Director/Writer Elia Kazan Dead
September 29th, 2003
Academy Award-winning director Elia Kazan has died of unknown causes. He was 94. Best known for his films ON THE WATERFRONT and A STREETCAR NAMED DESIRE, his only screenwriting credit came in 1994 (his last film) with THE ARRANGEMENT.
Kazan was a Greek born Elia Kazanjoglou in Istanbul (then Constantinople), Turkey, on September 7, 1909. In 1913, he emigrated with his parents to New York City, where his father sold rugs for a living. During his senior year in high school he apparently saw Sergei Eisenstein's film POTEMKIN and focused on the performing arts. He attended the Yale University Drama School, then joined the Group Theatre in New York in 1933.
Kazan married three times. With first wife Molly Day Thatcher he had four children: Judy, Chris, Nick and Katharine. After Thatcher's death, Kazan married Barbara Loden and they had two sons, Leo and Marco. She died of cancer in 1967; in 1982 he married Frances Rudge.
Kazan won Oscars for GENTLEMEN'S AGREEMENT and ON THE WATERFRONT and staged five Pulitzer Prize-winning plays: "The Skin of Our Teeth," "Death of a Salesman," "A Streetcar Named Desire," "Cat on a Hot Tin Roof" and "J.B.," for which Kazan won his first of three a Tony Awards for directing.
Kazan testify before the House Committee on Un-American Activities, which was set up shortly after World War II to rid the United States of any communist influences. This decision recently caused controversy when he was give an Honorary Oscar in 1999, many in attendence refused to stand and applaud. Kazan identified eight people he said had been members of the Communist Party with him in the mid-1930s. All were eventually blacklisted.
Most left the country or simply never worked in theater or film again; a few were lucky enough to keep their jobs using pseudonyms. Kazan defended his decision by saying that all were already known to the committee, a stance disputed by others.
Kazan turned to writing in his 50s and produced six novels including several best sellers and an autobiography. He once said he turned to writing because "I wanted to say exactly what I felt. I like to say what I feel about things directly and no matter whose play you direct or how sympathetic you are to the playwright, what you finally are trying to do is interpret his view of life. ... When I speak for myself I get a tremendous sense of liberation."
He first teamed with Arthur Miller to direct ALL MY SONS and went on to do DEATH OF A SALESMAN. His first film was, at the time, a piece of gritty urban realism called, A TREE GROWS IN BROOKLYN. Perhaps his most personal film, AMERICA AMERICA, about how his ancestor was sent to Istanbul by his family and how he came to America. Mr. Kazan also published a book of the same name. One of his better films, that has over the years fadded some, might be BOOMERANG!. A real-life murder film that famed critic James Agee called "a large cast mainly of Broadway actors... turns in the most immaculate set of naturalistic performances I have seen in one movie...I won't be surprised if it turns out to be the best American film of the year..." BOOMERANG! was a brilliant docu-drama about an innocent man brow-beaten into confessing to the murder of a minister. It was based on an article by Anthony Abbott in Reader's Digest.
Kazan collaboration with the great Tennessee Williams on STREETCAR in 1947 and later included CAMINO REAL and SWEET BIRD OF YOUTH.
"He approaches a play more critically than anyone I know," Williams once said, "you find yourself doing more revisions for him than for any other director".
(Source: Yahoo Movies)
Kazan was a Greek born Elia Kazanjoglou in Istanbul (then Constantinople), Turkey, on September 7, 1909. In 1913, he emigrated with his parents to New York City, where his father sold rugs for a living. During his senior year in high school he apparently saw Sergei Eisenstein's film POTEMKIN and focused on the performing arts. He attended the Yale University Drama School, then joined the Group Theatre in New York in 1933.
Kazan married three times. With first wife Molly Day Thatcher he had four children: Judy, Chris, Nick and Katharine. After Thatcher's death, Kazan married Barbara Loden and they had two sons, Leo and Marco. She died of cancer in 1967; in 1982 he married Frances Rudge.
Kazan won Oscars for GENTLEMEN'S AGREEMENT and ON THE WATERFRONT and staged five Pulitzer Prize-winning plays: "The Skin of Our Teeth," "Death of a Salesman," "A Streetcar Named Desire," "Cat on a Hot Tin Roof" and "J.B.," for which Kazan won his first of three a Tony Awards for directing.
Kazan testify before the House Committee on Un-American Activities, which was set up shortly after World War II to rid the United States of any communist influences. This decision recently caused controversy when he was give an Honorary Oscar in 1999, many in attendence refused to stand and applaud. Kazan identified eight people he said had been members of the Communist Party with him in the mid-1930s. All were eventually blacklisted.
Most left the country or simply never worked in theater or film again; a few were lucky enough to keep their jobs using pseudonyms. Kazan defended his decision by saying that all were already known to the committee, a stance disputed by others.
Kazan turned to writing in his 50s and produced six novels including several best sellers and an autobiography. He once said he turned to writing because "I wanted to say exactly what I felt. I like to say what I feel about things directly and no matter whose play you direct or how sympathetic you are to the playwright, what you finally are trying to do is interpret his view of life. ... When I speak for myself I get a tremendous sense of liberation."
He first teamed with Arthur Miller to direct ALL MY SONS and went on to do DEATH OF A SALESMAN. His first film was, at the time, a piece of gritty urban realism called, A TREE GROWS IN BROOKLYN. Perhaps his most personal film, AMERICA AMERICA, about how his ancestor was sent to Istanbul by his family and how he came to America. Mr. Kazan also published a book of the same name. One of his better films, that has over the years fadded some, might be BOOMERANG!. A real-life murder film that famed critic James Agee called "a large cast mainly of Broadway actors... turns in the most immaculate set of naturalistic performances I have seen in one movie...I won't be surprised if it turns out to be the best American film of the year..." BOOMERANG! was a brilliant docu-drama about an innocent man brow-beaten into confessing to the murder of a minister. It was based on an article by Anthony Abbott in Reader's Digest.
Kazan collaboration with the great Tennessee Williams on STREETCAR in 1947 and later included CAMINO REAL and SWEET BIRD OF YOUTH.
"He approaches a play more critically than anyone I know," Williams once said, "you find yourself doing more revisions for him than for any other director".
(Source: Yahoo Movies)
Comments
Only logged-in members can comment. You can log in or join today for free!
Advertisement
