| English filmmaker IAN WOODWARD was formerly a writer on the arts for Britain’s national newspapers and magazines and appeared regularly on the BBC as presenter of radio’s Jazz in Britain and other BBC shows.
He is the author of more than 30 books including the movie-star biographies AUDREY HEPBURN: FAIR LADY OF THE SCREEN (a worldwide best-seller and never out of print since first published in 1984 and issued as an eBook in 2012 and available worldwide on Amazon); and GLENDA JACKSON: A STUDY IN FIRE AND ICE. Other books include THE WEREWOLF DELUSION; THE STORY OF CLOWNS; DANCE; BIRDS IN THE GARDEN; and (poetry) RING OUT WILD BELLS and the best-seller POEMS FOR CHRISTMAS. "Audrey Hepburn: Fair Lady of the Screen" spawned the musical FAIR LADY OF THE SCREEN, composed by Rudi Dobson, one-time keyboardist with the Bee Gees band. The musical was released on CD by President Records in 1994 with an accompanying 32-page book written by Ian Woodward. His interests outside filmmaking include Tudor and Elizabethan history, Charles Dickens, William Shakespeare, the life of Jesus Christ, music (especially Tchaikovsky, Beethoven, Bedřich Smetana, and Austro-Hungarian operetta), the thrilling voice of Mario Lanza, the lives of patriot martyrs Joan of Arc and Sir Thomas More, and wildlife in general and ornithology in particular. He is a FZS - Fellow of the Zoological Society of London. His passion is film-making. The latter began with 8mm and 9.5mm film stock, progressing to video tape (first BetaMax, then VHS) and, ultimately, to digital video. March 2014 marked the international film-festival release of Ian Woodward's LOVE SONG: TJHE TRIUMPH AND TRAGEDY OF TCHAIKOVSKY, a biopic drama that will rock the classical-music Establishment. The film, starring Simon Alexander as the Russian composer with Lee Farrell as his pupil and inspiration Eduard Zak, is based on exclusive ground-breaking research by lifelong Tchaikovsky aficionado Ian Woodward. His screenplay reveals for the first time the heart-rending true story behind the creation of the composer’s fantasy overture "Romeo and Juliet" which spawned one of the most famous love themes ever written. His previous four films – THE RED ROSE, TOO MANY GHOSTS, SILLY ROBIN and FROM BOHEMIA’S WOODS AND FIELDS - have won major awards at international film festivals and been screened worldwide.
He is married, with two children, Philip and Stefanie, and (from Phil and wife Sinéad) two grandchildren, Eva and Anna. Eva appears briefly as the Child of Hope in his film “Too Many Ghosts”.
RECENT FILMOGRAPHY: Love Song: The Triumph and Tragedy of Tchaikovsky (2014). Behind the Scenes during the Making of Love Song (2014). The Red Rose (2013). The Red Rose Unzipped (2013). Silly Robin (2012). From Bohemia’s Woods and Fields (2011). Too Many Ghosts (2011). Bohemian Memories (2010). Family Ties (2010). Another Year in the Life of an English Country Garden (2009). Smetana: The Man Who Immortalised a River (2008). Colours, Glorious Colours! (2007). A Year in the Life of an English Country Garden (2006).
|
