Michael Deeley

Kirsty Young's castaway this week is the Oscar-winning film producer Michael Deeley. Over the past 40 years he's been involved in some of the most highly acclaimed movies we've seen, including Don't Look Now, The Deer Hunter and The Italian Job. Yet his job is one that's barely understood. Neither the artistic visionary nor the star player the producer, he says, is the person who is the ramrod-figure who causes a film to be made - buying the rights to stories, hiring actors, finding locations and overseeing the production. He fell into it - he'd always thought he'd be a diplomat or a lawyer - but a casual job ended up being a career of many decades standing. He says rather modestly, "I just found I had the knack".

[Taken from the original programme material for this archive edition of Desert Island Discs]

Favourite track: I'd Do Anything for Love (But I Won't Do That) by Meat Loaf Book: Decent translation of the Koran Luxury: Two hundred cases of vintage wine.