Kazan, Elia

orig. Elia Kazanjoglous

born Sept. 7, 1909, Constantinople, Ottoman Empire

died Sept. 28, 2003, New York, N.Y., U.S.

U.S. stage and film director.

At age four he immigrated to the U.S. with his family. An actor with the Group Theatre (1932–39), he became a noted Broadway director with plays such as The Skin of Our Teeth (1942), A Streetcar Named Desire (1947; film, 1951), Death of a Salesman (1949, Tony Award), J.B. (1958, Tony Award), and Sweet Bird of Youth (1959). In 1947 he cofounded the Actors Studio. He was praised for his naturalistic style in movies such as A Tree Grows in Brooklyn (1945), Gentleman's Agreement (1947, Academy Award), On the Waterfront (1954, Academy Award), and East of Eden (1955). Though bitterly attacked for his cooperation with the House Un-American Activities Committee in the early 1950s, in which he turned over names of suspected communists, he received an honorary Academy Award for lifetime achievement in 1999.

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▪ 2004

Elias Kazantzoglou 

      American theatre and motion picture director, actor, and writer (b. Sept. 7, 1909, Constantinople, Ottoman Empire [now Istanbul, Turkey]—d. Sept. 28, 2003, New York, N.Y.), was one of the most highly acclaimed and influential directors in the history of American theatre and film—a pioneer of a naturalistic, socially conscious style. He collaborated with such playwrights as Thornton Wilder, Tennessee Williams, and Arthur Miller; was a cofounder (1947) of the Actors Studio, which provided the training ground for generations of actors; and shaped the film performances of such actors as Marlon Brando, James Dean, and Warren Beatty. For some, however, his artistic achievements were overshadowed by his naming of names when he was called before the House Un-American Activities Committee in 1952; he admitted that he had been a member of the Communist Party for two years in the 1930s and revealed the names of several fellow members. When he was four years old, Kazan moved to the U.S. with his Greek parents. He studied at the drama school at Yale University and in 1932 joined the Group Theatre in New York City, with a view toward becoming a director. In 1942 he made his breakthrough with Wilder's The Skin of Our Teeth. Among directorial efforts that followed were Miller's plays All My Sons (1947) and Death of a Salesman (1949)—for each of which he won a best director Tony Award; Williams's A Streetcar Named Desire (1947), Camino Real (1953), Cat on a Hot Tin Roof (1955), and Sweet Bird of Youth (1959); William Inge's The Dark at the Top of the Stairs (1957); and Archibald MacLeish's JB (1959), for which he won another Tony. Kazan's first major film-directing credit was A Tree Grows in Brooklyn (1945), and he went on to guide such classics as Gentlemen's Agreement (1947) and On the Waterfront (1954)—both of which garnered him an Academy Award for best director—as well as A Streetcar Named Desire (1951), East of Eden (1955), A Face in the Crowd (1957), and Splendor in the Grass (1961). Among Kazan's awards were the Kennedy Center Honors in 1983 and a special Oscar for lifetime achievement in 1999.

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▪ Turkish-American director and author

original name  Elia Kazanjoglous  

born September 7, 1909, Constantinople, Ottoman Empire [now Istanbul, Turkey]

died September 28, 2003, New York, New York, U.S.

      Turkish-born American director and author, noted for his successes on the stage, especially with plays by Tennessee Williams (Williams, Tennessee) and Arthur Miller (Miller, Arthur), and for his critically acclaimed films.

      At age four, Kazan was brought to the United States with his immigrant Greek family. He attended Williams College in Williamstown, Massachusetts, and years later he wrote that the lonesome, unhappy years there provoked in him a deep antagonism toward privilege. He attended the Drama School at Yale University, and from 1932 to 1939 he was an actor with the Group Theatre in New York City, led by Lee Strasberg (Strasberg, Lee) and Harold Clurman (Clurman, Harold).

      Kazan directed his first play in New York City in 1934. He won national notice as a Broadway director with such plays as Thornton Wilder (Wilder, Thornton)'s The Skin of Our Teeth (1942); Arthur Miller's All My Sons (1947) and Death of a Salesman (1949), for which he received Tony Awards for best director; and Tennessee Williams's A Streetcar Named Desire (1949), Cat on a Hot Tin Roof (1955), and Sweet Bird of Youth (1959). Kazan was cofounder (with Robert Lewis and Cheryl Crawford) of the Actors Studio in 1947.

  In 1944 Kazan began to direct motion pictures. His films, many of which incorporate liberal or socially critical themes, include A Tree Grows in Brooklyn (1945); Gentleman's Agreement (1947), on anti-Semitism; and Pinky (1949), on racism. His classic films A Streetcar Named Desire (1951), Viva Zapata! (1952), and On the Waterfront (1954) all starred Marlon Brando (Brando, Marlon, Jr.). Both Gentlemen's Agreement and On the Waterfront won him Academy Awards. Other films include East of Eden (1955), starring James Dean (Dean, James); Baby Doll (1956); and Splendour in the Grass (1960). Kazan was also codirector of the Repertory Theatre of Lincoln Center in New York City from 1960 to 1964.

      The film America, America (1964) was adapted from Kazan's autobiographical novel of 1962. He also wrote The Arrangement (1967; film, 1969), about the experiences of a Greek immigrant to the United States; The Assassins (1972); and The Understudy (1974).

      Kazan's autobiography, Elia Kazan: A Life, was published in 1988. In it he defended his decision to comply with the House Committee on Un-American Activities' request in 1952 that he give the names of other Group Theatre members who had been secret members of the Communist Party. His cooperation with the committee outraged many people in Hollywood, and the decision to award Kazan an honorary Academy Award for lifetime achievement in 1999 caused much controversy.

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