Remembering William Cran, Prolific and Acclaimed Documentary Filmmaker

William Cran, a prolific filmmaker who produced more than 20 acclaimed FRONTLINE documentaries — including the series’ first two episodes in 1983 — died on June 4 at age 79.

Starting with an investigation probing the National Football League and then 88 Seconds in Greensboro, which examined the murder of civil rights demonstrators, Cran’s films for FRONTLINE would go on to explore topics ranging from the assassination of John F. Kennedy, to the global AIDS epidemic, to how Jesus became Christ.

The New York Times called the latter documentary series, From Jesus to Christ, “a revelation of what television can be.”

Whether he was examining an Ambush in Mogadishu, the secret life of J. Edgar Hoover, the hidden reality of rape on the job for immigrant women, or the evolution of apocalyptic beliefs across centuries, Cran explored complicated subjects with depth, vigor and compelling narratives.

“What was so particular about Bill was that each one of his films is different,” said the founder of FRONTLINE, David Fanning. Cran first caught Fanning’s attention when he was recruiting filmmakers for a new international series for public television called “World,” which would later become FRONTLINE.

“I invited Bill to visit us in Boston,” Fanning said, “but he arrived in a snow storm, which turned into the ‘Blizzard of ’78! We were trapped in my apartment for three days, so we had lots of time to get to know each other.”

​Years after Cran produced FRONTLINE’s first two films, Fanning recalls being in a Hollywood meeting with Steven Spielberg: “He came into the room and exclaimed, ‘FRONTLINE! That’s 88 Seconds in Greensboro!’” Fanning said Spielberg “could remember sequences” from Cran’s film.

In addition to his work with FRONTLINE, Cran produced several multi-part public media series that also probed complex subjects, including the 9-part series The Story of English, which aired on PBS and the BBC and also became a bestselling book. Cran also produced the 8-part series The Prize: The Epic Quest for Oil, Money & Power, with Pulitzer Prize-winning author Daniel Yergin.

Over the course of his storied career, Cran won honors including two Peabody Awards, four duPont-Columbia University awards, four Emmy Awards and an Overseas Press Club Award.

Cran also mentored several generations of documentary filmmakers and journalists who went on to have their own successful careers.

“Bill had an incredible nose for storytelling. He made me focus on the narrative arc of a story and insisted there should always be three acts and a climax,” said Marcela Gaviria, who first worked on the FRONTLINE documentary Godfather of Cocaine with Cran and went on to produce many films for the series. “He wasn’t just a storyteller; he was a demanding journalist and an inspired teacher.”

Watch a selection of Cran’s landmark films for FRONTLINE below.

Who Was Lee Harvey Oswald? (1993)

From Jesus to Christ: The First Christians (1998)

Part I:

Part II:

Rape in the Fields (2013)