"American Masters" Subjects Ranked in Order of Americanness and Mastery

by J. Feindt

173. Greenwich Village
172. The Doors
171. Julliard
170. José Clemente Orozco
169. David Hockney
168. Man Ray
167. Yehudi Menuhin
166. Arthur Rubinstein
165. Placido Domingo
164. James Taylor
163. Milos Forman
162. Robert Capa
161. Elaine May
160. Joni Mitchell
159. Buckminster Fuller
158. Sweet Honey in the Rock
157. Alice Waters
156. Isaac Stern
155. I.M. Pei
154. Israel López “Cachao”
153. Glenn Gould
152. Merce Cunningham
151. Jeff Bridges
150. John James Audubon
149. Al Hirschfeld
148. Neil Young
147. Isaac B. Singer
146. Bob Marley
145. Katherine Anne Porter
144. Sanford Meisner
143. Harold Clurman
142. Helen Hayes
141. Thomas Eakins
140. Don Hewitt
139. Andre Kertesz
138. James Levine
137. Diego Rivera
136. Robert Motherwell
135. Frank Gehry
134. W. Eugene Smith
133. Lena Horne
132. Lillian Hellman
131. Group Theatre
130. Negro Ensemble Company
129. Martha Graham
128. Isamu Noguchi
127. Philip Glass
126. Benny Goodman
125. Annie Liebovitz
124. Carole King
123. Nat King Cole
122. Murray Louis
121. Alwin Nikolais
120. Cole Porter
119. Lou Reed
118. John Hammond
117. Ahmet Ertegun
116. George Cukor
115. Sarah Vaughan
114. Jerome Robbins
113. George Lucas
112. Lon Chaney
111. Albert Einstein
110. Maurice Sendak
109. Quincy Jones
108. Les Paul
107. Marvin Gaye
106. Paul Taylor
105. John Cassavetes
104. The Beats
103. Charlie Parker
102. Stella Adler
101. Actors Studio
100. Preston Sturges
99. Cary Grant
98. Sidney Poitier
97. Lillian Gish
96. Richard Avedon
95. Neil Simon
94. Paul Simon
93. Mike Nichols
92. Danny Kaye
91. Garrison Keillor
90. Muddy Waters
89. Gregory Peck
88. Carol Burnett
87. Alexander Calder
86. Charlie Chaplin
85. George Balanchine
84. William Wyler
83. William Styron
82. Billie Holiday
81. Jack Paar
80. Philip Johnson
79. Robert Rauschenberg
78. Jasper Johns
77. Aaron Copland
76. Augustus Saint-Gaudens
75. Gore Vidal
74. Norman Mailer
73. Vaudeville
72. The Warner Brothers
71. Algonquin Round Table
70. Will Rogers
69. Mort Sahl
68. Women of Tin Pan Alley
67. Richard Rodgers
66. David Selznick
65. Harold Lloyd
64. Bob Newhart
63. Billy Wilder
62. Julia Child
61. Pete Seeger
60. Sam Goldwyn
59. Alfred Hitchcock
58. Edward R. Murrow
57. Henry Luce
56. James Baldwin
55. Ernest Hemingway
54. Willa Cather
53. D.W. Griffith
52. Dashiell Hammett
51. George Stevens
50. James Dean
49. Edward Curtis
48. Georgia O’Keeffe
47. Arthur Miller
46. Elia Kazan
45. Dalton Trumbo
44. Waldo Salt
43. John Cage
42. Zora Neale Hurston
41. Eugene O’Neill
40. Judy Garland
39. Tennessee Williams
38. Hank Williams
37. Sam Cooke
36. Buster Keaton
35. Leonard Bernstein
34. Willie Nelson
33. Frederic Remington
32. John Wayne
31. Louisa May Alcott
30. Woody Guthrie
29. Truman Capote
28. Joan Baez
27. Ralph Ellison
26. Ella Fitzgerald
25. F. Scott Fitzgerald
24. Duke Ellington
23. Sun Records
22. Rod Serling
21. Alfred Stieglitz
20. Norman Rockwell
19. Martin Scorsese
18. Aretha Franklin
17. Marilyn Monroe
16. Merle Haggard
15. Edgar Allan Poe
14. John Ford
13. Gene Kelly
12. Bob Dylan
11. George Gershwin
10. James Brown
9. Lucille Ball
8. Paul Robeson
7. Andy Warhol
6. Clint Eastwood
5. Ray Charles
4. Charles M. Schulz
3. Walter Cronkite
2. Louis Armstrong
1. Tony Bennett

J. Feindt will really miss the PBS after the Republicans cancel it.

Photo by Capannelle, via Wikimedia Commons.