Great Britons of Stage and Screen: Volume III: Behind the Scenes

Barbara Roisman Cooper’s fifth book looks at a group of distinguished artists and creators behind the scenes of theatre and film productions. Great Britons of Stage and Screen: Volume III, Behind the Scenes features a dozen interviews with the most honored filmmakers and theatrical professionals of the past 75 years. All of these interviews were personally conducted by Roisman Cooper in Los Angeles, London, and New York over a period of five years.

Great Britons of Stage and Screen, Volume III, examines the artistic processes of these stage and screen professionals, many whom have received Oscars, BAFTAs, Oliviers, and Tonys. In the interviews, they reveal what they do and how they do it.

Among the interviewee subjects are: Production Designer Sir Ken Adam (seven James Bond films; Dr. Strangelove…; and Barry Lyndon); the doyenne of script supervisors, Angela Allen (fourteen films with John Huston, including The African Queen; and The Third Man); Julie Harris (Oscar for Darling and both films with The Beatles, Help! and A Hard Day’s Night).

Among others who shared their stories are: Choreographer Sir Matthew Bourne, Playwright Sir Ronald Harwood, Editor Anne V. Coates, and Composer Rachel Portman, the first woman to win an Oscar for Best Music Score.
Readers who are interested in what goes on behind the scenes will find this book an outstanding introduction to how these artists create great films and theatrical experiences.

This is the third of four books in Roisman Cooper’s Great Britons series featuring in-person interviews with film and stage professionals. [Part II: Behind the Scenes will be published by BearManor in summer 2024.]