The Fascinating Life Of Media Giant Ted Turner

He Controversially Colorized MGM’s Black & White Film Library

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Ted bought the MGM/UA Entertainment Company in 1986. The deal included the Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer’s library of more than 4,000 films. Then he made a controversial decision when he greenlit a project that would colorize the library’s black-and-white archive. A year earlier, Yankee Doody Dandy became the first black-and-white film to be colorized, and Ted followed suit.

Eventually, Ted was forced to sell off MGM/UA and a share of Turner Broadcasting System, Inc., but he kept control of it and still owned the MGM movie library. By the mid-’90s, he discontinued colorizing films due to high costs. TCM continues to air original versions of its films.