Bio and true story movies
by tommyjohn509 | created - 22 Jan 2018 | updated - 05 Mar 2019 | Public- Instant Watch Options
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1. A Man for All Seasons (1966)
G | 120 min | Biography, Drama, History
The story of Sir Thomas More, who stood up to King Henry VIII when the King rejected the Roman Catholic Church to obtain a divorce and remarry.
Director: Fred Zinnemann | Stars: Paul Scofield, Wendy Hiller, Robert Shaw, Leo McKern
Votes: 37,164 | Gross: $28.35M
2. Chasing Mavericks (2012)
PG | 116 min | Biography, Drama, Sport
When young Jay Moriarity discovers that the mythic Mavericks surf break, one of the biggest waves on Earth, exists just miles from his Santa Cruz home, he enlists the help of local legend Frosty Hesson to train him to survive it.
Directors: Michael Apted, Curtis Hanson | Stars: Jonny Weston, Gerard Butler, Elisabeth Shue, Abigail Spencer
Votes: 34,537 | Gross: $6.00M
3. Too Big to Fail (2011 TV Movie)
TV-MA | 99 min | Biography, Drama, History
Chronicles the financial meltdown of 2008 and centers on Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson.
Director: Curtis Hanson | Stars: James Woods, John Heard, William Hurt, Erin Dilly
Votes: 19,092
4. The Wrestler (2008)
R | 109 min | Drama, Sport
A faded professional wrestler must retire, but finds his quest for a new life outside the ring a dispiriting struggle.
Director: Darren Aronofsky | Stars: Mickey Rourke, Marisa Tomei, Evan Rachel Wood, Mark Margolis
Votes: 319,958 | Gross: $26.24M
5. J. Edgar (2011)
R | 137 min | Biography, Drama, Romance
J. Edgar Hoover, powerful head of the F.B.I. for nearly fifty years, looks back on his professional and personal life.
Director: Clint Eastwood | Stars: Leonardo DiCaprio, Armie Hammer, Naomi Watts, Josh Hamilton
Votes: 133,634 | Gross: $37.31M
6. Fat Man and Little Boy (1989)
PG-13 | 127 min | Biography, Drama, History
This film reenacts the Manhattan Project, the secret WWII project, and the first atomic bombs designed, built, and tested in Los Alamos.
Director: Roland Joffé | Stars: Paul Newman, Dwight Schultz, Bonnie Bedelia, John Cusack
Votes: 9,130 | Gross: $3.56M
7. Richard III (1955)
Not Rated | 161 min | Biography, Drama, History
Shakespeare's powerful tale of the wicked deformed King and his conquests, both on the battlefield and in the boudoir.
Director: Laurence Olivier | Stars: Laurence Olivier, Cedric Hardwicke, Nicholas Hannen, Ralph Richardson
Votes: 5,225
8. The Thirty Nine Steps (1978)
PG | 102 min | Crime, History, Mystery
In March 1914, a mining engineer named Richard Hannay tries to prevent Prussian Agents from executing a political assassination designed to trigger World War I.
Director: Don Sharp | Stars: Robert Powell, David Warner, Eric Porter, Karen Dotrice
Votes: 2,778
9. Mahler (1974)
PG | 115 min | Biography, Drama, Music
Composer Gustav Mahler's (Robert Powell) life, told in a series of flashbacks as he and his wife (Georgina Hale) discuss their failing marriage during a train journey.
Director: Ken Russell | Stars: Robert Powell, Georgina Hale, Lee Montague, Miriam Karlin
Votes: 3,061
10. Sade (2000)
100 min | Biography, Drama, History
A man prepares himself to be transferred to a detention center and rest home where he will relive one more time the highlights of his youth.
Director: Benoît Jacquot | Stars: Daniel Auteuil, Marianne Denicourt, Jeanne Balibar, Grégoire Colin
Votes: 1,834 | Gross: $0.03M
11. Lawrence of Arabia (1962)
Approved | 218 min | Adventure, Biography, Drama
The story of T.E. Lawrence, the English officer who successfully united and led the diverse, often warring, Arab tribes during World War I in order to fight the Turks.
Director: David Lean | Stars: Peter O'Toole, Alec Guinness, Anthony Quinn, Jack Hawkins
Votes: 314,400 | Gross: $44.82M
12. A Dangerous Method (2011)
R | 99 min | Biography, Drama, Romance
A look at how the intense relationship between Carl Jung and Sigmund Freud gives birth to psychoanalysis.
Director: David Cronenberg | Stars: Michael Fassbender, Keira Knightley, Viggo Mortensen, Vincent Cassel
Votes: 108,354 | Gross: $5.70M
13. The Great White Hope (1970)
PG-13 | 103 min | Drama, Romance, Sport
A Black champion boxer and his white female companion struggle to survive while the white boxing establishment looks for ways to knock him down.
Director: Martin Ritt | Stars: James Earl Jones, Jane Alexander, Lou Gilbert, Joel Fluellen
Votes: 2,806 | Gross: $2.70M
14. American Splendor (2003)
R | 101 min | Biography, Comedy, Drama
An original mix of fiction and reality illuminates the life of comic book hero everyman Harvey Pekar.
Directors: Shari Springer Berman, Robert Pulcini | Stars: Paul Giamatti, Shari Springer Berman, Harvey Pekar, Chris Ambrose
Votes: 52,363 | Gross: $6.00M
15. Killing Reagan (2016 TV Movie)
TV-14 | 100 min | Biography, Crime, Drama
A look at John Hinkley's 1981 assassination attempt against U.S. President Ronald Reagan.
Director: Rod Lurie | Stars: Tim Matheson, Cynthia Nixon, Patrick St. Esprit, Joel Murray
Votes: 965
16. Anastasia (1956)
Unrated | 105 min | Biography, Drama, History
An opportunistic businessman tries to pass off a mysterious impostor as the Grand Duchess Anastasia, and she is so convincing that even the biggest skeptics believe her.
Director: Anatole Litvak | Stars: Ingrid Bergman, Yul Brynner, Helen Hayes, Akim Tamiroff
Votes: 9,320
17. The Boy in Blue (1986)
R | 97 min | Biography, Drama, Sport
A biography of the famous sculler Ned Hanlon who led a colorful life as a bootlegger at the turn of the 20th century.
Director: Charles Jarrott | Stars: Nicolas Cage, Cynthia Dale, Christopher Plummer, David Naughton
Votes: 1,415 | Gross: $0.28M
18. The Great Waltz (1938)
Passed | 104 min | Biography, Drama, Music
In 1845 Vienna, Johann Strauss II (Fernand Gravey) - 'Jonahi' to his friends - would rather write and perform waltzes than anything else, this at a time when a waltz is not considered ... See full summary »
Directors: Julien Duvivier, Victor Fleming, Josef von Sternberg | Stars: Luise Rainer, Fernand Gravey, Miliza Korjus, Hugh Herbert
Votes: 1,306
19. The Messenger: The Story of Joan of Arc (1999)
R | 148 min | Adventure, Biography, Drama
A young girl receives a vision that drives her to rid France of its oppressors.
Director: Luc Besson | Stars: Milla Jovovich, John Malkovich, Rab Affleck, Stéphane Algoud
Votes: 69,706 | Gross: $14.28M
20. Red Tails (2012)
PG-13 | 125 min | Action, Drama, History
A crew of African American pilots in the Tuskegee training program, having faced segregation while kept mostly on the ground during World War II, are called into duty under the guidance of Col. A.J. Bullard.
Director: Anthony Hemingway | Stars: Cuba Gooding Jr., Gerald McRaney, David Oyelowo, Andre Royo
Votes: 37,250 | Gross: $49.88M
21. His Majesty O'Keefe (1954)
Approved | 91 min | Action, Adventure, Biography
A Yankee sea captain has adventures in paradise trying to become an entrepreneur in Micronesia.
Directors: Byron Haskin, Burt Lancaster | Stars: Burt Lancaster, Joan Rice, André Morell, Abraham Sofaer
Votes: 1,428
22. Meu Nome Não é Johnny (2008)
124 min | Biography, Crime, Drama
The true story of João Guilherme Estrella ("Johnny"), a young middle-class bon vivant who became a big-time cocaine dealer in Rio de Janeiro in the early 1990s.
Director: Mauro Lima | Stars: Selton Mello, Giulio Lopes, Júlia Lemmertz, Felipe Severo
Votes: 7,849
23. Funny Girl (1968)
G | 151 min | Biography, Comedy, Drama
The life of Fanny Brice, famed comedienne and entertainer of the early 1900s. We see her rise to fame as a Ziegfeld girl, subsequent career, and her personal life, particularly her relationship with Nick Arnstein.
Director: William Wyler | Stars: Barbra Streisand, Omar Sharif, Kay Medford, Anne Francis
Votes: 25,163 | Gross: $58.50M
24. A Cry for Help: The Tracey Thurman Story (1989 TV Movie)
Not Rated | 96 min | Biography, Crime, Drama
A victim of domestic violence winds up in an ongoing struggle to get the police to take her seriously, until the abuse escalates to the worst extreme.
Director: Robert Markowitz | Stars: Nancy McKeon, Dale Midkiff, Graham Jarvis, Yvette Heyden
Votes: 1,632
25. Bingo: The King of the Mornings (2017)
113 min | Biography, Comedy, Drama
Based on a true story, "Bingo" is a film about the man behind the mask. Augusto is an actor hungry for a place in the spotlight, following the footsteps of his mother, a stage artist in the... See full summary »
Director: Daniel Rezende | Stars: Vladimir Brichta, Leandra Leal, Tainá Müller, Augusto Madeira
Votes: 5,703
26. Marshall (2017)
PG-13 | 118 min | Biography, Crime, Drama
The story of Thurgood Marshall, the crusading lawyer who would become the first African-American Supreme Court Justice, as he battles through one of his career-defining cases.
Director: Reginald Hudlin | Stars: Chadwick Boseman, Josh Gad, Kate Hudson, Sterling K. Brown
Votes: 26,813 | Gross: $10.05M
27. Jacob (1994 TV Movie)
91 min | Biography, Crime, Drama
In the foreign land of Canaan lives Isaac, son of Abraham, with his clever, strong-willed wife Rebekah and his twin sons Esau and Jacob. The first-born, Esau, is a strong and fearless ... See full summary »
Director: Peter Hall | Stars: Matthew Modine, Lara Flynn Boyle, Sean Bean, Joss Ackland
Votes: 1,658
28. Joseph (1995)
93 min | Adventure, Biography, Drama
The Biblical story of Joseph, who was sold to slavery by his brothers who were jealous of his prophetic abilities to analyze dreams and of his being their father's favorite.
Stars: Ben Kingsley, Paul Mercurio, Martin Landau, Lesley Ann Warren
Votes: 3,400
29. Lenny (1974)
R | 111 min | Biography, Drama
The story of acerbic 1960s comic Lenny Bruce, whose groundbreaking, no-holds-barred style and social commentary was often deemed by the Establishment as too obscene for the public.
Director: Bob Fosse | Stars: Dustin Hoffman, Valerie Perrine, Jan Miner, Stanley Beck
Votes: 17,576 | Gross: $8.43M
30. The Mercy (2018)
Not Rated | 112 min | Adventure, Biography, Drama
The incredible story of amateur sailor Donald Crowhurst and his solo attempt to circumnavigate the globe. The struggles he confronted on the journey while his family awaited his return is one of the most enduring mysteries of recent times.
Director: James Marsh | Stars: Colin Firth, Eleanor Stagg, Rachel Weisz, Zara Prassinot
Votes: 9,696
31. Naomi & Wynonna: Love Can Build a Bridge (1995 TV Movie)
TV-PG | 118 min | Biography, Drama, Music
Based on the lives of mother-daughter singers the Judds.
Director: Bobby Roth | Stars: Kathleen York, Viveka Davis, Bruce Greenwood, Melinda Dillon
Votes: 346
32. Quiet Victory: The Charlie Wedemeyer Story (1988 TV Movie)
Not Rated | 100 min | Drama
A real-life story about a high school teacher and football coach who is diagnosed with Lou Gehrig's disease but refuses to give in.
Director: Roy Campanella II | Stars: Pam Dawber, Michael Nouri, Bess Meyer, Peter Berg
Votes: 162
33. The Brawler (2019)
95 min | Biography, Crime, Drama
In 1975, a Bayonne, New Jersey underdog boxer gets a shot to fight the champ.
Director: Ken Kushner | Stars: Zach McGowan, Amy Smart, Joe Pantoliano, Taryn Manning
Votes: 637
34. Saint Judy (2018)
PG-13 | 106 min | Biography, Drama
The story of immigration attorney Judy Wood, and how she initiated the change in U.S. law of asylum to save women's lives.
Director: Sean Hanish | Stars: Michelle Monaghan, Leem Lubany, Common, Alfred Molina
Votes: 1,696 | Gross: $0.08M
35. The Diving Bell and the Butterfly (2007)
PG-13 | 112 min | Biography, Drama
The true story of Elle editor Jean-Dominique Bauby who suffers a stroke and has to live with an almost totally paralyzed body; only his left eye isn't paralyzed.
Director: Julian Schnabel | Stars: Mathieu Amalric, Emmanuelle Seigner, Marie-Josée Croze, Anne Consigny
Votes: 110,438 | Gross: $5.99M
36. Martha, Inc.: The Story of Martha Stewart (2003 TV Movie)
PG | 83 min | Biography, Drama
A grim look at homemaking business tycoon Martha Stewart's story, behind the facade of her motherly housewife appearance, including a crime she committed that brought her fame to a halt.
Director: Jason Ensler | Stars: Cybill Shepherd, Tim Matheson, Joanna Cassidy, Jude Ciccolella
Votes: 588
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