Elia Kazan
Who was Elia Kazan?
American director and actor (1909–2003)
Biographical data adapted from Wikipedia’s article on Elia Kazan (CC BY-SA 4.0).
Biography
Elia Kazan, originally named Elias Kazantzoglou, was born on September 7, 1909, in Constantinople (now Istanbul). He was a Greek-American director, producer, screenwriter, and actor who became one of the most respected figures in twentieth-century American theater and film. His family moved to the United States in 1913 and settled in New York. Kazan attended New Rochelle High School, then Williams College, and the Yale School of Drama. He also studied at the Juilliard School, which prepared him for a career in both stage and film.
Kazan started his career as an actor and spent eight years in that role before shifting to directing. In 1932, he joined the Group Theatre, which was key in shaping his artistic views. In 1947, he co-founded the Actors Studio with Robert Lewis and Cheryl Crawford. Led by Lee Strasberg, the studio became known for Method Acting, a style that changed American acting. Kazan received Tony Awards for Best Director in 1947, 1949, and 1959 with plays like Arthur Miller's All My Sons and Death of a Salesman, and Tennessee Williams's Cat on a Hot Tin Roof.
In film, Kazan directed works that dealt with social and political issues that mattered to him. His 1947 film Gentleman's Agreement, starring Gregory Peck, tackled antisemitism and earned him his first Academy Award for Best Director. He followed with Pinky in 1949, one of the first mainstream films on racial prejudice against African Americans. His 1951 movie version of A Streetcar Named Desire, with Marlon Brando and Vivien Leigh, got twelve Academy Award nominations and won four. On the Waterfront in 1954 also received twelve nominations and won eight, including Kazan's second Oscar for Best Director. In 1955, he directed East of Eden, adapted from Steinbeck's novel and featuring James Dean in his breakthrough role, winning the Golden Globe for Best Motion Picture Drama.
A major controversy in Kazan's career occurred in 1952 when he testified as a friendly witness before the House Un-American Activities Committee during the Hollywood blacklist period, naming former colleagues who were Communist Party members. This decision led to significant fallout in the artistic community, and debates about it persisted. When the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences gave him an honorary Oscar in 1999, the audience was split, with some applauding and others remaining silent. Kazan married three times—to Molly Kazan, Barbara Loden, and Frances Kazan. He passed away on September 28, 2003, in New York City, at ninety-four.
Before Fame
Elia Kazan was born into a Cappadocian Greek family in Constantinople and moved to the United States as a young child. He grew up in New York among early 20th-century immigrant communities. His family background gave him a strong sense of displacement and cultural tension, which later influenced the psychological depth of his work. He attended New Rochelle High School, then went to Williams College in Massachusetts, and later received advanced training at the Yale School of Drama, where he honed the skills that set him apart from many others of his time.
After Yale, Kazan spent nearly a decade as a professional actor, including stage work with the Group Theatre, which focused on politically engaged, emotionally honest performance. His time there introduced him to the ideas and collaborators who would shape his directing style. By the early 1940s, he had turned his attention to directing, and his quick success on Broadway made him a major theatrical figure before Hollywood recognized his talent.
Key Achievements
- Won the Academy Award for Best Director twice, for Gentleman's Agreement (1948) and On the Waterfront (1955)
- Won three Tony Awards for Best Director, for productions including Death of a Salesman and Cat on a Hot Tin Roof
- Co-founded the Actors Studio in 1947, which introduced Method Acting to American performance
- Directed Marlon Brando's breakthrough film roles in A Streetcar Named Desire and On the Waterfront
- Received the Kennedy Center Honors and a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in recognition of his career contributions
Did You Know?
- 01.Kazan co-founded the Actors Studio in 1947, the institution that trained Marlon Brando, James Dean, and dozens of other major American actors, though he later had a complex relationship with its methods as practiced under Lee Strasberg.
- 02.Both A Streetcar Named Desire and On the Waterfront each received twelve Academy Award nominations, making Kazan the director behind two of the most nominated films of the early 1950s.
- 03.His 1999 honorary Academy Award was one of the most publicly contentious in Oscar history, with prominent Hollywood figures including Ed Harris and Nick Nolte refusing to applaud during the standing ovation.
- 04.Kazan directed the original Broadway productions of some of the most celebrated American plays of the twentieth century, including Arthur Miller's Death of a Salesman and Tennessee Williams's A Streetcar Named Desire and Cat on a Hot Tin Roof.
- 05.In addition to his directing career, Kazan was a published novelist, with his book America America, based on his family's immigration story, later adapted into a film he directed himself in 1963.
Family & Personal Life
Awards & Honors
| Award | Year | Details |
|---|---|---|
| Directors Guild of America Award | — | — |
| Academy Award for Best Director | 1948 | — |
| Academy Award for Best Director | 1955 | — |
| Golden Globe Award for Best Motion Picture – Drama | 1955 | — |
| Tony Award for Best Director | 1947 | — |
| Tony Award for Best Director | 1949 | — |
| Tony Award for Best Director | 1959 | — |
| Kennedy Center Honors | — | — |
| National Board of Review Award for Best Film | — | — |
| star on Hollywood Walk of Fame | — | — |
| Academy Honorary Award | 1999 | — |
| Donaldson Awards | — | — |