Ben Mankiewicz

 ( 1967 Births ) 

Mankiewicz attended Georgetown Day School for his primary and secondary education. After graduating, he next enrolled into Tufts University. After his sophomore year, he interned at The George Michael Sports Machine, and "then came back the next year and worked for Glenn Brenner." In 1992, he received a Master of Science degree from Columbia University's Graduate School of Journalism with an emphasis in broadcast journalism.

In 2003, Mankiewicz was hired as a host for Turner Classic Movies, making his debut appearance on September 6. At the time, he was the network's second host with Robert Osborne being the first. To avoid imitating Osborne's style, Mankiewicz chose a loose, more casual demeanor, including sporting a goatee. According to Charles Tabesh, TCM's senior vice president of programming, this was encouraged. He reflected: "we really emphasized the differences between. We asked him to have a goatee. We had him in a set that was a downtown loft, and his scripts were much less reverential." Furthermore, Mankiewicz frequently uses sardonic humor in his on-air introductions; before a broadcast of Gigi (1958), he once joked the film was not to be confused with " Gigli, the 'Bennifer' disaster that won't get anywhere near the Academy Awards." According to Vanity Fair, Mankiewicz's early appearances were disliked among older network audiences. Years since, he has worn more formal attire and adopted a clean-shaven image.

In 2012, desiring a lesser schedule due to past health concerns, Osborne began delegating weekday primetime hosting appearances over to Mankiewicz by the following year. Mankiewicz's on-air appearances were also expanded to host the weekend programming blocks: Silent Sunday Nights and TCM Imports. In 2019, Jacqueline Stewart and Alicia Malone, respectively, were made the latest hosts for each block. In 2016, TCM partnered with The Criterion Collection to launch a streaming service, FilmStruck. In 2018, the service added a curated collection branded as the "TCM Select," which featured exclusive introductions by Mankiewicz. In November of the same year, FilmStruck ceased operations.

In March 2017, Osborne died at the age of 84, in which Mankiewicz commemorated him, posting: "All of us at TCM are better for having known him – I know I am. His legacy is reflected in the shared love and appreciation we all have for the movies he cared so deeply about." He then succeeded Osborne as the channel's primetime host. As of 2025, Mankiewicz hosts the primetime lineup from Wednesdays to Sundays (his colleagues Dave Karger and Alicia Malone host the primetime lineup on Mondays and Tuesdays, respectively).

In 2020, TCM and Mankiewicz launched an original podcast series titled The Plot Thickens, with the first season chronicling Peter Bogdanovich's filmmaking career. A year later, the first season was named a Webby Awards for Television & Film Podcasts, and again in 2022 and 2023. The Plot Thickens was also awarded the Best Branded Podcast at the 2021 Adweek Podcast Awards. The second season chronicled the tumultuous production of The Bonfire of the Vanities (1990), the third profiled Lucille Ball, and the fourth season profiled Pam Grier. On June 6, 2024, the series' fifth season, which chronicled film director John Ford's life and career, began streaming. A sixth season chronicling the troubled production of Joseph L. Mankiewicz's Cleopatra (1963) began streaming in July 2025.

In 2023, Mankiewicz began hosting a second podcast series Talking Pictures, in which he interviewed several personalities, including Mel Brooks, Nancy Meyers, and Patty Jenkins. A second season has been renewed, which began streaming in November 2024. It features interviews with Bill Murray, Margot Robbie, Carol Burnett, and Henry Winkler among others.

Mankiewicz co-hosted the online film review series What the Flick?! on The Young Turks Network, alongside fellow critics Christy Lemire, Matt Atchity, and Alonso Duralde. In August 2018, Lemire posted on her website What the Flick?! had officially ended. The series was reformatted into the web series and podcast Breakfast All Day hosted by Lemire and Duralde.

Mankiewicz has made in the Lifetime television movie The Bling Ring (2011) and the action film White House Down (2013). He also appears regularly on other shows as a political and media commentator, including The Michael Brooks Show in 2017. In 2019, he became a news contributor for CBS News Sunday Morning. He was among the people interviewed for the documentary film (2019).