American documentary film director who is known for the epic historical scope of his films.

Burns spent his youth in Ann Arbor, Mich., where his father was a professor at the University of Michigan. He received a bachelor's degree (1975) in film studies and design from Hampshire College, Amherst, Mass. After graduating, Burns cofounded Florentine Films, a documentary film company, with cinematographer Buddy Squires and editor Paul Barnes.

His first major project, Brooklyn Bridge (1981), garnered an Academy Award nomination in the documentary category and set the tone for a productive career as a maker of films dealing with American history and culture. His films included The Shakers (1984), The Statue of Liberty (1985), and Huey Long (1985). It was Burns's 11-hour 1990 television series, The Civil War, however, that secured his reputation as a master filmmaker. Burns created a sense of movement in the still photographs that appeared throughout the film by using what was to become his signature technique of panning the camera over them and zooming in on details. The series won two Emmy Awards (Emmy Award) and earned record profits.

Burns then made a combination of single films, miniseries, and extended series, including the epics Baseball (1994), which won an Emmy, and Jazz (2001). Other works covered Thomas Jefferson (Jefferson, Thomas), explorers Meriwether Lewis and William Clark (Lewis and Clark Expedition), architect Frank Lloyd Wright (Wright, Frank Lloyd), boxer Jack Johnson (Johnson, Jack), and feminists Elizabeth Cady Stanton (Stanton, Elizabeth Cady) and Susan B. Anthony (Anthony, Susan B.). The seven-part documentary series The War (2007) focused on World War II veterans from four American towns.

Burns frequently employed the distinctive voices of well-known actors in the narration of his films and twice collaborated on scores with jazz musician Wynton Marsalis (Marsalis family). His documentaries continued to accrue accolades from a variety of film and historical organizations. Many of them appeared on the Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) network, often bringing it a marked increase in viewership when they aired. In 2007 Burns signed an agreement with PBS to produce work for the network well into the next decade.