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Graham/Shea Package

 

Ruth and Billy Graham: What Grace Provides:
The Grahams' Love Story

Whether Protestant or Catholic, Christian or non-Christian, nearly everyone in the world knows the name Billy Graham. He has been lauded as the greatest Christian evangelist of the 20th century, and his voice has a familiar resonance on any radio or television program. But while his fame stretches the continents as a public figure, few people have ever seen the human side of Billy Graham. Even fewer know the story of the woman who made it possible for him to travel so freely and whom he even called the "real Christian of the family"--his wife, Ruth.

Ruth and Billy Graham: What Grace Provides tells the intimate story of the wife and marriage of the most powerful evangelist of the century. Unlike any ordinary love story, the Grahams' story is wrought with frequent heartwrenching partings and fierce determination to stay together and do the jobs each of them felt led to do.

Producer Donna Campbell includes an original music score for the program, based on 18 of Ruth and Billy's favorite hymns and performed by North Carolina musician Richard Putnam of Shelby, N.C. The program traces the timeline from before Ruth's and Billy's births and travels through their childhood, decisions toward ministry, courtship, and marriage. Clips from Billy Graham's Christian radio and television shows introduce several people who became an influential part of Billy's ministry, such as George Beverly Shea.

Walter Cronkite, former newscaster for CBS and friend of the Grahams, provides the narration. Based on contemporary interviews with the Grahams, their family and friends, the documentary blends archival footage from family photographs, early television and home movies. Cronkite also reminisces about his own relationship with the Grahams.

"I think a lot of us look upon Billy Graham as being larger than life and one of those saints or prophets up on a hill who is giving the Word," Lynda Johnson Robb says. "But you know, he's a real person. And the same about Mrs. Graham. She's not a plastic saint."

"This program touches much more on the Grahams' personal love story, and it especially focuses on Ruth," says Donna Campbell, producer.

Several other familiar personalities tell the story of the Grahams: mystery author Patricia Cornwell, former First ladies Barbara Bush, Lady Bird Johnson, inspirational singer George Beverly Shea, and actress Andie McDowell. The documentary includes clips from many of Billy's travels, highlights from the Grahams' reception of the Congressional Medal of Honor, and scenes from several televised interviews with Ruth. Rare family photos and exclusive interviews with Billy's sisters in Charlotte, Jean and Catherine, and Ruth's older sister, Rosa, as well as footage from shows from 1956, "Person To Person with Edward R. Murrow," and 1957, "This is Your Life," blend the Grahams' family life with a snapshot of Billy's ministry.

The idea for the Graham show grew out of Campbell's 1999 documentary on George Beverly Shea, Billy Graham's partner in ministry for 50 years. Ruth, a woman of immeasurable character and strength that often stood in her husband's shadow, particularly fascinated Campbell.

"Billy's told me over and over again that Ruth is the real Christian in the family," says Barbara Bush. "I think when you are married to someone whom people idolize, it's hard for the wife sometimes."

Ruth and Billy Graham: What Grace Provides shares the joy and challenges of the Graham's marriage and family life. Despite the couple's assurance that they wouldn't trade a minute of their lives, both dealt with the frequent hardship of Billy's long absences. Sometimes Ruth would go with him, adding a playful banter to his television spots. Most of the time she stayed at home with their five children, maintaining the household and writing poetry and personal anecdotes in her journal. Verses of her poetry, as well as clips from her journal, paint a vivid portrait of the woman behind the most renowned evangelist in the world.

"I don't believe the world would have a Billy Graham if it weren't for a Ruth Graham," says daughter Anne Graham Lotz. This is the story that is about to be told.

UNC-TV is North Carolina’s only statewide broadcasting system, made possible through a unique partnership of public investment and private support. UNC-TV’s commitment to producing and broadcasting local and national programs about people of stature makes it one of the state’s most important sources of information. For more information about UNC-TV and its programs, please visit www.unctv.org.

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