TCM will honor our founder and champion Ted Turner with a presentation of Gone with the Wind (1939) this Sunday, May 10 at 8pm ET. The evening will feature the special video tribute shown when Turner was in attendance at the 2019 TCM Classic Film Festival.
TCM Host Ben Mankiewicz shares, “I got to sit down and talk to Ted Turner in the weeks before we honored him at the 10th TCM Classic Film Festival in 2019. First thing I said to him was, ‘the word that gets tossed around a lot with you is maverick…’
‘I don’t know why,’ he quickly interjected, ‘I don’t really feel like I was a maverick.’ Seldom had Ted Turner been so wrong. During our conversation, he allowed himself a brief moment of understated self-praise. ‘I was smart enough to think things through very carefully,’ he said. ‘I knew 24 hours news was going to work. I knew 24 hour classic movies was going to work.’
The reality is that Ted Turner occupied a singular space at the confluence of business and entertainment, of media and art. In doing so, Ted emerged as one of the foremost mavericks of his time.”
Turner founded TCM on April 14, 1994, with a vision to preserve and celebrate classic American cinema. The network launched with Gone with the Wind as its first broadcast, followed by iconic classics, presented in their original, uncut form without commercial interruptions. TCM’s programming was curated from the extensive library of Turner Entertainment Co., which Turner acquired in 1985 with the purchase of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM). This library included MGM’s full catalog, pre-1950 Warner Bros. films, RKO Radio Pictures titles, and other classic works. TCM sat as a crown jewel in Turner’s broader media empire, which also included revered networks CNN, TNT and Cartoon Network.
“Ted Turner’s influence impacted every form of global media including news, sports, and entertainment programming. His love of storytelling and appreciation of classic films will live on through one of his greatest achievements, Turner Classic Movies, which stands today as one of his most enduring contributions to history and culture. Ted’s legacy, through TCM, will ensure classic films are kept at the forefront of the entertainment world,” said Charlie Tabesh, SVP, Programming & Content Strategy, TCM.
For more than three decades, Turner’s unflappable commitment to cinema and mission have anchored TCM as it’s preserved, celebrated, and introduced classic film to the new generation of filmmakers and film lovers alike. This special presentation honors not only the visionary who created the network, but also the lasting cultural legacy he helped protect.
