Ben Bryant has written a series of entertainment books no other person could write. His books offer an insider’s backstage – and on stage – view of the inner workings of the entertainment industry at nearly every level for over five decades. His memoir, spanning three volumes, reads like a 'Who's Who' listing of stars and celebrities from New York to Hollywood.
Before stepping into a career in entertainment, Bryant played football for Don Coryell at Whittier College. That story is related in the first volume of his memoir. Now, Don Coryell is again a finalist for the NFL Hall of Fame. In a recent San Diego Chargers article, a host of NFL greats including Joe Gibbs, Don Shula, John Madden, Tom Landry, Dan Fouts and many others called for his induction. Ben Bryant believes the honor is overdue and well deserved.
"Don Coryell, my second NFL Hall of Fame coach to be, was well named," Bryant stated. "Unlike my first one, the great George Allen, Coach Don was a yeller to his core."
"The fall of 1953, supported by a football 'grant-in-aid', I started Whittier College. I was third string fullback under the tutelage of Coach Allen. He was a fabulous coach and a great character. Have you ever had an experience where you wished that you’d written something down, sealed it in a dated envelope and opened it ten years later? After the first week of practice I believed Coach Allen was destined for the NFL."
"After a year out of football and another year out of school to earn money (no football, no grant) the fall of ’57 was technically my senior year but even though I was fully involved in theatre and music courses and back in the choir I just had to go out, again, for football. Coach Allen had moved on to the LA Rams (as I predicted) and his replacement was another man who would gain fame in the NFL, Don Coryell."
"Coryell was as big a fanatic about offense as Allen was about defense. Once full contact drills began we found out what an offensive fanatic Coach Coryell truly was. He’d give the offense the ball on the five yard line and if we scored (field goals weren’t allowed) the defense had to run a lap. If we didn’t score not only would we have to run a lap but he’d go nuts. One time I remember him banging his own head against the goal post when we didn’t get into the end zone."
"But alas, after three or four weeks the theatre and music departments won out and I hung up my cleats for the last time. The Whittier College Poets went on to win the conference that year as well as the next two that Coryell coached."
"Now Coach Coryell is being considered for induction into the NFL Hall of Fame. To quote the SD Chargers’ article: “He’s most known for his revolutionary ‘Air Coryell’ offense that transformed football into what we know today. It’s not a stretch to say that without Don Coryell, the modern NFL would be a much different game.”
Ben Bryant’s captivating memoir captures the entertainment industry experience in ways no other work has ever captured it before or ever will again. He is a consummate storyteller. Every segment of the industry – theatre, television, Las Vegas, national tours, The Metropolitan Opera and the Broadway stage – occupies a place in his engaging tales. Bryant’s "backstage view" of the world of entertainment is panoramic. His up close and personal stories form the basis of a work that readers will find revealing, amusing and highly entertaining.
While working as an actor/singer, Ben Bryant performed on Broadway, at Carnegie Hall and Lincoln Center as well as on stages and in concert halls all over the USA and Canada. He was even briefly an opera singer at the Met. He has known and worked with many extraordinary people. After leaving the stage he worked as a motion picture camera assistant, a sound man, a producer, a production manager, an assistant director, a cameraman, a video director and editor. He was involved in the production of over 1,000 commercials and several movies, short films and documentaries. During his years in production he worked with many more household name level stars - from Carole King whose Central Park concert he production managed to Tony Randall and Paul Newman with whom he did commercials as an Assistant Director.
Ben Bryant is available for media interviews and can be reached using the information below or by email at authorauthor@earthlink.net. All three books are available at Amazon in Kindle format, at Barnes & Noble for Nook and at Payhip in all eBook formats. A free ebook sampler from 'Three Stages', relating some of the best stories from his memoir, is available at Payhip at http://www.payhip.com/BenBryant. Paperback versions are available at Lulu.com. More information is available at Bryant’s website at http://www.EntertainmentBooksByBen.com.
About Ben Bryant:
Ben Bryant’s show business and real world careers include being a line gang grunt, a jackhammer operator, a swimming and water safety instructor, a gym trainer, an Air Force medic, a choir director, an oratorio soloist, a musical theatre singer, an actor, a jazz arranger, a recording artist, a theatre director, operating partner in a typography company, a magazine production manager, a dancer, a motion picture camera assistant, a sound man, a producer, a motion picture production manager, an assistant director, a cameraman, a video editor, an author, a mentor and a video director.
He has performed on Broadway, at Carnegie Hall and Lincoln Center as well as on stages and in concert halls in the USA and Canada. As an actor he worked on a large number of TV shows and dozens of commercials. In his work and/or personal life he has been associated with known stars such as Clint Eastwood, Alfred Hitchcock, Neil Diamond, Mel Brooks, Frank Zappa, Christopher Walken, Charles Bronson, Dave Brubeck, Roy Rogers, David Carradine, Jon Voight, Michael Bennett, Leonard Bernstein, Tony Martin, Charles Durning, Mary Martin, Jack Benny, Jack Jones, Frankie Avalon, Barbara Hershey, Dale Evans, Ricardo Montalban, Raul Julia, Cyd Charisse, Alan King, Jerry Orbach and many others.
Contact:
Ben Bryant
authorauthor@earthlink.net
http://www.entertainmentbooksbyben.com
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