Best 30 Biography Movies Editor's Choice from 1982

Two British track athletes, one a determined Jew and the other a devout Christian, are driven to win in the 1924 Olympics as they wrestle with issues of pride and conscience. Check out Chariots of Fire / IMDB / YouTube

When an idealistic American writer disappears during the Chilean coup d'état in September 1973, his wife and father try to find him. Look into Missing / IMDB / YouTube

The life of the Armenian poet Sayat-Nova, from childhood to death: his spiritual journey, artistic endeavors, and inner conflicts within the cultural and historical context of Armenia. Hailed as revolutionary by Mikhail Vartanov. Get info on The Color of Pomegranates / IMDB / YouTube

The story of Gary Gilmore, a convicted murderer who lobbied for his own execution. Find out about The Executioner's Song / IMDB / YouTube

The real-life story of the Peoples Temple cult led by Reverend Jim Jones and the events involving its move to Guyana and its eventual mass suicide. Look into Guyana Tragedy: The Story of Jim Jones / IMDB / YouTube

The First part of Bill Douglas' influential trilogy harks back to his impoverished upbringing in early-'40s Scotland. Cinema was his only escape - he paid for it with the money he made from returning empty jam jars - and this escape is reflected most closely at this time of his life as an eight-year-old living on the breadline with his half-brother and sick grandmothe. Check out My Childhood / IMDB / YouTube

In 1897 Swedish engineer S. A. Andrée with 2 colleagues prepares to fly over the North Pole in his balloon Eagle. More about The Flight of the Eagle / IMDB / YouTube

During the Second World War, a small group of students at Munich University begin to question the decisions and sanity of Germany's Nazi government. The students form a resistance cell which they name the White Rose after a newsletter that is secretly distributed to the student body. At first small in numbers and fearful of discovery, the White Rose begins to gain m. Explore The White Rose / IMDB / YouTube

The story of the Russian-born, Wisconsin-raised woman who rose to become Israel's prime minister in the late 1960s and early 1970s. Read about A Woman Called Golda / IMDB / YouTube

A light comedy/love story based on the life of blind musician Tom Sullivan. See more about If You Could See What I Hear / IMDB / YouTube

Political and sexual repression in Hungary, just after the revolution of 1956. In 1958, the body of Eva Szalanczky, a political journalist, is discovered near the border. Her friend Livia is in hospital with a broken neck; Livia's husband, Donci, is under arrest. In a flashback to the year before, we see what leads up to the tragedy. Eva gets a job as a writer. She me. Find out about Another Way / IMDB / YouTube

Seductive Messalina will stop at nothing to become the most powerful woman in Rome. Find out about Caligula et Messaline / IMDB / YouTube

A dramatization of the life of Albert Speer (Rutger Hauer), Adolf Hitler's (Sir Derek Jacobi's) young architect and one-time confidant, and his meteoric rise into the Nazi hierarchy. This movie is based on Speer's autobiography of the same name. Read about Inside the Third Reich / IMDB / YouTube

The famous woodblock artist Hokusai (1760-1849), a widower in need of a steady income, lives with his daughter Oei in the house of his friend Bakin. Check out Edo Porn / IMDB / YouTube

Jeannie Gunn faced being the only civilised woman in an uncivilised land. A story of personal triumph about one woman who reached out in a hard, hostile, prejudiced world and managed to find love. Get info on We of the Never Never / IMDB / YouTube

Biography of the curvaceous and sharp-witted actress who scandalized Broadway and Hollywood in the 1920s-30s with her frank approach to sex. Explore Mae West / IMDB / YouTube

Victor and his family moved to the USSR in the mid '30's. When he refused to sign his skydiving accomplishment as a citizen of the USSR, he was not tried but simply sent to prison. His horrific imprisonment, beating and torture culminated with his being sent to the Gulag for many years. He was in the Soviet Union, according to the film, for a total of 45 years. See more about Coming Out of the Ice / IMDB / YouTube

The life and times of the famous French writer Guy de Maupassant. Learn about Guy de Maupassant / IMDB / YouTube

An adaptation of George Buchner's novella, Lenz, chronicling the poet Jakob Lenz's slide into insanity and madness. The setting is transposed from 18th century Germany to New York in the early 1980s. Info on Lenz / IMDB / YouTube