History Main / Biography

* Subverted by {{Savatage}}'s ''StreetsARockOpera''. The story of DT Jesus and his struggle with drugs and fame bares a suspicious resemblance to lead singer Jon Oliva's life. It isn't supposed to be his story at all, ''Streets'' released in 1991 and the original story it was adapted from, ''Gutter Ballet'', being written in 1979 by their producer, Paul O'Neill, before his involvement with the band.

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* Most of the entries on real people on this wiki can be considered mini-biographies.

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A biography is a (supposedly) [[{{Nonfiction}} factual]] accounting of the life of a real person. If written by the person it is about, it's called an autobiography. An autobiography in which the author focuses on his or her role in society is also called a memoir.

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** ''Keating!'', a light-hearted one about [[AustralianPolitics Australian Prime Minister]] Paul Keating.

** ''Caesar and Cleopatra'', by GeorgeBernardShaw

A biography is a (supposedly) [[{{Nonfiction}} factual]] accounting of the life of a real person. If written by the person it is about, it's called an autobiography. Biographies date back to the invention of the written word, making this OlderThanDirt. The word is derived from the classical Greek root words ''auto'' (self or "without external prompting"), ''bio'' (life) and ''graphy'' (to write about).

** ''Amadeus'', about the relationship between composers [[WolfgangAmadeusMozart Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart]] and Antonio Salieri

** ''Caesar and Cleopatra'', by George Bernard Shaw
** ''Saint Joan'', by George Bernard Shaw, about [[JeanneDArchetype Joan of Arc]]

* [[WilliamShakespeare Shakespeare's]] biographical plays include:

*** ''[[KingJohn The Life and Death of King John]]''

*** ''[[HenryIV Henry IV]]'' (parts 1 and 2)
*** ''[[HenryV Henry V]]''
*** ''[[HenryVI Henry VI]]'' (parts 1, 2, and 3)
*** ''[[RichardIII Richard III]]''
*** ''[[HenryVIII Henry VIII]]''

*** ''[[JuliusCaesar Julius Caesar]]''
*** ''[[AntonyAndCleopatra Antony and Cleopatra]]''

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* By the same token, BenjaminFranklin's ''Autobiography'' is generally considered to be one of the best autobiographies ever written in English--or any other language, for that matter.
* Vladimir Nabokov's ''Speak, Memory''. Nabokov wanted to name it ''Speak, Mnemosyne'' (Mnemosyne being the Greek Titaness who symbolized memory), but his publisher suggested otherwise, fearing that readers wouldn't buy a book whose title they could not pronounce.

* Many Roman and Chinese emperors left behind biographies of their lives, which are invaluable to historians.

* The ''JohnAdams'' miniseries on HBO is a biography of the title character.

* BenjaminFranklin's ''Autobiography'' is generally considered to be one of the best autobiographies ever written.

* Benvenuto Cellini (1500-1571), famous Italian goldsmith, sculptor and painter, wrote an autobiography of his life, in which he, among other things, describes three murders he committed.

* ''The Life of SamuelJohnson'', written by James Boswell, is considered the greatest biography in the English language.

* ''The Life of SamuelJohnson'', written by James Boswell (with the help of Johnson himself) is considered the greatest biography in the english language.
* Vladimir Nabokov's ''Speak, Memory''. Nabokov wanted to name it ''Speak, Mnemosyne'' (Mnemosyne being the greek titaness who symbolized memory), but his publisher suggested otherwise, fearing that readers wouldn't buy a book whose title they could not pronounce.

*** ''[[RichardII Richard II]]''

** ''Amadeus'', about the relationship between composers Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and Antonio Salieri
** ''M. Butterfly'', about a French diplomat stationed in communist China who carries on a long-term affair with an opera singer -- whom (he claimed) he didn't know was really a man and not a woman

** ''Saint Joan'', by George Bernard Shaw, about Joan of Arc
** ''The Lion in Winter'', about England's King Henry II, his wife Eleanor of Aquitaine, and their scheming sons Richard the Lionheart, Prince John and Prince Geoffrey

* Shakespeare's biographical plays include:

*** ''The Life and Death of King John''
*** ''Richard II''
*** ''Henry IV'' (parts 1 and 2)
*** ''Henry V''
*** ''Henry VI'' (parts 1, 2, and 3)
*** ''Richard III''
*** ''Henry VIII''

*** ''Julius Caesar''
*** ''Antony and Cleopatra''

* Gertrude Stein subverted the genre by writing "The Autobiography of Alice B. Toklas" and "Everybody's Autobiography."