Biography fans rejoice: four in store, Brando to Barbaro

This is a week for insightful, provocative, well-crafted biographies of two innovators, one iconoclast and a horse.

Strutting in first is "Brando" (in two parts: 8p.m. Tuesday and Wednesday on TCM) — smoldering, raw, mesmerizing Marlon Brando. A slew of celebrities weigh in on the magnificent one. ("God," Johnny Depp calls him.) And if you've always wondered about the technique known as Method acting consider this film an excellent primer. But it's the unexpected treats here — old talk-show footage of Brando with his trying father; Cloris Leachman and Angie Dickinson purring about Brando's sex appeal; Russell Means and Bobby Seale reminiscing about the actor's considerable attention to Native and black issues — that elevates this film beyond typical "true story" fare. "Godfather" junkies take note: Memorable trivia here, especially about Brando and one lucky cat. On both nights TCM follows the documentary with eight hours of assorted Brando films.

From someone who could stop you in your tracks to someone behind the music that often did just that: Ahmet Ertegun, the young son of a Turkish foreign diplomat, had great access to what the world had to offer. But it was black American music that engulfed him. (As a 7th grader, he took a cab to Harlem and lost himself in a jazz club all night.) You've undoubtedly listened to the music that came after Ertegun co-founded Atlantic Records in 1947: Ray Charles, Ruth Brown, Bobby Darin; and later, Phil Collins, Bette Midler, Led Zeppelin and many others.

Ertegun died Dec. 14, 2006, at age 83 after falling at a Rolling Stones concert and it was just two weeks ago, at Lincoln Center, that Mick Jagger, Wynton Marsalis and other luminaries celebrated his life. "Atlantic Records: The House that Ahmet Built" (9 p.m. Wednesday on KCTS) continues the celebration, weaving interviews between narrator Midler and others taken over a four-year period, with loads of archival performances (Otis Redding!) and recording studio footage. Yes, this doc airs at the exact time as that other music-tinged show ("American Idol"), but really, is there any question as to what to watch?

On to the "King of Kink": the late fashion photographer Helmut Newton in a documentary (7 p.m. Monday on Cinemax) especially suitable for all you "America's Next Top Model" fiends or those old enough to remember when Cindy Crawford ruled the catwalk. Newton loved strong, gorgeous women, especially when their stilettoed-legs were posed in tough, sometimes perverse and violent poses. But this time it's wife June Newton with the camera, offering an intimate, fascinating portrait of an artist at work (and taking his daily siesta). If the name Julie Strain means something to you, "Helmut by June" is a true eyeful. I, however, couldn't get enough of Crawford's magnificent legs and Newton's devoted attention to them through his lens.

And speaking of remarkable legs, the last word goes to "Barbaro: A Nation's Horse" (2 p.m. today on KING/NBC). A Philadephia Inquirer columnist here puts it best: If Barbaro had won the Triple Crown he would have been a big story. But the story of Barbaro turned out to be even bigger.

"24 tick-tock:" Karen Trumps Buchanan. Honey, you're fired.

Florangela Davila: 206-464-2916 or fdavila@seattletimes.com