Steve Allen, already the originator of the Tonight show, later created what one critic called "the ultimate talk show" and presented, on the PBS network, a series called Meeting of Minds which was constructed in a typical chat-show format, but featured guests who played important roles in the drama of history. Among those who appeared were Plato, Socrates, Aristotle, Thomas Aquinas, Queen Cleopatra of Egypt, Marie Antoinette, Florence Nightingale, Thomas Paine, Francis Bacon, Thomas Jefferson, Voltaire and Charles Darwin. The multi-award winning series still exists in the form of video cassettes, audio cassettes and a four volume set of books, published by Prometheus. Most of the women's roles were played by Allen's wife, Jayne Meadows.
This popular, award-winning series is your passport to meeting some of the great minds and exciting figures of the past who have influenced mankind and even changed the course of history. Filled with humor, eloquence and thought-provoking controversy, scholars, educators and the press have been unanimous in their praise.
In volume two meet Dr. Sun Yat-Sen, the "father of modern China" (played by Keye Luke, the mystic in the film Gremlins); 19th Century English poet, Elizabeth Barrett Browning (Jayne Meadows in a brilliant performance); Italy's Niccolo Machiavelli (Alfred Ryder), one of history's most misunderstood and maligned "villains"; and Aristotle (Bernard Behrens), the learned Greek philosopher. Steve Allen, the creator and writer of this highly original program, is the host and moderator. ". . . a masterpiece of presentation." --Will Durant; Historian ". . . wonderfully entertaining. . ." -- Saturday Review. Buena Vista Home Video; run time 57 minutes.
