Elia Kazan

Elia Kazan
(1909 -2003)
Biography from Baseline's Encyclopedia of Film

Born Elias Kazanjoglou in Constantinople, Ottoman Empire (now Istanbul, Turkey); nicknamed "Gadg". One of the leading forces in both the American theater and Hollywood film, Elia Kazan was a Greek immigrant who arrived in New York in 1913 at the age of four under the name Elia Kazanjioglou. In 1932, he joined New York's influential Group Theatre as an actor, appearing in a number of important plays, including Clifford Odets's Waiting for Lefty and Golden Boy. Although he worked briefly during the 1930s in film, assisting Ralph Steiner and Frontier Films on short documentaries, Kazan first rose to prominence as one of the most sought-after stage directors in the US. Among his landmark Broadway productions were the debuts of The Skin of Our Teeth (1942), A Streetcar Named Desire (1947), Death of a Salesman (1949) and Cat on a Hot Tin Roof (1955).
Kazan became increasingly involved with filmmaking in the postwar years. He acted briefly in two Hollywood films (CITY FOR CONQUEST, 1940 and BLUES IN THE NIGHT, 1941), and the "boy genius of Broadway" was recruited as a director by several studios in 1944. Teaming with producer Darryl F. Zanuck at 20th Century-Fox, Kazan quickly established himself as a quality filmmaker whose work mirrored his theatrical reputation: an expert handler of actors and an artist dedicated to addressing contemporary social problems. His initial efforts, A TREE GROWS IN BROOKLYN (1945) and BOOMERANG! (1947), were solid, if somewhat stagey dramas. But with GENTLEMAN'S AGREEMENT (1947) and PINKY (1949), Kazan broke new ground in Hollywood's cycle of postwar "problem pictures." GENTLEMAN'S AGREEMENT, which won Oscars for best picture, director, and supporting actress, was one of the first Hollywood productions to deal directly with anti-semitism, while PINKY addressed problems of race.
Kazan won further acclaim as a film director for his memorable adaptation of A STREETCAR NAMED DESIRE (1951), but his career was threatened when he became embroiled in the HUAC's search for Communist subversion in the filmmaking community. Like many of his Group Theatre colleagues, Kazan had been a member of the Communist Party of America (from 1934 to 1936), but he had left the CPA embittered. Kazan reversed his initial resistance to HUAC and in April 1952 "named names" for the committee. Criticized by many for caving in to the witch hunt, Kazan answered the snubs with ON THE WATERFRONT (1954), in which dock worker Terry Malloy (Marlon Brando) takes the unpopular action of testifying against corrupt labor leaders. Kazan later wrote: "When Brando, at the end, yells... 'I'm glad what I done -- you hear me? -- glad what I done!' that was me saying with identical heat, that I was glad I'd testified as I had."
Whether ON THE WATERFRONT redeemed Kazan politically, the film marked another milestone in his career, garnering six Academy Awards, including best picture and best director. WATERFRONT marked a culmination of two of the defining characteristics of his oeuvre, combining tenets of neorealism with strong, naturalistic acting performances. Kazan had used real locations to film PANIC IN THE STREETS (1950) and VIVA ZAPATA! (1952), but with ON THE WATERFRONT he also cast real dockworkers in authentic locales. The director's real forte was his ability to elicit visceral performances from his stars. He and Lee Strasberg founded the famed Actors Studio in 1947, and under Kazan's tutelage the Studio's star pupil, Marlon Brando, established himself as the American cinema's most charismatic leading man of the early 1950s, earning Oscar nominations under Kazan for his portrayals of Stanley Kowalski, Emiliano Zapata and Terry Malloy. Kazan also proved capable of getting stellar performances from less schooled actors, including James Dean (EAST OF EDEN, 1955), Carroll Baker (BABY DOLL, 1956), Andy Griffith (A FACE IN THE CROWD, 1957) and Natalie Wood and Warren Beatty (SPLENDOR IN THE GRASS, 1961). In all, Kazan directed 21 Oscar-nominated performances and nine winners.
In the 1960s, Elia Kazan completely abandoned his theater work, took up fiction writing, and focused his film career on much more personal, independently produced projects. AMERICA, AMERICA (1963) was a critically acclaimed adaptation of his own novel about his family's emigration to the US. His subsequent efforts, THE ARRANGEMENT (1969) (again from his own novel) and THE VISITORS (1972) (shot at his home in 16mm), were resounding failures. Kazan made a successful though unexpected return to mainstream filmmaking with Harold Pinter's adaptation of F. Scott Fitzgerald's THE LAST TYCOON (1976).

w. Martin Scorsese at the Oscar Ceremonies in 1999
His selection for an Honorary Oscar presented at the Awards Ceremonies in 1999 angered many in the filmmaking community on account of his cooperation with the HUAC in 1952, which had led to the Blacklist that ruined many careers in Hollywood and his publicly stating that he had no regrets for that action. In response, there were loud protests against Kazan's selection for the award, and many attendees of the Awards Ceremony itself stayed in their seats and refused to applaud when he received the award. For his part, Kazan quickly received the Oscar and left the stage with only a few thanks in response to the hostility.
His autobiography, A Life, appeared in 1988. Screenwriter Nicholas Kazan (REVERSAL OF FORTUNE, 1990) is Kazan's son by his first wife, the late Molly Day Thatcher; he was also married to the late actress Barbara Loden. He married his third wife, Frances, in 1982.

Directing 1947: GENTLEMAN'S AGREEMENT
Nominated for Directing 1951: A STREETCAR NAMED DESIRE
Directing 1954: ON THE WATERFRONT
Nominated for Directing 1955: EAST OF EDEN
Nominated for Writing (Best Story and Screenplay written directly for the screen) 1963: AMERICA, AMERICA
Nominated for Directing 1963: AMERICA, AMERICA
Nominated for Best Picture 1963: AMERICA, AMERICA - Producer at Athens
Honorary Award 1998: Lifetime Achievement Award
7 nominations, 2 Awards, 1 Honorary Award

	Born Elias Kazanjoglou in Constantinople, Ottoman Empire (now Istanbul, Turkey); nicknamed "Gadg". One of the leading forces in both the American theater and Hollywood film, Elia Kazan was a Greek immigrant who arrived in New York in 1913 at the age of four under the name Elia Kazanjioglou. In 1932, he joined New York's influential Group Theatre as an actor, appearing in a number of important plays, including Clifford Odets's Waiting for Lefty and Golden Boy. Although he worked briefly during the 1930s in film, assisting Ralph Steiner and Frontier Films on short documentaries, Kazan first rose to prominence as one of the most sought-after stage directors in the US. Among his landmark Broadway productions were the debuts of The Skin of Our Teeth (1942), A Streetcar Named Desire (1947), Death of a Salesman (1949) and Cat on a Hot Tin Roof (1955). Kazan became increasingly involved with filmmaking in the postwar years. He acted briefly in two Hollywood films (CITY FOR CONQUEST, 1940 and BLUES IN THE NIGHT, 1941), and the "boy genius of Broadway" was recruited as a director by several studios in 1944. Teaming with producer Darryl F. Zanuck at 20th Century-Fox, Kazan quickly established himself as a quality filmmaker whose work mirrored his theatrical reputation: an expert handler of actors and an artist dedicated to addressing contemporary social problems. His initial efforts, A TREE GROWS IN BROOKLYN (1945) and BOOMERANG! (1947), were solid, if somewhat stagey dramas. But with GENTLEMAN'S AGREEMENT (1947) and PINKY (1949), Kazan broke new ground in Hollywood's cycle of postwar "problem pictures." GENTLEMAN'S AGREEMENT, which won Oscars for best picture, director, and supporting actress, was one of the first Hollywood productions to deal directly with anti-semitism, while PINKY addressed problems of race. Kazan won further acclaim as a film director for his memorable adaptation of A STREETCAR NAMED DESIRE (1951), but his career was threatened when he became embroiled in the HUAC's search for Communist subversion in the filmmaking community. Like many of his Group Theatre colleagues, Kazan had been a member of the Communist Party of America (from 1934 to 1936), but he had left the CPA embittered. Kazan reversed his initial resistance to HUAC and in April 1952 "named names" for the committee. Criticized by many for caving in to the witch hunt, Kazan answered the snubs with ON THE WATERFRONT (1954), in which dock worker Terry Malloy (Marlon Brando) takes the unpopular action of testifying against corrupt labor leaders. Kazan later wrote: "When Brando, at the end, yells... 'I'm glad what I done -- you hear me? -- glad what I done!' that was me saying with identical heat, that I was glad I'd testified as I had." Whether ON THE WATERFRONT redeemed Kazan politically, the film marked another milestone in his career, garnering six Academy Awards, including best picture and best director. WATERFRONT marked a culmination of two of the defining characteristics of his oeuvre, combining tenets of neorealism with strong, naturalistic acting performances. Kazan had used real locations to film PANIC IN THE STREETS (1950) and VIVA ZAPATA! (1952), but with ON THE WATERFRONT he also cast real dockworkers in authentic locales. The director's real forte was his ability to elicit visceral performances from his stars. He and Lee Strasberg founded the famed Actors Studio in 1947, and under Kazan's tutelage the Studio's star pupil, Marlon Brando, established himself as the American cinema's most charismatic leading man of the early 1950s, earning Oscar nominations under Kazan for his portrayals of Stanley Kowalski, Emiliano Zapata and Terry Malloy. Kazan also proved capable of getting stellar performances from less schooled actors, including James Dean (EAST OF EDEN, 1955), Carroll Baker (BABY DOLL, 1956), Andy Griffith (A FACE IN THE CROWD, 1957) and Natalie Wood and Warren Beatty (SPLENDOR IN THE GRASS, 1961). In all, Kazan directed 21 Oscar-nominated performances and nine winners. In the 1960s, Elia Kazan completely abandoned his theater work, took up fiction writing, and focused his film career on much more personal, independently produced projects. AMERICA, AMERICA (1963) was a critically acclaimed adaptation of his own novel about his family's emigration to the US. His subsequent efforts, THE ARRANGEMENT (1969) (again from his own novel) and THE VISITORS (1972) (shot at his home in 16mm), were resounding failures. Kazan made a successful though unexpected return to mainstream filmmaking with Harold Pinter's adaptation of F. Scott Fitzgerald's THE LAST TYCOON (1976).
w. Martin Scorsese at the Oscar Ceremonies in 1999	His selection for an Honorary Oscar presented at the Awards Ceremonies in 1999 angered many in the filmmaking community on account of his cooperation with the HUAC in 1952, which had led to the Blacklist that ruined many careers in Hollywood and his publicly stating that he had no regrets for that action. In response, there were loud protests against Kazan's selection for the award, and many attendees of the Awards Ceremony itself stayed in their seats and refused to applaud when he received the award. For his part, Kazan quickly received the Oscar and left the stage with only a few thanks in response to the hostility. His autobiography, A Life, appeared in 1988. Screenwriter Nicholas Kazan (REVERSAL OF FORTUNE, 1990) is Kazan's son by his first wife, the late Molly Day Thatcher; he was also married to the late actress Barbara Loden. He married his third wife, Frances, in 1982.
	Directing 1947: GENTLEMAN'S AGREEMENT Nominated for Directing 1951: A STREETCAR NAMED DESIRE Directing 1954: ON THE WATERFRONT Nominated for Directing 1955: EAST OF EDEN Nominated for Writing (Best Story and Screenplay written directly for the screen) 1963: AMERICA, AMERICA Nominated for Directing 1963: AMERICA, AMERICA Nominated for Best Picture 1963: AMERICA, AMERICA - Producer at Athens Honorary Award 1998: Lifetime Achievement Award 7 nominations, 2 Awards, 1 Honorary Award