Explore the life of L. Frank Baum, the man behind one of the most beloved, enduring and quintessential American classics. "The Wonderful Wizard of Oz," published in 1900, has been reinterpreted through the generations in films, books and musicals.
American Experience: American OzThursday, November 23 at 9 pm Film Explores the Life and Times of L. Frank Baum, Creator of the Beloved The Wonderful Wizard of Oz American Experience
Creator of the Beloved
American Experience presents
American Oz, a new documentary that explores the life and times of author L. Frank Baum, the creator of one of the most beloved, enduring and classic American narratives. By 1900, when
The Wonderful Wizard of Oz was published, Baum was 44 years old and had spent much of his life in restless pursuit of success. With mixed results he dove into a string of jobs chicken breeder, actor, marketer of petroleum products, shopkeeper, newspaperman and traveling salesman but continued to reinvent himself, reflecting a uniquely American brand of confidence, imagination and innovation. During his travels to the Great Plains and on to Chicago during the American frontier’s final days, he witnessed a nation coming to terms with the economic uncertainty of the Gilded Age. But he never lost his childlike sense of wonder and eventually crafted his observations into a magical tale of survival, adventure and self-discovery, reinterp