Amazon.com description: Product Description: From one of the most successful and influential producers in the entertainment industry, the man responsible for classics such as ROOTS, THE THORN BIRDS and L. A. CONFIDENTIAL, comes a fascinating memoir of life at the very hub of Hollywood. David L. Wolper and television were born in 1928. Wolper's entrepreneurial talents were obvious from the start, when he sold homegrown radishes to his mother for a penny each and delivered sealed envelopes for the wise guys who hung around New York's Copacabana nightclub. Part salesman, part visionary, Wolper began his television career in 1949 by peddling programmes to the newly created broadcasting stations. In the four decades since his production company, Wolper Productions, has created thousands of hours of diverse programming, including the two highest rated mini-series of all-time, ROOTS and THE THORN BIRDS. He has also produced such spectacles as the opening and closing ceremonies of the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics and movies such as L. A. CONFIDENTIAL and WILLY WONKA AND THE CHOCOLATE FACTORY. Yet despite Wolper's numerous awards he has remained street-smart, wry and surprisingly down-to-earth. Told in a conversational, comfortable voice, PRODUCER is filled with funny and startling anecdotes about such diverse personalities as Sophia Loren, Elizabeth Taylor, Elvis Presley and John Lennon. The are also tales of other legendary filmmakers such as Orson Welles and Frederico Fellini. PRODUCER is the engaging and inspiring memoir of a true pioneer.