J. Edgar Hoover

TV's most-watched history series brings to life the compelling stories from our past that inform our understanding of the world today.

Explore the world’s most fascinating, strange and inexplicable mysteries. Each episode features compelling contributions from scientists, historians, witnesses and experiencers—each seeking to shed light on how the seemingly impossible actually can happen.

Set in 1951, a blacklisted Hollywood writer gets into a car accident, loses his memory and settles down in a small town where he is mistaken for a long-lost son.

In a tumultuous era, 1971 was a year of musical innovation and rebirth fueled by the political and cultural upheaval of the time. Stars reached new heights, fresh talent exploded onto the scene, and boundaries expanded like never before.

Blending in-depth interviews, rare archival footage, and cinematic recreations, this docuseries on the lives of America's most iconic First Ladies is a bold revision of each woman's traditional portrayal, revealing how they were impacted during their time in the White House, and how their achievements fundamentally shaped American and global history.

A deliciously scandalous portrait of unsung Hollywood legend Scotty Bowers, whose bestselling memoir chronicled his decades spent as sexual procurer to the stars.

Period music, film clips and newsreel footage combined into a visual exploration of the American entertainment industry during the Great Depression.

A look at the history of the comic book publication that launched such legendary characters as Superman, Batman and Wonder Woman.

Since its birth in 1865, in the wake of the American Civil War, the history of the Ku Klux Klan has been inseparable from that of the United States. The debates over slavery, the populism in the roaring twenties, the struggle for civil rights in the sixties, the rise of the far-right in the early 21st century; the Klan seems to have always embodied the dark side of the nation, with its gray areas and blind spots.

Fascinating biographies featuring the lives and personalities of some of the most notorious mobsters: Al Capone, Bugsy Siegel, John Dillinger, Sam Giancana, Bonnie and Clyde, Dutch Schultz, Meyer Lansky, 'Lucky' Luciano, and Mickey Cohen.

A dedicated FBI agent recalls the agency's battles against the Klan, organized crime and Communist spies.

Pulling back the curtain on the complex and high stakes relationship between the FBI Director and U.S. President, this series explores their pivotal moments of tension, the FBI's delicate neutrality and its national security implications.

A 60-minute salute to American International Pictures. Entertainment lawyer Samuel Z. Arkoff founded AIP (then called American Releasing Corporation) on a $3000 loan in 1954 with his partner, James H. Nicholson, a former West Coast exhibitor and distributor. The company made its mark by targeting teenagers with quickly produced films that exploited subjects mainstream films were reluctant to tackle.

This two-part documentary takes a deep dive into the final weeks of her life, investigating her relationship with known mobsters like Sam Giancana and how she became a pawn in the Mafia's power plays. As we explore the blurred lines between Hollywood, politics, and organized crime, the series speculates on whether Monroe knew too much and whether her death was more than a tragic overdose.

A look at the confluence of the Red Scare, McCarthyism, and blacklists with the post-war activism by African Americans seeking more and better roles on radio, television, and stage. It begins in Harlem, measures the impact of Paul Robeson and the campaign to bring him down, looks at the role of HUAC, J. Edgar Hoover and of journalists such as Ed Sullivan, and ends with a tribute to Canada Lee. Throughout are interviews with men and women who were there, including Dick Campbell of the Rose McLendon Players and Fredrick O'Neal of the American Negro Theatre. In the 1940s and 1950s, anti-Communism was one more tool to maintain Jim Crow and to keep down African-Americans.

Many times during his presidency, Lyndon B. Johnson said that ultimate victory in the Vietnam War depended upon the U.S. military winning the "hearts and minds" of the Vietnamese people. Filmmaker Peter Davis uses Johnson's phrase in an ironic context in this anti-war documentary, filmed and released while the Vietnam War was still under way, juxtaposing interviews with military figures like U.S. Army Chief of Staff William C. Westmoreland with shocking scenes of violence and brutality.

One of the greatest playwrights of the 20th century, Arthur Miller created such celebrated works as Death of a Salesman and The Crucible, which continue to move audiences around the world today. He also made headlines for being targeted by the House Un-American Activities Committee at the height of the McCarthy Era and entering into a tumultuous marriage with Hollywood icon Marilyn Monroe. Told from the unique perspective of his daughter, filmmaker Rebecca Miller, Arthur Miller: Writer is an illuminating portrait that combines interviews spanning decades and a wealth of personal archival material, and provides new insights into Miller’s life as an artist and exploring his character in all its complexity.

Dr. Bartley Morgan covers up his profitable illegalities with the respectable veneer of a posh, highly profitable private practice, he runs with his nurse Margaret Hopkins. The FBI agent Robert Anders has to catch on to Morgan's illicit activities.

A look at the life and work of Charlie Chaplin in his own words featuring an in-depth interview he gave to Life magazine in 1966.

This expose of the U.S. parole system, as seen through the eyes of FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover, takes dead aim on lawyers who manipulate the justice system in order to get undeserving convicts parole from prisons. The point is made when FBI agents are assigned to track down "Big Boy" Bradmore, who after getting an undeserved parole, via the efforts of a shyster lawyer, promptly murders an FBI agent.