Powys WI members treated to evening of tales from Hollywood

From working on Gladiator and with the likes of Kirk Douglas and Roman Polanski, to knitting a hat and scarf for Barbara Streisand, members listened to a lively and most entertaining talk given by Judi Bunn, who has spent 40 years in the film industry.

Starting out as a secretary, she worked her way up to production co-coordinator and finally production manager. Her real breakthrough came from working with Kirk Douglas as an actor and director, at one point living in his home while working for him. Through hard work and her undoubted talent as a problem solver, Judi went on to work with other famous film directors, including Roman Polanski and Richard Attenborough.

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Travelling all over the world on shoots, Judi worked on such films as Gladiator and Gandi before CGI when the cast of thousands was real, had to be sourced, made up and costumed and directed. Remember the funeral scene in Gandi? Who would fancy the job of scheduling and recording the production shooting on those days?

Judi’s anecdotes were fascinating, from working with actors among Hollywood’s A-list like Candice Bergen, Lee Marvin, Robert Redford, Donald Sutherland, Charles Bronson, Ben Kingsley, Amrish Puri and Laurence Olivier; the list went on, even meeting Henry Kissinger.

It would be unfair to relate the anecdotes and spoil the pleasure for other WI’s who may wish to invite her along. But just to tantalise: Judi worked on a ship during filming as the lone woman among over 7,000 men, once put $18,000 on her personal credit card, and when Barbara Streisand could not find a hat and scarf she liked, Judi set about knitting a set. The result can be seen in the film Yentl as Barbara Streisand crosses on the boat.

Judi now lives in Mid Wales and would be a brilliant recruit for some lucky WI.

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