Stephen Frears

This week Sue Lawley's castaway is the film director Stephen Frears. His film credits include My Beautiful Launderette, When Sammy and Rosie Get Laid, Dangerous Liaisons, High Fidelity and, most recently, Dirty Pretty Things. He is one of Britain's most talented and well-known directors, achieving success with his Hollywood work as much as for low budget, British productions. He was born in Leicester in 1941 and, despite studying law at Cambridge, was not tempted to train to be a lawyer, and instead sought employment at the ground-breaking Royal Court Theatre in London. He left the Royal Court in the 1960s to work with the highly acclaimed Czech film-maker Karel Reisz. His television work has included many collaborations with Alan Bennett, but it wasn't until the 1980s that he became famous with a film that was initially destined for television, which was so successful it was released to cinemas. It was 'My Beautiful Launderette' - starring a then unknown Daniel Day Lewis and examining the racial and sexual tensions of Thatcher's Britain. [Taken from the original programme material for this archive edition of Desert Island Discs] Favourite track: I'm Against It by Grouch Marx

Book: The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire by Edward Gibbon

Luxury: A painting by his wife