh/vol3/ourselves_alone/ourselves-alone.html|title=Not for Ourselves Alone. JMMH video review|website=www.albany.edu|access-date=2019-12-05}}</ref>
* ''[[Jazz (TV series)|Jazz]]'' (2001; 10 episodes)<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.pbs.org/kenburns/jazz/|title=Home {{!}} Ken Burns|website=Jazz|language=en|access-date=2019-12-05}}</ref>
* ''[[Mark Twain (documentary)|Mark Twain]]'' (2002)
* ''[[Horatio's Drive|Horatio's Drive: America's First Road Trip]]'' (2003)<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.pbs.org/kenburns/horatios-drive/|title=Home {{!}} Ken Burns|website=Horatio's Drive|language=en|access-date=2019-12-05}}</ref>
* ''[[Unforgivable Blackness: The Rise and Fall of Jack Johnson]]'' (2005; 2 episodes)<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.pbs.org/kenburns/unforgivable-blackness/|title=Home {{!}} Ken Burns|website=Unforgivable Blackness|language=en|access-date=2019-12-05}}</ref>
* ''[[The War (miniseries)|The War]]'' (2007, with Lynn Novick; 7 episodes)
* ''[[The National Parks: America's Best Idea]]'' (2009; 6 episodes)
* ''[[Prohibition (miniseries)|Prohibition]]'' (2011, with Lynn Novick; 3 episodes)<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.pbs.org/kenburns/prohibition/|title=Prohibition|publisher=[[PBS]].org|date=2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120504033223/http://www.pbs.org/kenburns/prohibition/|archive-date=May 4, 2012|url-status=live}}</ref>
* ''[[The Dust Bowl (film)|The Dust Bowl]]'' (2012; 2 episodes)<ref name="OETA">{{cite web|url=http://www.oeta.tv/engage/472-ken-burns-seeking-dustbowl-stories.html|title=Ken Burns Seeking Dustbowl Stories|publisher=OETA|access-date=August 19, 2011|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110906072055/http://www.oeta.tv/engage/472-ken-burns-seeking-dustbowl-stories.html|archive-date=September 6, 2011}}</ref>
* ''[[The Central Park Five (documentary film)|The Central Park Five]]'' (2012, with [[Sarah Burns (writer filmmaker)|Sarah Burns]] and David McMahon)<ref name=florentine>{{cite web|url=http://www.florentinefilms.com/ffpages/FFIntro-frameset.html|archive-url=https://archive.today/20130102154459/http://www.florentinefilms.com/ffpages/FFIntro-frameset.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=January 2, 2013|title=Introduction|publisher=FlorentineFilms.com|date=n.d.}}</ref>
* ''Yosemite: A Gathering of Spirit'' (2013)<!----(December 8, 2013) with [[Dayton Duncan]]---><ref>[http://yosemite-conservancy.mybigcommerce.com/yosemite-a-gathering-of-spirit/ The World Premiere of Yosemite: A Gathering of Spirit] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131023060903/http://yosemite-conservancy.mybigcommerce.com/yosemite-a-gathering-of-spirit/|date=October 23, 2013}}, [http://www.yosemiteconservancy.org/ Yosemite Conservancy] Retrieved October 21, 2013.</ref>
* ''[[The Address (film)|The Address]]'' (2014)<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.nationalgeographic.com/news/2014/4/140405-ken-burns-gettysburg-address-abraham-lincoln-greenwood-school-world/|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191205104220/https://www.nationalgeographic.com/news/2014/4/140405-ken-burns-gettysburg-address-abraham-lincoln-greenwood-school-world/|url-status=dead|archive-date=December 5, 2019|title=Q&A: Ken Burns Discusses His New Documentary, The Address|date=2014-04-05|website=National Geographic News|language=en|access-date=2019-12-05}}</ref>
* ''[[The Roosevelts (miniseries)|The Roosevelts: An Intimate History]]'' (2014; 7 episodes)<ref name=florentine /><ref name="PBS-20140910">{{cite news|last=Moore|first=Frazier|title=PBS' 'The Roosevelts' portrays an epic threesome|url=http://apnews.excite.com/article/20140910/us--tv-roosevelts-d4b60e65ce.html|date=September 10, 2014|work=[[AP News]]|access-date=September 10, 2014|archive-date=September 10, 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140910200244/http://apnews.excite.com/article/20140910/us--tv-roosevelts-d4b60e65ce.html|url-status=dead}}</ref>
* ''[[Jackie Robinson (film)|Jackie Robinson]]'' (2016, with Sarah Burns and David McMahon; 2 episodes)<ref>{{cite web|url=http://news.stlpublicradio.org/post/filmmaker-ken-burns-discusses-upcoming-projects-wash-u-commencement-speech-more|title=Filmmaker Ken Burns discusses upcoming projects, Wash U commencement speech, more|last=Cladwell|first=Evita|date=May 14, 2014|publisher=St. Louis Public Radio|access-date=August 26, 2015}}</ref>
* ''[[Defying the Nazis: The Sharps' War]]'' (2016, with Artemis Joukowsky)<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.defyingthenazis.org/|title=Defying the Nazis: The Sharps' War; A new film directed by Ken Burns and Artemis Joukowsky|access-date=September 16, 2016}}</ref>
* ''[[The Vietnam War (TV series)|The Vietnam War]]'' (2017, with Lynn Novick; 10 episodes)<ref>{{cite web|url=http://kenburns.com/films/vietnam/|title=Vietnam|publisher= Ken Burns media|date=August 26, 2015}}</ref>
* ''The Mayo Clinic: Faith – Hope – Science'' (2018, with Erik Ewers and Christopher Loren Ewers)
* ''[[Country Music (miniseries)|Country Music]]'' (2019, 8 episodes)<ref name="country music">{{cite web|title=Upcoming Films|url=http://kenburns.com/films/country-music/|publisher=Ken Burns Media, LLC|access-date=July 6, 2017}}</ref>
* ''[[Hemingway (film)|Hemingway]]'' (2021, with Lynn Novick; 3 episodes)<ref name="hemingway">{{cite web|title=Ernest Hemingway|url=http://kenburns.com/films/ernest-hemingway/|publisher=Ken Burns Media, LLC|access-date=June 3, 2020}}</ref>
* ''[[Muhammad Ali (film)|Muhammad Ali]]'' (2021, with Sarah Burns and David McMahon; 4 episodes)<ref name="Ali">{{cite web|title=Ali|url=http://kenburns.com/films/ali/|website=Ken Burns|publisher=Ken Burns Media, LLC|access-date=February 26, 2020}}</ref>
* ''[[Benjamin Franklin (film)|Benjamin Franklin]]'' (2022, 2 episodes)<ref name="Franklin">{{cite web|title=Benjamin Franklin|url=http://kenburns.com/films/benjamin-franklin/|website=Ken Burns|publisher=Ken Burns Media, LLC|access-date=February 26, 2020}}</ref>
* ''[[The U.S. and the Holocaust]]'' (2022, 3 episodes, 7 hours total; produced and directed with the assistance of Lynn Novick and Sarah Botstein)<ref name="holocaust">{{cite web|title=The Holocaust & the United States|url=http://kenburns.com/films/the-holocaust-the-united-states/|website=Ken Burns|publisher=Ken Burns Media, LLC|access-date=March 28, 2022}}</ref>
* ''[[The American Buffalo]]'' (2023, 2 episodes)<ref>{{cite web|title=Ken Burns|url=https://kenburns.com/films/the-american-buffalo/|website=Ken Burns|publisher=Ken Burns Media, LLC|access-date=November 26, 2020}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |last=Mabie |first=Nora |date=January 18, 2023 |title=New Ken Burns film on buffalo includes Indigenous voices from Montana |url=https://missoulian.com/news/local/new-ken-burns-film-on-buffalo-includes-indigenous-voices-from-montana/article_3c18d6cf-f42f-578b-9663-736683527be4.html |access-date=2023-02-09 |work=Missoulian |language=en}}</ref>
* ''[[Leonardo da Vinci (2024 film)|Leonardo da Vinci]]'' (2024, with Sarah Burns and David McMahon; 2 episodes)<ref name="Burns bio">{{cite web|title=Ken Burns|url=https://kenburns.com/films/leonardo-da-vinci/|website=Ken Burns|publisher=Ken Burns Media, LLC|access-date=April 11, 2020}}</ref>
* ''[[The American Revolution (2025 series)|The American Revolution]]'' (2025, 6 episodes)<ref>{{cite web |url=https://deadline.com/2023/12/ken-burns-revolutionary-war-george-washington-streaming-1235669475/ |title=Ken Burns on 'Complicated Narrative' Of His Forthcoming Revolutionary War Project, Busting 1776 Myths And Looking Afresh At George Washington |last=Hayes |first=Dade |work=[[Deadline Hollywood]] |date=2023-12-15 }}</ref>

===Future releases===
* ''Henry David Thoreau'' (2026, as Executive Producer)<ref>{{Cite web |title=Henry David Thoreau |url=https://kenburns.com/films/henry-david-thoreau/ |access-date=2022-10-01 |website=Ken Burns |language=en-US}}</ref>
* ''Emancipation to Exodus'' (2027, with David McMahon, Sarah Burns, and Erika Dilday)<ref>{{Cite news |last=Marchese |first=David |date=2021-03-15 |title=Ken Burns Still Has Faith in a Shared American Story |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2021/03/15/magazine/ken-burns-interview.html |access-date=2022-10-01 |issn=0362-4331}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Emancipation to Exodus |url=https://kenburns.com/films/emancipation-to-exodus/ |access-date=2023-10-19 |website=Ken Burns |language=en-US}}</ref>
* ''LBJ & the Great Society'' (2028, with Lynn Novick and Sarah Botstein)<ref>{{Cite web |title=LBJ & the Great Society |url=https://kenburns.com/films/lbj-the-great-society/ |access-date=2023-10-19 |website=Ken Burns |language=en-US}}</ref><ref name=":3">{{Cite web |last=Caumont |first=Félix |date=April 16, 2025 |title=Raconte-moi l'Amérique... un café avec Ken Burns |url=https://orleans.radiocampus.org/actualite-emission/ken-burns/ |access-date=2025-04-19 |website=Radio Campus Orléans 88.3 FM |language=fr-FR, en-EN}}</ref>

===Short films===
These three short films are collected and distributed together as ''Seeing, Searching, Being: [[William Segal]]''.
* ''William Segal'' (1992)<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2010/08/01/arts/television/01burns.html|title=PBS to Show Ken Burns Films on William Segal|last=Jensen|first=Elizabeth|date=July 29, 2010|work=[[The New York Times]]|access-date=December 5, 2019|language=en-US|issn=0362-4331}}</ref>
* ''Vezelay'' (1996)<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.documentary.org/feature/accidental-historian-ken-burns-mines-americas-past|title=The Accidental Historian: Ken Burns Mines America's Past|date=December 10, 2002|website=International Documentary Association|language=en|access-date=December 5, 2019}}</ref>
* ''In the Marketplace'' (2000)

===As an executive producer===
* ''[[The West (miniseries)|The West]]'' (1996) (directed by Stephen Ives)<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.pbs.org/weta/thewest/program/producers/ives.htm|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20020203212603/http://www.pbs.org/weta/thewest/program/producers/ives.htm|url-status=dead|archive-date=February 3, 2002|title=PBS – THE WEST – Stephen Ives|website=www.pbs.org|access-date=2019-12-05}}</ref>
* ''[[Cancer (film)|Cancer: The Emperor of All Maladies]]'' (2015)<ref name="NYT-20150327"/> (directed by Barak Goodman)
* ''Walden'' (short, 2017) (directed by Erik Ewers and Christopher Loren Ewers)<ref>{{cite web|title=Walden|url=http://www.ewersbrothers.com/walden-1|website=ewers brothers production|access-date=February 26, 2020|archive-date=February 26, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200226120959/http://www.ewersbrothers.com/walden-1|url-status=dead}}</ref>
* ''Country Music: Live at the Ryman, a Concert Celebrating the Film by Ken Burns'' (2019) (directed by Don Carr)<ref>{{cite web|title=Country Music: Live at the Ryman DVD|url=https://shop.pbs.org/country-music-live-at-the-ryman-dvd/product/CMLR601|website=Shop.PBS.org|publisher=[[Public Broadcasting Service]]|access-date=February 26, 2020|archive-date=February 26, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200226120955/https://shop.pbs.org/country-music-live-at-the-ryman-dvd/product/CMLR601|url-status=dead}}</ref>
* ''[[College Behind Bars]]'' (2019) (directed by Lynn Novick)<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.pbs.org/show/college-behind-bars/|title=College Behind Bars|via=www.pbs.org}}</ref>
* ''East Lake Meadows: A Public Housing Story'' (2020) (directed by Sarah Burns and David McMahon)<ref>{{cite web|title=East Lake Meadows|url=http://kenburns.com/films/east-lake-meadows-a-public-housing-story/|website=Ken Burns|publisher=Ken Burns Media, LLC|access-date=February 26, 2020}}</ref>
* ''[[The Gene: An Intimate History]]'' (2020) (directed by Chris Durrance and Jack Youngelson)<ref>{{cite news|last=Morgan|first=Jillian|title=PBS sets April air date for Ken Burns documentary on human genetics|url=https://realscreen.com/2020/02/19/pbs-sets-april-air-date-for-ken-burns-documentary-on-human-genetics/|access-date=February 26, 2020|work=[[Realscreen]]|publisher=Brunico Communications Ltd.|date=February 19, 2020}}</ref>
* ''Hiding in Plain Sight: Youth Mental Illness'' (2022) (directed by Erik Ewers and Christopher Loren Ewers)<ref>{{cite web|title=Hiding in Plain Sight|url=https://kenburns.com/films/hiding-in-plain-sight-youth-mental-illness/|website=Ken Burns|publisher=Ken Burns Media, LLC|access-date=September 21, 2022}}</ref>

===As an actor===
{{BLP unreferenced section|date=October 2023}}
* ''[[Gettysburg (1993 film)|Gettysburg]]'' (film; 1993) – Hancock's staff officer<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://americanhistory.si.edu/blog/2012/10/my-experience-on-set-of-the-movie-gettysburg-1.html|title=Part I: My experience on set of the movie "Gettysburg"|date=October 17, 2012|website=National Museum of American History|language=en|access-date=December 5, 2019}}</ref>
* ''[[Clifford's Puppy Days]]'' – Season 1, episode 24a ("Lights, Camera, Action"; 2005) – self
* ''[[The Simpsons]]'':
** Season 14, episode 10 ("[[Pray Anything]]"; 2003) - self/ voiced
** Season 22, episode 22 ("[[The Ned-liest Catch]]"; 2011) - self/ voiced
** Season 24, episode 1 ("[[Moonshine River]]"; 2012) – self/ voiced
** Season 30, episode 22 ("[[Woo-Hoo Dunnit?]]"; 2019) – self/ voiced
** Season 35, episode 4 ("Thirst Trap: A Corporate Love Story"; 2023) - self/ voiced
* ''[[The Mindy Project]]'' – Season 3, episode 11 ("Christmas"; 2014) – self/ voiced
* ''[[Difficult People]]'' – Season 2, episode 4 ("Blade Stallion"; 2016) – self/ voiced

==Notes==
{{Notelist}}

==References==
{{Reflist|30em}}

==External links==
{{commons}}
{{wikiquote}}
* {{IMDb name|122741}}
* [https://www.pbs.org/kenburns/ Ken Burns] on [[Public Broadcasting Service|PBS]]
* [http://www.lib.berkeley.edu/MRC/documentarybib.html#burns Ken Burns bibliography]

{{Ken Burns|state=expanded}}{{PBS}}{{Navboxes
| title = Awards for Ken Burns
| list =
{{EmmyAward NonfictionProgrammingWriting}}
{{Grammy Award for Best Spoken Word Album 1990s}}
{{TCA Career Achievement Award}}
{{2022 Television Hall of Fame}}
}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Burns, Ken}}
[[Category:1953 births]]
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:American cinematographers]]
[[Category:American documentary film directors]]
[[Category:American documentary film producers]]
[[Category:American male voice actors]]
[[Category:American male screenwriters]]
[[Category:American expatriates in France]]
[[Category:Artists from Ann Arbor, Michigan]]
[[Category:Artists from Brooklyn]]
[[Category:Documentary war filmmakers]]
[[Category:Primetime Emmy Award winners]]
[[Category:Members of the American Philosophical Society]]
[[Category:Fellows of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences]]
[[Category:Film directors from Michigan]]
[[Category:Film directors from New Hampshire]]
[[Category:Film directors from New York City]]
[[Category:Grammy Award winners]]
[[Category:Hampshire College alumni]]
[[Category:National Humanities Medal recipients]]
[[Category:New Hampshire Democrats]]
[[Category:New York (state) Democrats]]
[[Category:People from Walpole, New Hampshire]]
[[Category:Lincoln Prize winners]]
[[Category:Pioneer High School (Ann Arbor, Michigan) alumni]]
[[Category:American Antiquarian Society members]]
[[Category:Articles containing video clips]]