Elia Kazan
Elias Kazantzoglou entered the world on the 7th of September 1909 in the Kadıköy district of Constantinople. His parents were Cappadocian Greeks originally from Kayseri in Anatolia. The family surname derived from the Turkish word for pot maker and oğlu meaning son. He arrived in the United States with his mother Athena and father George on the 8th of July 1913. The journey involved stories of wealth packed onto a donkey that eventually got lost. His uncle Avraam Elia made it to New York alone before sending money home. This uncle then brought the rest of the family over when Elias was four years old.
Kazan moved to New York City in 1932 after two years at Yale University School of Drama. He joined the Group Theatre which showcased plays containing social commentary. Lee Strasberg and Harold Clurman became father figures within this collective. Kazan found his first strong sense of self among these radical social movements. He played a strike-leading taxi driver in Clifford Odets play Waiting for Lefty in 1935. Critics called his performance dynamic and labeled him the proletarian thunderbolt. By 1942 he directed Thornton Wilder's The Skin of Our Teeth starring Tallulah Bankhead. The production won Wilder a Pulitzer Prize and earned Kazan the New York Drama Critics Award.
His first feature film A Tree Grows in Brooklyn appeared in 1945 focusing on contemporary concerns. Gentlemen Agreement followed in 1947 dealing with antisemitism in the United States. It received eight Oscar nominations and three wins including Best Director for Kazan. Pinky arrived in 1949 addressing racial prejudice against African Americans. A Streetcar Named Desire came out in 1951 winning four Oscars and receiving twelve nominations. Marlon Brando made his breakthrough role here under Kazan's direction. On the Waterfront released in 1954 exposed union corruption on the New York harbor waterfront. It won eight Academy Awards including Best Picture and Best Actor for Brando. East of Eden followed in 1955 introducing James Dean to the world.
Kazan testified before the House Un-American Activities Committee in April 1952 during the Red Scare. He initially refused to provide names but eventually identified eight former Group Theatre members as Communists. These included Clifford Odets Morris Carnovsky and Art Smith among others. His decision to cooperate brought strong negative reactions from many friends and associates. The testimony damaged if not shattered the careers of his former colleagues. In a New York Times ad two days later he explained his reasons for naming names. Decades later he stated he would rather hurt people a little than hurt himself a lot. This choice created an outsider status that persisted throughout the rest of his career.
Kazan strove for cinematic realism by discovering unknown actors who treated him as their mentor. He felt casting accounted for ninety percent of a movie's ultimate success or failure. Lee Remick Jo Van Fleet Warren Beatty Andy Griffith Eva Marie Saint and James Dean received their first major roles under his guidance. He believed big stars were barely trained and had bad habits making them less pliable. Kazan got to know his actors on a personal level to understand their inner lives. He once asked Eli Wallach if he actually went through with seducing Carroll Baker in Baby Doll. Wallach answered no and Kazan replied good idea play it that way. Robert De Niro cut his weight from 170 to 128 pounds for The Last Tycoon at Kazan's request.
His first marriage to playwright Molly Day Thacher lasted from 1932 until her death in 1963. They raised four children including screenwriter Nicholas Kazan in an 1885 farmhouse in Sandy Hook Connecticut. Molly became an especially bitter anti-communist after the HUAC testimony. His second marriage to actress Barbara Loden ran from 1967 until her death in 1980 producing one son. A third union with Frances Rudge began in 1982 and continued until his death in 2003. The family used the Connecticut property as a summer retreat until 1998 when it was put up for sale. In 1978 the U.S. government paid for Kazan and his family to travel to his birthplace Athens.
Kazan died on the 28th of September 2003 aged ninety-four from natural causes in his Manhattan apartment. He received an Honorary Academy Award in 1999 presented by Martin Scorsese and Robert De Niro. The audience reaction was divided with some refusing to applaud while others gave a standing ovation. Jack Nicholson Nick Nolte Ed Harris Ian McKellen Frank Langella and Amy Madigan refused to clap. Kathy Bates Meryl Streep Karl Malden Debbie Allen Warren Beatty and George Stevens Jr stood and applauded. Orson Welles called him a traitor who sold companions to McCarthy yet admitted he was a very good director. Scorsese directed A Letter to Elia in 2010 as a personal tribute winning a Peabody Award that year.
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Common questions
When and where was Elia Kazan born?
Elias Kazantzoglou entered the world on the 7th of September 1909 in the Kadıköy district of Constantinople. His parents were Cappadocian Greeks originally from Kayseri in Anatolia.
What films did Elia Kazan direct that won Academy Awards?
Gentlemen Agreement received three wins including Best Director for Kazan while A Streetcar Named Desire came out in 1951 winning four Oscars. On the Waterfront released in 1954 won eight Academy Awards including Best Picture and Best Actor for Brando.
Why did Elia Kazan testify before the House Un-American Activities Committee?
Kazan testified before the House Un-American Activities Committee in April 1952 during the Red Scare after initially refusing to provide names. He eventually identified eight former Group Theatre members as Communists because he stated decades later he would rather hurt people a little than hurt himself a lot.
Who were some actors discovered by Elia Kazan?
Lee Remick Jo Van Fleet Warren Beatty Andy Griffith Eva Marie Saint and James Dean received their first major roles under his guidance. Robert De Niro cut his weight from 170 to 128 pounds for The Last Tycoon at Kazan's request.
When did Elia Kazan die and what was his age?
Kazan died on the 28th of September 2003 aged ninety-four from natural causes in his Manhattan apartment. He received an Honorary Academy Award in 1999 presented by Martin Scorsese and Robert De Niro.