Edge of Midnight

John Schlesinger's extraordinary career in cinema, stage, opera, and television spanned half a century. It was, however, his films that made him famous, including such classics as Billy Liar, Darling, Midnight Cowboy, Sunday Bloody Sunday, Day of the Locust, and Marathon Man, as well as The Falcon and the Snowman, Madame Sousatzka, and Pacific Heights. In Edge of Midnight, best-selling author and historian William J. Mann chronicles Schlesinger's life and career-from his early documentary days at the BBC to his Academy Award for the X-rated Midnight Cowboy and his glittering nights as a Hollywood host. The author draws on Schlesinger's tapes, diaries, production notes, and correspondence, as well as on interviews with Schlesinger, his family, his partner of 36 years, and his friends. Also included are revelatory, often hilarious anecdotes about, and interviews with, such celebrities as Sir Laurence Olivier, Julie Christie, Dustin Hoffman, Glenda Jackson, Dirk Bogarde, Ian McKellen, Sean Penn, Sally Field, Rupert Everett, and Madonna. This fascinating biography of Schlesinger, who died in 2003, will be a must-have for every film buff.