Thomas Jefferson (film)

Thomas Jefferson
DVD cover
Directed by	Ken Burns
Produced by	Ken Burns Camilla Rockwell
Written by	Geoffrey C. Ward
Narrated by	Ossie Davis
Cinematography	Ken Burns Peter B. Hutton Allen Moore Buddy Squires
Editing by	Paul Barnes Kevin Kertscher
Studio	Florentine Films
Distributed by	Public Broadcasting Service
Release date(s)	1997 (United States)
Running time	180 minutes
Country	United States
Language	English

Thomas Jefferson is a 1997 documentary directed and produced by Ken Burns. It covers the life and times of Thomas Jefferson, the 3rd President of the United States.

In this film Jefferson is seen as a true renaissance man. Not only was he a dedicated public servant, but was also a writer, an inventor, and a noted architect. Burns captures both the public and private person.

Funding

The film was funded by the following:

• General Motors Corporation
• Pew Charitable Trusts
• Arthur Vining Davis Foundations
• Corporation for Public Broadcasting
• PBS
• Virginia Department of Tourism

Actors and historians

Many noted actors read lines of various historical figures and a series of American university professors of history gave background information. They included:

• Ossie Davis - Narrator
• Sam Waterston - Thomas Jefferson
• Blythe Danner - Martha Jefferson
• Gwyneth Paltrow - Jefferson's granddaughter
• Philip Bosco as Sam Adams

As themselves: Daniel Boorstin, Andrew Burstein, Joseph Ellis, Clay S. Jenkinson, Gore Vidal, George Will, and Garry Wills.

External links

• Thomas Jefferson
• Thomas Jefferson at the Internet Movie Database
• Thomas Jefferson film review at Salon
• Ken Burns discusses film on C-SPAN (@ 1hr 2min)
• Joseph Ellis discusses making of the film