Albert Maysles Oral History

Albert Maysles (1926-2015) and his brother, David Maysles (1931-1987), made over thirty documentary films together. Their 1975 feature, Grey Gardens, which explored the lives of Edith "Big Edie" Beale and Edith "Little Edie" Beale, was selected by the Library of Congress for preservation in the National Film Registry in 2010 and is frequently listed among the greatest documentary films of all time. The Maysles' documentary later inspired a Broadway musical that ran between 2006 and 2007 and a 2009 made-for-television movie starring Jessica Lange and Drew Barrymore as the Beales. Grey Gardens appears in the Museum's Library Collection here: Bibliovation | Details for Grey Gardens. In addition to Grey Gardens, the Maysles are perhaps best known for their 1970 documentary on The Rolling Stones, Gimme Shelter. - Stephen Fagin, Curator

An early example of cinéma vérité, French for "cinema of truth," the one-hour television documentary, Primary (1960), follows candidates John F. Kennedy and Hubert Humphrey during the Democratic primary in Wisconsin. The significant primary, held on April 5, 1960, helped to solidify Senator Kennedy as the Democratic frontrunner despite an unexpectedly narrow victory. Humphrey dropped out of the race the next month following his defeat in the crucial West Virginia primary. The award-winning Primary was produced by pioneering documentarian Robert Drew and distributed by Time-Life Television in the United States. Drew went on to produce more documentaries on John F. Kennedy, including Adventures on the New Frontier (1961), Crisis (1963) and Faces of November (1964). All of these films are in the Museum's Library Collection: Bibliovation | Details for The Kennedy films of Robert Drew & associates. In addition to Robert Drew, the Museum also recorded oral histories with Primary photographers Albert Maysles and D.A. Pennebaker. - Stephen Fagin, Curator

Albert Maysles passed away on March 5, 2015. - Stephen Fagin, Curator