Great Britons of Stage and Screen

Barbara Roisman Cooper is an acknowledged expert on British cinema and theatre. Her many credits on those topics include articles in publications such as British Heritage, Modern Maturity, Biblio, and The Baker Street Journal. She has interviewed more than one hundred leading members of the British stage and screen communities.

Great Britons of Stage and Screen, Volume II: Directors in Conversation examines the artistic processes of a dozen creators of some of the most important films and stage productions over the last seventy-five years, many of which have received Oscars, BAFTAs, Oliviers, and Tonys. The book provides insights into the lives and works of these professionals: what they do, how they do it, and who inspired them to create some of the greatest works of film and theatre.

Great Britons of Stage and Screen, Volume II: Directors in Conversation is Roisman Cooper’s fourth book; her others are Straight from the Horse’s Mouth with Ronald Neame (2003); Anna Lee: A Memoir (2007), and Great Britons of Stage and Screen: Volume I: In Conversation (2015), a collection of twenty-two interviews with British actors.

 “Barbara Roisman Cooper has, over many years, been having in-depth conversations with an extraordinary range of distinguished British film and theatre directors. The result is this remarkable collection, which is not only a welcome source book, it is also a terrific read.”

– Sir Christopher Frayling, former Rector of the Royal College of Art and Chair of Arts Council England

“Great Britons of Stage and Screen: Directors in Conversation provides surprising insights into the lives of working directors, past and present, an invaluable contribution that transcends scholarship and enriches our cultural knowledge.”

– Nicholas Meyer, writer-director

“With her talent and inside knowledge as author and teacher of film, Barbara Roisman Cooper commands and coaxes her directors to performance pitch. This is an inspiring book.”

– John Minoprio, The Old Vicarage Picture House

“These insightful and entertaining conversations with twelve successful British directors will add immensely to the hands-on work in film schools in particular and students of film and theatre at large. If this fine publication by Barbara Roisman Cooper had been available when I was at UCLA, I might have become a director myself instead of a novelist.”

– Tim Symonds, author; UK member: Society of Authors, Historical Novel Society, and Chartered Institute of Journalists